Australia raises permanent migration cap for the first time in a decade

Australia is facing skills shortages in many sectors, and the government believes the solution relies on skilled migration. One of the many measures taken by the Australian government was to increase the permanent migration cap by 35,000. Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil announced the gap increase to 195,000 at the 2022 Job summit last week.

The announcement comes in alignment with the current government’s push to switch the focus from temporary to permanent migration.

The increase for 2022-23 will allocate 4,700 places for the healthcare sector, 6,100 additional places for workers with “skills needed to deliver vital infrastructure” and 6,800 places for the tech sector.

Regional visas will increase by 9000 to 34,000 and there will be another 5000 skilled visas enabling businesses to sponsor permanent employees. State and territory sponsored visa numbers will increase from 11,000 to 31,000.

Another welcomed measure was the $36.1 million funding to boost the processing of visa applications by the Department of Home Affairs. The measure will allow the Department to hire 500 surge staff in the next 9 months as a response to the unprecedented visa backlog of over 900,000 active non-humanitarian visa applications.

For migrants, these announcements bring hope of faster processing times and more invitations for points-tested based visas. The low unemployment rates paired with skills shortages have made 2022 one of the most promising years for prospective skilled migrants.

If you would like to discuss your eligibility for a skilled visa, book a consultation today.