It was in March 2020 when Australia closed its borders to everyone and has only been allowing limited international arrivals, mainly those citizens or permanent residents from overseas. This has caused not only setbacks for the nation’s migration programme, but has also escalated concerns for those who has started and will be starting their Australia PR application.
COVID-19 has totally left global economy unstable, proving the importance of immigration and the undeniable contributions of migrants to every country. Australia, for instance, has been relying on migration for so many years, both temporary and permanent. Many businesses employ migrants to staff their offices, cafes, farms to attract business growth. That is why Australia has decided to slowly open up the borders for people.
What to expect from reopening Australian borders?
Despite still having cases every day compared to other state such as Western Australia, New South Wales (NSW) has announced intention of moving forward and just to live with the pandemic. They started by setting up a pilot plan allowing 500 international students studying with NSW education providers to return and finish their study from early December 2021. This program will prioritize those students who need to complete face-to-face learning including internship placements to graduate.
For citizens and permanent residents who are stuck overseas or in some other states are now allowed to enter NSW and Victoria from 1st November without quarantine. Fully vaccinated tourist from neighbouring country such as New Zealand will be allowed to enter into Australia as well from 1st November. Just recently, Australia and Singapore has arranged travel bubbles as well, allowing fully-vaccinated travellers from Singapore to enter Australia from 21st November.
How can the border reopening affect stuck offshore applicants?
Though the nation has not officially announced yet plans for the offshore applicants, the immigration department has remained open in accepting all Australia PR application, or any other visa application. For Skilled Migration programme which is the most popular route for migrants, South Australia (SA) has resumed accepting offshore applicants now. They have initially opened applications for 70 specific nominated occupation, and then open slots for engineering professionals. This movement is in place to manage SA’s COVID recovery response while filling in the most vital industry.
While some states remain closed for offshore applicants, we are seeing some shed of light when it comes to other states following the initial movement made by SA. With that being said, what can be more efficient than starting your application as early as now? Bear in mind that there are so many applicants waiting for this to happen as well, meaning they are in the queue already and most likely to be prioritized compared to new applications, except if you have exceptional eligibility criteria.
Discuss your eligibility criteria with us to kick start your Australia PR Application. Fill out our free online assessment form to get an initial assessment.