Business and Migration Guide: What are the Options Available? Part 3: Australia
This week we round off our guide with a brief overview of the opportunities available to migrate to Australia. Australia is well known for its wildlife, the great outback, and its metropolitan cities. It is also a thriving economy, with a similarly encouraging migration policy to Canada. The aim of its policies are to encourage “economic migration,” and fill skills and economic gaps in the labor market, to help drive and sustain economic growth.
Australian Immigration Policy maintains the general opportunities for travel, work, migration and business available in Canada, such as the work category, permanent residency category, business visa category, and family sponsorship category, among others.
For economic migrants, the relevant categories are working visas, permanent residency, and business visas. We can assist with family sponsorship matters, however, this is left out of this article for the time being.
Working In Australia
There are numerous work visa categories available for potential foreign workers in Australia. Some require sponsorship by an employer, and/or provincial body in Australia. Some are for temporary work permits in listed professions (the Department of Home Affairs publishes an annual list of required professions to fill labor market shortages). There is also the Skilled Independent Visa Category, which allows qualified individuals to permanently live and work anywhere in the Commonwealth of Australia, based on their economic profile and qualifications.
Similarly to the migration process in Canada, individuals who match professions on the list of Skilled Occupations, can apply for temporary work or permanent residency. For permanent residency, interested individuals need to provide a Skills Assessment from a recognized body and submit and Expression of Interest to the Authorities. If they score highly enough on the “points system” then they may be invited to apply for the visa. In addition, an applicant must be under the age of 45 at the time of the application.
For temporary workers, those who are on the skills list published by the Department of Home Affairs, simply need a sponsoring employer to be eligible. They may then work in Australia for up to four years. This is a more progressive feature of the Australian Immigration Policies in effect, when compared to those of Canada. Temporary workers who are on the “skills list” need to simply apply for a suitable job to become eligible for the visa, thereby reducing the amount of processes involved in visa issuance. Based on their work experience, such workers may also become eligible for permanent residency later on as well.
In addition, those working for an Australian employer can also be nominated directly, by their employer, for permanent residency, under the “direct entry” or “labor agreement” stream. This makes the application process far simpler, for those who have an employer. There are certain additional requirements however, such as a minimum of three years of work experience, among others.
There are also other streams, such as seasonal workers, or worker holidays, and depending on the nationality of the applicant, various other treaty based options may also be available.
Doing Business in Australia and Study in Australia
There are a number of streams available for investment, and entrepreneurial activities. Most require investment, while others require proof of funds. However, under some streams, an Australian Provincial nomination for the business can also be used to obtain the visa. Like with Canada and the US, Australia also tries to encourage businesses. However, there are investment/funding, or provincial nomination requirements for those who want to get work permission and then stay permanently, in most cases.
For study, the procedure is similar to most European and Western countries, including the US and Canada, whereby the applicant must gain entrance to a designated educational institution and then apply for the visa.
This concludes our exploration of Business and Migration Opportunities for the month. We will be exploring business opportunities in Europe and Asia for future articles, and can assist clients in this regard if needed as well.
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