You may have to bury that Australian plan

By Priyanka Chokhani Melbourne: Australia’s net migration intake will fall by as much as 80% in 2020-21 owing to Covid-19-induced travel bans, according to a new government report. Indians — the largest source of permanent migration to Australia — have already been hit hard as permits for permanent residency are taking substantially longer than usual . This year’s Economic and Fiscal update for Australia, a report released by the treasury department on Thursday, has predicted that net overseas migration will fall to 31,000 this financial year (July 2020- June 2021) compared with 1,54,000 in 2019-20 and 2,32,000 in 2018-19. Net overseas migration takes into account anyone who enters and stays in the country for 12 months — these include those granted permanent residency, temporary residents and students. The report noted that net overseas migration has been significantly affected by international travel curbs and constraints on the ability of applicants to meet visa application requirements. It observed that even if the travel ban is lifted by January 2021, a mandatory two-week quarantine period upon arrival may lead to a lower inflow of temporary and permanent migrants. Immigration experts said people can still submit visa applications and get assessed but wait time has increased. Mark Glazbroo, CEO of Migration Solutions in Adelaide, said skilled Indians who want to move to Australia may find it harder to realise their dreams this year. “India is the largest source of migration into Australia for several years now. But travel bans have affected this section and wait for permanent residency is much longer now. Earlier, we used to get 15-20 permanent residency approvals in a week and now we are getting only about 2-3,” he told TOI, adding that lower migration rates will have a significant impact on the Australian economy. The latest available immigration figures reveal that out of 160,323 permanent residencies issued in 2018-19, a total of 67,218 went to Indians.

from Economic Times https://ift.tt/3eWt4mp