Australia’s 2021-22 federal budget shows that the country will continue to target skilled immigrants, with increased demand expected once international borders re-open.<\/p>\n
In an analysis of the changes, immigration specialists Hammond Taylor said that the Australian government will maintain the 2021-22 migration program planning level at 160,000.<\/p>\n
“However, with the international borders expected to be closed until at least mid-next year, it\u2019s now expected that net overseas migration is expected to fall from around 154,000 persons in 2019-20 to be around -72,000 persons by the end of 2020-21, before gradually increasing to around 201,000 persons in 2023-24,” it said.<\/p>\n
Based on the balance of allocation of places to thevisa, it appears there will be an overall decrease in other skilled migration visa places, Hammond Taylor said.<\/p>\n
It outlined the most popular visa routes and options as follows:<\/p>\n
Popular option\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n The most recent data from Australia\u2019s Department of Home Affairs shows that the country remains a popular destination for South Africans\u00a0 – even during the Covid-19 lockdown.<\/p>\n up to 3,743 migrants from South Africa moved in 2019\/2020, and the country remains one of Australia’s 10 largest source citizenship sources.<\/p>\n The department\u2019s data shows that the majority of South African migrants entered on a skilled visa (3,260), with a smaller number entering on family (427) and child visas (56).<\/p>\n This is a slight decrease from prior years with 3,861 migrants reported in 2018\/2019 and 4,235 migrants reported 2017\/2018.<\/p>\n While this decrease can partly be attributed to Covid-19 and restrictions on movement and travel, it is clear that Australia\u2019s stricter visa requirements and other factors have also had an impact on potential South African migrants.<\/p>\n In 2010\/2011, over 8,612 South African migrants were reported as part of the program \u2013 over twice as many than what was recorded in 2019\/2020. The change has seen South Africa slip from fifth to eight in Australis\u2019s ranking for migrant countries.<\/p>\n
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