Australia Immigration System – Basic Introduction

Introduction of Australia Immigration System – The type of immigration system practiced by Australia is known as General Skilled Migration.

This immigration system requires that those who wish to apply must meet some points which are awarded based on some criteria which are:

• Age.
• Proficiency in English Language.
• Level of education.
• Acquired skills.
• Work experience.

This system is created to ensure that prospective immigrants will be able to contribute reasonably in terms of tax to the overall development of the country. It also restricts applications to serious minded individuals who have the required working skills and experience to help boost the nation’s workforce.

This system surely has its shortcomings. The census carried out in Australia in 2011 revealed that almost a quarter of Australians were born outside the country compared to almost half of that in other countries like England and Wales. It is ironical that migration for Australians skyrocketed just about a year after the implementation of this immigration system.

Another problem of this system is the policy with regards to asylum. An NGO, Amnesty International revealed in 2013 that the experience of the refugees seeking Asylum from Australia was traumatic due to lack of basic social infrastructures.

Different Visa Classes Under Australia Immigration System

This country has 3 major visa classes. These are:

1. Skilled or Economic Migration.
2. Family Migration.
3. Refugee or Humanitarian Migration.

Skilled or Economic Migration

This is further classified into other classes which are”

• General Skilled Migration:  This is also referred to as Points Tests. It includes Skilled Sponsored Category as well as Skilled Independent Category. The new rule order this implies that any potential applicant will first have to express his/her desire to apply by submitting Expression of Interest. It is only if their EOI is accepted that they will be invited to apply for Permanent Residence in this country. There are some basic skills that must be acquired before submitting the EOI, which includes an International English Language Test with the desired result.
• Employer Nomination Scheme: This is for those who are sponsored by employers who are Australians themselves. Such an applicant is expected have some basic skills as well as working experience for nothing less than 3 years. They must also be less than 50 years old.
• Business Skills: under this class, prospective migrants who are strictly for business must submit an Expression of Interest too. If he passes this and is invited, he can then apply for the visa. Some of the requirements for this is that he/she must be a successful businessman with a total asset not less than AUD$800,000 which the applicant can transfer to Australia within a period of 2 years.

 Australia Immigration System – Family Migration

This visa class is sub divided into some classes. They are:

• Parent Migration: This is for parents whose children are living in Australia as citizens or as permanent residents. The said parents must satisfy some character requirement and meet up with health requirements too.
• Spouse, De Facto Spouse or Interdependent: Applicants for this visa must be sponsored by a spouse, or a de facto spouse who is an Australian citizen or is living in Australia permanently. To meet the requirements for a de facto spouse, the sponsoring spouse and the other spouse must have been living together for at least a year before the application.
• Remaining Relative: This is giving to members of a family apart from the ones listed above. The applicant in this case is sponsored by an Australian citizen or permanent resident. He could also be sponsored by a New Zealand citizen that is qualified to do the sponsoring. This can be approved if the person sponsoring has not sponsored somebody else with the same condition of being a remaining relative. It may apply to a spouse, legally married or de facto or defendants or a defendant, which in this case may be a person’s own child. It may also be applicable to a step child or an adopted child.

Australia Immigration System –  Temporary Residents

This is for applicants who want to live in Australia temporarily for a specified period of time. The most common visa under this category is the Business Visa.

Australia Immigration System – Refugee or Humanitarian Visa

This visa class is mainly for people who fled their countries for one reason or the other and need to settle down in Australia. Most of the applicants in this category are referred to Australian Government by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

Australia Immigration System –  Number of people migrating to Australia

Since 1945, it is estimated that over 7.5 million people have migrated to Australia. The latest report shows that approximately 30 % of Australian residents (about 6.7 million) are immigrants.

United Kingdom was the major contributor to the immigration statistics of this county.  UK was recently overthrown by China in this regard, with India too proving to be a force to reckon with in this regard. Others are Philippines, Vietnam, Italy, Africa, Malaysia and Germany.

Australia Immigration System – Where Do Australians Go To Work Overseas?

Every year, almost a million Australians move to overseas countries to work. Some of them go to overseas to work and live there permanently while some move out to work temporarily during the holidays. For whatever reasons, they do move out to other countries. These are some of the countries that have reciprocal work agreement with Australia:

• Argentina.
• Bangladesh.
• Chile.
• Republic of Indonesia.
• Poland.
• Portugal.
• Slovak Republic.
• Slovenia.
• Spain, and
• Malaysia.

Other countries are:

• Thailand.
• Turkey.
• United States of America.
• Uruguay.

These countries above also have holiday agreement with Australia apart from the work agreement.

Some other countries have strictly holiday working agreement only with Australia. They are:

• Belgium.
• Canada.
• Republic of Cyrus.
• Denmark.
• Estonia.
• Finland.
• France.
• Germany.
• Republic of Ireland and
• Italy.

Others in this group are:

• Japan.
• Republic of Korea.
• Malta.
• Netherlands.
• Norway.
• Sweden.
• Taiwan.
• United Kingdom.

See also:

Why immigration is good for Australia

Australian Visa Information – Australia Tourism Guide

Australian tourist visa – What Does It Entitle You To Do

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