Australia, February 8: A few changes have been introduced in the Australian immigration policy to help the country focus on allowing high-skilled professionals into the country.
Meanwhile, this would mean rejection of visa applications of nearly 20,000 low-skilled migrants, the Federal government announced today. A solace for such candidates is that they will be given the refund of their fees which will cost Australia nearly $14 million.
The move is in line with the increasing Chinese resource demand and is being seen as a step forward towards the betterment of Australia’seconomy.
Mining sector welcomes the decision—
The Federal government’s decision was felicitated by the mining sector of Australia which is struggling hard with an acute shortage of skilled workers. Welcoming the move, Steve Knott, Chief Executive of Australian Mines and Metals Association, said the mining sector needs more manpower and the demand for skilled workers is likely to grow even further when the projects become functional.
Setback for overseas student education sector—
Nonetheless, these changes to Australia’s skilled migration program will give a big setback to the foreign student education sector which brings nearly $13 billion earnings every year. The education sector of Australia has already attracted publicity, although for the bad reasons, especially after a series of attacks on Indians studying in Australia.
System overhauled to suit Australian economy—
The Prime Minister of Australia, Kevin Rudd, defended his decision of changes in Australia’ immigration policy saying the system was not in accordance with the needs of the present Australian economy. Hence, there was an imminent need to attract the right skills for the better future of the country’s economy.
Hence, ‘Skills Australia’, an independent body will be involved in preparing and review of a more targeted list every year.
The new policy will make it mandatory for the prospective Australian immigrants to possess better skills in English language.
In addition, it will also cut the chance of permanent residency for some of the foreign students since the jobs for which they are getting education will get excluded from the new skilled list. So, the new rules would ensure that a student visa is for study, and not to stay permanently in Australia, Immigration Minister Chris Evans stated clearly.