Immigrate to Australia: Cost, Requirements, & Application Guidance

Among the immigrant-friendly countries, Australia is one of the most popular ones as the 2021 figure indicates 29.1% of the Australian population was born overseas. This means around 7.5 million people resident in Australia in 2021 were immigrants. For those of you planning to move to Australia, one can take up either of three routes:

• Study visa: Temporary visa given to international students who want to pursue higher education in Australia. The Australian student visa allows the student to live in Australia for up to 5 years.
• Work permits: The Work Permit is a legal document that allows international students to extend their stay and take up jobs.
• Permanent Residency visa: Obtained by internationals who move permanently to Australia and is valid for 5-years

As per the last records by the Australian government, 19 lakh people in Australia were recent migrants or were holding temporary resident permits in Australia and 50% had permanent visas. If you are aspiring to immigrate to Australia, it is important to be aware of the procedure, eligibility, and timeline. The article below discusses the same in detail.

Steps to Immigrate to Australia

• Step 1- Check the eligibility requirements: Kindly ensure that you meet the eligibility requirements, your occupation is listed in the list of occupations in demand and you must have 65 or more points for a PR Visa.
• Step 2- Take the proficiency test: One needs to have the required score in English Language proficiency. In order to get the specified score, students need to appear for either of the tests like IELTS, PTE, TOEFL, etc.
• Step 3- Select your occupation from the Skilled Occupation List (SOL): You need to select your occupation from the following lists: Short-term Skilled Occupation List, Consolidated Sponsored Occupation List, and Medium and Long-term Strategic Skills List.
• Step 4- Register your Expression of Interest: Kindly provide all information while submitting your expression of interest to Australia’s Skill Select website.
• Step 5- Get your Invitation to Apply (ITA): If the applicant meets the requirements of the visa, then they will get an Invitation to Apply for a PR visa. The Government of Australia conducts these rounds on a monthly basis. Applicants with a higher score are invited to apply for the relevant visa. In case of equal scores, applicants who secured the score first are invited first.
• Step 6- Submit your PR Application: Within 60 days of getting your ITA, submit your PR application with all the supporting documents for your PR Visa.
• Step 7- Get your clearance certificate: Applicants need to submit the police and medical clearance certificate.
• Step 8- Get your Visa Grant: The last step is getting the Visa Grant.

Australia 2020-2021 Migration Program Planning Levels

How to Immigrate to Australia?

The easiest way to immigrate to Australia is through a study visa as after that students will be eligible for work permits and then work their ways to receive permanent residency by finding jobs in Australia. But other than this long-drawn process there are ways through which people can immigrate to Australia.

Australia has a Skilled Immigration program, a point-based system wherein the applicant receives points on different criteria. If the totaled points reach the stage where his application is picked up for processing, after completing the laid down process he/she shall receive permanent residency.

The minimum score for the same is 65 points and it has to be obtained on the basis of age, qualifications, work experience, adaptability, etc. There are three visa categories in the skilled immigration program under the points-based system.

Also Check: Australia Work Visa

Immigrate to Australia with Skilled Independent Visa (Subclass 189)

This visa for skilled workers allows them to live and work anywhere in Australia. For an application under this program, the applicant does not require a sponsor, and the application can be made by invitation only. The age of applicant should be under 45 years to receive the invite. The cost of the visa is 4,045 AUD (~23 Lakhs INR) .

The processing time for this visa is tabulated below:

Immigrate to Australia with Skilled Nominated Visa (Subclass 190)

This visa allows the applicant to study or work anywhere in Australia. Under this category, the sponsor applied for his/her eligible relatives, and if they qualify on the points table, they can get permanent residency and later citizenship also if they want.

Requirements for Visa

• The applicant must be engaged in an occupation on the relevant skilled list and possesses the suitable skills for the occupation that can be assessed. After successful assessment, the points test needs to be qualified and the application can be submitted.
• The skilled workers should be nominated from an Australian state/Territory for this visa and their occupation should exist on the Skilled Occupation List.

The cost is 4045 AUD and the processing time is also similar to subclass 189.

Immigrate to Australia with a Skilled Work Regional Subclass 491 Visa

For this visa, the applicant should be nominated by any state or territory government agency, or the applicant should be sponsored by an eligible relative. The occupation assessment and presence of occupation on the Skilled Occupation List are required in this category also.

This visa requires the skilled workers and their families to be stationed at the designated regional areas for 5 years with their families for work and after 3 years time, they become eligible to receive PR.

The cost of the visa is 4,045 AUD (~23 Lakhs INR) but the timeline is flexible as this may take longer than other visa categories.

The General Skilled Migration (GSM) program can be seen at a glance from the table below:

Global Talent Visa Program

Only highly skilled candidates in one of the 10 target areas, namely Resources, Agri-food and AgTech, Energy, Health Industries, Defence, Advanced Manufacturing and Space, Circular Economy, DigiTech, Infrastructure and Tourism, Financial Services and FinTech, Education and Talent are eligible to get a visa under this program.

The candidates need to showcase their expertise in the field and prove how they will be an asset to the Australian Economy. Furthermore, Global Talent Visa applicants need to demonstrate that they have the ability to attract a salary at or above the Fair Work high-income threshold of 153,600 AUD.

Business Visa Program

The Business Innovation and Investment Program (BIIP) provides three visas and nine visa categories for applicants with an established track record of innovation, investment, and business success or talent. The business visa streams have now been reduced to four categories with reference to July 1, 2021.

Holders of Business Innovation visas will now be expected to maintain 1.25 AUD million in business assets, up from 800,000 AUD, and need to have an annual turnover of 750,000 AUD from 500,000 AUD. At the same time, certain visas would have lower requirements, such as the 200,000 AUD funding requirement currently needed for applicants for entrepreneurial visas will be scrapped from July next year. 

There are other categories of Visas also available for permanent residency and migration of families and the appointment of a Government recognized lawyer is needed to process the applications in some cases.

Immigrate to Australia: Eligibility

The basic criteria to fulfill for those who wish to immigrate to Australia is discussed below:

• The applicant must be below 45 years old.
• The occupational skills should be verifiable and can be assessed. The occupation also needs to be on the Skilled Occupation list cleared for immigration purposes from time to time.
• The years of service as specified should be completed by the applicant.
• Nomination/Sponsorship as the case may be is required as per the laid down guidelines.
• English language proficiency level needs to be showcased through standardized tests.
• Health checkup and clearance is required by the appointed qualified panel of doctors.
• As the applicant needs a minimum of 65 points, taking all the criteria into consideration points should be calculated.
• If there is a requirement of financial stability or sponsor- that must be fulfilled.

Also check: Tests to Study in Australia

Immigrate to Australia from India: Process

For Indian aspirants looking forward to moving to Australia, here is what you can do:

Eligibility Requirements

• Check your age, occupation, experience, health, English proficiency, marital status, and all the criteria that will help ascertain your eligibility.
• Make sure that your occupation is accessible and exists in the Skilled Occupation List currently in force.
• The sponsor/invitation requirements should be obtained within the specified time limit.

Calculate your points and make sure they are a minimum of 65. The higher the better it is.

English Proficiency Requirements

Australian government accepts various standardized English proficiency tests for the PR application and has specified the points that the applicant will get according to the scores obtained.

IELTS, PTE, TOEFL PBT, and TOEFL-iBT are some of the tests that are accepted for this purpose. For all three PR visas i.e. Subclass 189, 190, and 491 the IELTS and PTE scores are as follows:

Occupation on the Skilled Occupation List

The applicants need to make sure that their occupation is listed in one of the desired lists considered for the permanent residency visa process. These lists are:

• Short-term Skilled Occupation List
• Consolidated Sponsored Occupation List
• Medium and long-term Strategic Skills List

Your skill assessment should be complete before you proceed to the next step.

The point table for the Australian PR application is as follows in general:

It is important to understand the rules governing the application and the procedure to be followed in absolute detail before the applicant starts the process of obtaining a PR visa for Australia like there are some points for regional employment etc.

Expression of Interest (EOI)

After completing these steps, the applicant needs to visit Australia’s Skill select official website and complete the online application to submit the EOI. The EOI is reviewed by the government authorities and employers and generally takes 15 days to get processed.

Invitation to apply

Once your application is complete and you have met all the eligibility criteria, you will receive an invitation to apply for the PR. This official invitation from the Department of Home Affairs, Australia indicates that about 90% of your application is complete as you are invited to accept your place in the skilled migration program of the country. This ascertains that your skills are required for the country. The ITAs are issued on a monthly basis and given to those who fulfill the conditions and have higher scores in the point tables.

Once all these formalities are done, the applicant needs to file his application for PR with complete supporting documentation keeping the 60 days deadline from the date of receipt of the ITA.

The applicant will then be asked to submit the medical examination report obtained from the authorized medical centers and background clearances. If every step is cleared, the applicant shall be able to receive the PR visa and will be able to travel to Australia.

Also Check: 

• Australian Student Visa Rejection and Appeal
• Reasons of Rejection for Australia PR Applications