Australia’s Department of Home Affairs has announced that invitation rounds for skilled migration visas to Australia will be held every quarter for the remainder of the 2020-21 program year.
Invitation rounds for Australian skilled migration visas have been run on a monthly basis in 2020, with the last round of visa invitations being held in October.
According to the new cycle, the next invitation round will run in January 2021.
Speaking on the changes to the frequency of holding invitation rounds for skilled visas to Australia, the Department of Home Affairs said that the 2020-21 Migration Program is designed to provide flexibility for Australia’s Immigration Minister to regulate skilled migration planning levels as required by the circumstance.
The statement also said that the Australian Government is closely monitoring the country’s migration picture and visa settings in order to ensure that public health measures are properly maintained, and that job opportunities for Australians are not hampered while new skilled individuals are allowed to immigrate to Australia.
Skilled migration visas included in the rounds this year are the Skilled Independent visa (subclass 189) and Skilled Work Regional (Provisional) visa (subclass 491).
The Skilled Independent visa (subclass 189) is a permanent skilled migration visa to Australia, which allows eligible visa holders to live and work anywhere in Australia as a permanent resident with all the same benefits as Australian permanent residents, including free public healthcare, education for children and pathway to obtaining an Australian passport as a registered citizen of the country.
The Skilled Work Regional (Provisional) visa (subclass 491) lets qualified individuals live and work in a specified Australian region with unlimited travel to and from the country while the visa remains valid.
