Australian Immigration visa updates Migration has always made substantial contributions to the Australian economy and culture. But due to the travel restrictions, a lot has been changed or you can be delayed a lot. Back in October, the Australian Federal budget was announced. The new budget includes long-term plans due to the COVID-19 along with some interesting 2020-2021 migration level changes. If you want to understand better about the immigration visa updates then you should get assistance from the migration agents in Brisbane. What you can expect from the Federal budget? The migration program ceiling in 2020-2021 is going to remain at 1,60,000 places. The program's major priority is to bring skilled migrants from all over the world. The major changes are going to be seen in the Skilled stream which includes the following visa types:

• Employer-Sponsored (Subclass 186 and 482 visas)
• Business Innovation and Investment (Subclass 188)

Applicants with both these visa options are going to get the most priority. One of the most important changes is seen in the General Skilled migration ceiling which has reduced by 30,000 spots with the ever-popular Skilled Independent (Subclass 189) visa receiving a reduction from 16,652 to 6500 places.

• Furthermore, 2021 planning levels have reduced the Subclass 190 - State Nominated Skilled visa to 11,200 down from 24,698.
• For the skilled work regional visa (Subclass 491) from 23,372 to 11,200 last year.

The budget shows that in the skilled visa 17 priority occupations are going to be filling and 11 of them are going to be regarding the health sector. Increase in the family stream In the family stream, the places are going to see a tremendous increase of 61.75%. The total count was 47,732 and now it has reached 77,300. Around 72,300 seats are for the partner visa - Subclass 801 and 820. According to the estimates, new permanent residents are going to get the entry. In this case, half of them are from the skilled stream and half of them are from the Family stream.

Enhancing Family Stream migration

In the family stream, most of the visas are going to go in the partner stream. Additionally, the application process has become thorough and it is also estimated that the partner visa is going to be around 75%. The major changes with this stream include the following:

• Sharing the sponsor information
• Enforceable sponsorship applications.
• With the partner visa and sponsor application, the English language requirement is used.
• Character checks are an important part.

Covid-19 refunds and extensions

The government has announced that there will be a Visa Application Charge (VAC) which is a type of refund for the visa holders who are not able to travel due to the Australian travel border restrictions. The following visa type is included:

• Visitor visa holders
• Pacific labor scheme visa holders
• Temporary skilled workers
• Seasonal worker program visa holders
• Prospective marriage visa holders (PMV)