New Pact between India and Australia allows Indian graduates to work in Australia for up to 8 years
Agreement between India and Australia
- Last week India and Australia signed a mobility and migration partnership pact. This partnership opens up many opportunities for educational researchers, students, and business people.
- Under the new scheme, Indian graduates of Australian tertiary institutions on a student visa can apply to work and pursue professional development without visa sponsorship for up to eight years.
- This is slated to begin from 1 July this year.
New scheme for temporary visas
- The programme will also include a new pilot program MATES (Mobility Arrangement for Talented Early-professionals Scheme) that will have an annual cap of 3,000 places for four years.
- MATES will offer a new mobility pathway for Indian graduates and early career professionals with knowledge and skills in targeted fields of study to live and work in Australia for up to two years.
Australia promised new work visas
- According to reports, the first list of eligible educational qualifications covers renewable energy, mining, engineering, ICT, artificial intelligence, FinTech, AgriTech. More areas will be added at a later date by a joint working group.
- Australia introduced overhauling its immigration system in April to increase the number of getting highly skilled workers in Australia and allow them for permanent residency.
The Australian government on high-skilled professionals
- The federal Labour government said that there would be a modification in the points test to identify the correct people with the correct skill sets for economic needs in growth in Australia.
- They also mentioned that visa processing would be made quicker and easier for high-skilled professionals. But on the other side, few steps would be taken for international students to retain. Candidates with Temporary visas, who had been denied applying for permanent visa opportunities, will be allowed by the end of this year.
- In September last year, Australia raised its intake of permanent migrants to 195,000 this financial year, up by 35,000, to help businesses battling widespread staff shortages and pledged more staff and funds to speed up visa processing.
