Australian Prime Minister has made two major initiatives in Australia’s immigration policy. Now students studying the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) and ICT (Information and Communication Technology) have a way to apply for permanent residence in Australia. There is also a new Entrepreneur Visa introduced that will be implemented from December 2016.
How the change in Immigration Rules can make Immigration to Australia Easier for Students
The initiative for STEM students is for those who are doing their masters and PhD from research institutes in Australia. The field of ICT and STEM is quite broad and hence, a lot of student migration is expected for completing their qualifications in Australia, as it gives them extra points in the skilled migration points test.
Since the change in the point system will be implemented accordingly at the end of the year, it cannot be said for sure of how many extra points STEM students will receive to migrate to Australia. However, studying in Australia is definitely going to make their immigration process easier.
This change in rules is also going to encourage brilliant students from all over the world to come and study in Australia. This is a win-win situation as it will increase the cultural diversity in the country and these students will get the advantage of studying in the world class education system of Australia.
A glance at the fine print
Although the change in rules of immigration to the country is a good thing, it won’t have too much of an effect until the other parts in the migration process like the skilled migration list, the skills assessment requirements, and the occupational ceilings are changed as well to accommodate the new changes.
- People who want to immigrate to Australia need to get a nomination from one of the professions in the skills development list. While the list contains many professions related to STEM, there are several that it does not have and this may cause problems for the students related to those fields.
- The Occupational ceilings mean that there is a quota for every field every year. But people from fields like IT and engineering are restricted to migrate because the quota is filled every year.
- The skills assessment requirements of the current immigration policy in Australia require that the skilled professionals have paid work experience in their fields, and this can be difficult for people who are still involved in research and studies.
Until the things mentioned above are revised, the change in immigration rules is not going to have much positive effect on the overall migration process.
The new Entrepreneur Visa
This visa will grant new entrepreneurs temporary residence in Australia if they come to the country with a new and innovative business idea that has lots of potential for acceptance and growth in the Australian market.
The visa requires the applicant to have strong financial backing from a third party or have a state nomination. This is a provisional visa and getting a permanent visa depends on the success of the business idea.
