Australia's new financial year is around the corner, and with it comes a raft of changes to the country's migration system.
From 1 July, changes - from a new citizenship pathway for New Zealanders to capped working hours for international students and increased visa application costs - will come into effect.
Some of these changes were announced following the release of in April, which warned it is "not fit for purpose", while others were contained in the .
The federal government had earlier announced additional visa changes for 2023-24.
What visa changes are coming into effect on 1 July?
Citizenship pathway for New Zealanders
From 1 July, New Zealanders who have been living in Australia for four years or more . They will no longer need to first apply for and be granted a permanent visa.
The changes apply to New Zealand citizens holding a Special Category (subclass 444) visa (SCV) who arrived here after 26 February 2001. Those who are long-term residents will be able to have their period of permanent residence backdated.
The New Zealand stream of the Skilled Independent (subclass 189) visa is now closed to new applications and will permanently close on 1 July.
New visa for Pacific migrants
A new visa will be introduced, providing 3,000 places for and Timor Leste.
Spots for the Pacific Engagement visa (PEV) will be allocated by a ballot process each year, and those selected will be able to apply for permanent residence in Australia.
Applications will be able to be lodged online with the Department of Home Affairs. A February media release said this will start in July.
Changes to student visas
In an effort to address workforce shortages, student visa work restrictions were relaxed throughout the COVID-19 pandemic and removed last January. This allowed primary and secondary student visa holders to work over the usual limit of 40 hours per fortnight.
But from 1 July, and capped at an increased rate of 48 hours per fortnight. This was confirmed in the , handed down by Treasurer Jim Chalmers, which said international students working in the aged care sector will be exempt from the limit until 31 December 2023.
Also from this date, some holders of subclass 485 Temporary Graduate visas will be able to stay in Australia for a longer period.
The extension means a stay period of four years for Bachelor's degree graduates (up from two years), five years for Master's degree graduates (up from three) and six years for doctoral graduates (up from four).
Changes for Working Holiday Makers
A concession allowing Working Holiday Makers (WHMs) to work for the same employer or organisation for longer than six months without requesting permission will also end on 1 July. The six-month working limitation was temporarily relaxed in January 2022 to address labour shortages during the pandemic.
Any work that is carried out before 1 July will not be counted towards the six-month limitation period. This means WHMs can work for any employer for up to an extra six months even if that work started before 1 July.
Changes to the Australia-UK working holiday program
On 31 May, the government announced t, thanks to the Australia-United Kingdom Free Trade Agreement (A-UKFTA) coming into force.
For Australians, the UK's Youth Mobility Scheme (YMS) is currently restricted to those aged 18-30. From 31 January 2024, this age limit will be extended by five years to 35 under the free trade deal.
Australians aged 18-35 will also be able to stay an extra year in the UK under the YMS, with the option to extend the working holiday from two to three years.
From 1 July 2023, the age limit for UK citizens applying for working holidays in Australia will also rise to 35.
Visa application costs
The federal government revealed to SBS News on budget night that it
Visa types set for a hike include visitor, working holiday, work and holiday, training, temporary activity, and temporary work short stay specialist.
The application fee for a visitor visa subclass 600, which will affect tourists, is set to increase alongside the student 500 visa, which affects international students, and the working holiday visa, the type used by backpackers.
Source: SBS News
The government said it would use the $665 million raised from fee hikes over five years to improve visa processing times and “other government priorities”.
Migrants will need to earn more
Also from 1 July, the minimum salary an applicant needs to receive sponsorship from an employer will increase.
The Temporary Skilled Migration Income Threshold (TSMIT) has not been raised since it was frozen at $53,000 a decade ago. It will jump to $70,000, where it would have been without the freeze.
This was following the review of Australia's migration system.
“This is the first increase to the TSMIT in a decade. It is a down payment on the type of migration system the Albanese government wants to build,” Ms O’Neil said in a statement on the day the review was released in April.
What other upcoming immigration changes do we know about?
Skilled workers will have a pathway to permanent residency
The government also said it would provide all skilled temporary workers with the opportunity to apply for permanent residency by the year’s end.
The government for Temporary Protection (subclass 785) visa (TPV) and Safe Haven Enterprise (subclass 790) visa (SHEV) holders who held or applied for a TPV or SHEV before 14 February 2023.
Home Affairs Minister Clare O'Neil Source: AAP / Lukas Coch
“I think the clearing of the pathways to permanent residence for skilled temporary entrants is indeed a good step,” he said.
Referring to the TSMIT increase, Mr Rizvi said holding the minimum salary since 2013 was a “poor decision” that led to negative outcomes for migrants and Australians.
What other immigration changes were announced in the budget?
- More investment
The government is investing an extra $630 million through the Department of Home Affairs and the Australian Border Force to improve the country's migration program and build on its "already strong" border and national security settings.
"These investments complement the government’s proposed vision for a targeted, simpler migration system that serves our national interests and helps migrants thrive in our society and economy," Ms O'Neil said in a joint statement with Immigration Minister Andrew Giles in May.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers delivers the 2023-24 federal budget in Canberra. Source: AAP / Mick Tsikas
- Skilled migrants prioritised
The government will return the planning level for permanent migration in 2023-24 to 190,000 places. It had previously been
It will allocate 137,100 places (around 70 per cent) to skilled migrants, in order to address persistent skill shortages. This is down slightly from 142,400 places in the 2022-23 program.
There will be 52,000 places allocated to the family stream, which is predominately made up of partner visas.
Partner and child visas will remain demand-driven.
Visa processing
The government will provide $125.8 million over four years from 2023-24 to continue implementing outcomes from
This includes $75.8 million over two years to "extend the current surge in visa processing resources" and $50 million over four years (and $15.3 million per year ongoing) for extra enforcement and compliance activities "to maintain the integrity of the migration system".
What else did the migration review recommend?
Led by former public service boss Martin Parkinson, the review found that while some aspects of Australia's migration program are performing well, key areas are “broken”.
It found the program is failing to attract the most highly-skilled migrants and enable businesses to efficiently access workers. At the same time, it found “clear evidence of systemic exploitation and the risk of an emerging permanently temporary underclass”.
Australia’s visa settings have “unintentionally enabled a cohort of migrants to become permanently temporary” the review stated.
Net migration to Australia is projected to reach 400,000 people in 2022-23. Source: AAP
Among those is a three-tiered assessment system, fewer visa types, a focus on holding onto international students, and changing Australia’s points system to select migrants who will likely make the “greatest long-term economic contribution”.
Migration lawyer Rebecca MacMillan from law firm Holding Redlich welcomed the review and reforms as being broadly “sensible” but warned there is a long road ahead.
“It’s hard to know how quickly all this will happen,” she said.
“The recommendations would need some serious thought around how they will be introduced.”
Some of the proposals outlined in the government’s migration strategy include building a mainstream temporary skilled pathway - using an improved approach to determining the skills needed and “doing away with outdated, inflexible occupation lists” - providing a fast, simple pathway for specialised, highly skilled workers and broadening the program to encompass all skill levels.
The government will conduct consultation in May and June, with plans to release the final migration strategy later this year.
Mr Rizvi said the migration review, “tries to make the system more targeted, more efficient. And I think both of those things can only be good."
“I think it also highlights the role of immigration in Australia’s future and that’s also useful.”
He agreed that any further changes will take time.
“I think what we can expect … is even further changes beyond that [the budget] as the government works out the details of how to implement some of the recommendations," he said.
Is Australia welcoming more migrants?
The budget forecasts net overseas migration (NOM) will reach 400,000 this financial year, and 315,000 in 2023-24, reflecting the "one-off catch-up from the pandemic".
NOM is the difference between incoming and outgoing migrants and includes both permanent and temporary residents. After the COVID-19 pandemic prompted a sudden halt to overseas arrivals, October’s budget papers had tipped Australia’s NOM to recover to only 235,000 over this financial year and next.
The forecasts show a two-year acceleration that is well above initial estimates, before a period of stabilisation.
"The rebound in temporary migration following the reopening of Australia’s international borders was initially slow but has recently started to recover at a faster rate," the budget says.
"This strength in migration and population growth is expected to be temporary, with migration forecast to largely return to normal patterns from 2024–25."
NOM is forecast to dip to 260,000 in 2024-25, and continue at that rate in 2025-26 and 2027-27.
Ms O’Neil has previously insisted the government’s strategy was “not about more people”, while deputy Liberal leader Sussan Ley has accused Labor of pursuing a “big Australia” policy.
Mr Rizvi said the surge in net migration was driven by two factors - a series of COVID-era-related migration policy settings, and a “really hot labour market”.
“Put those two together and it was almost inevitable that net migration would surge,” he said.
He said what will happen in future is another matter, as a series of steps are being taken to tighten the system and COVID policy settings are wound back.
SBS is unable to provide immigration advice. Further information about visas can be found at the .
