After the UK, the Albanese government in Australia came forward with an alteration in their visa policies, which, as a result, would prevent international students and workers from obtaining visas to reform the country’s temporary migration system, which was called “broken” by them.

On Monday, this 10-step strategy will be revealed to avoid the misuse of student visas as a “back door” by employers to bring in low-skilled workers. Also, enhance the measures to ensure opportunities for highly skilled workers in these growing industries. The government is anticipating a steady decrease in overseas migration in the coming year.

The decision came into action as the net migration reached a record high of 510,000 in 2022–23. However, it is predicted to decrease to almost half in 2024–25 and 2025–26, which was the same as before the COVID-19 pandemic.

Stricter English Language Requirements: To tackle exploitation, the government is imposing stricter English language requirements for student visa applicants, which would be aligned with the skilled workers’ visa, making things easier for international students and helping them find better jobs.

Middle-Tier Skilled Worker: For those earning more than 70000 dollars, changes in the middle-tier skilled worker visa are going to result in 25000 fewer people gaining entry into Australia. The minimum salary for this visa is also going to be changed annually, with the application process focusing on the core skills needed in Australia.

Care workers: The government is looking to bring lower-skilled workers into critical sectors like care workers, even if they don’t fall in the $70,000 bracket.

A new Specialist Visa- a new specialist visa is being introduced by the government for those who earn more than 135,000 dollars annually, which will target highly skilled individuals in fields such as cyber or green technology.

Student Visa Requirements: The students will have to successfully demonstrate how their studies in Australia will advance their academic or learning goals. Also, the government is going to enforce stricter attendance and passing requirements to prevent the misuse of student visas.

Conclusion

The Home Affairs Minister, Claire O’Neil, has stated the migration system in Australia is broken and needs to be fixed to bring migration to a sustainable level.

The changes applied above have resulted in 185,000 fewer immigrants reaching Australia.

The goal of protecting wages and conditions for migrant workers is the result of the expected decline in overseas migration, which is part of the government’s efforts to tackle the loopholes and abuses in the current migration system in Australia.

But rest assured, these changes do not impact permanent visa routes and family visas. 

The Prime Minister of the UK, Rishi Sunak, has recently announced new changes in UK Visa policies to reduce the net migration that increased by nearly 23% in just a year.

The following changes were announced by the Home Minister, James Cleverly-

• International students in the UK will no longer be able to bring dependants on their Student visa unless they are studying for a postgraduate research programme.
• The minimum salary needed for skilled overseas workers’ visas also
  rose from £26200 to £38700.
• Health and Care visa holders are banned from bringing their family dependents.
• The minimum income for family visas has been raised to £38,700, from £18,600 from next spring.
• The list of jobs with a shortage of workers will be changed, and they will stop giving a 20% discount on the normal salary for these jobs.
• The number of immigrants could dip by 300,000 in the coming year.
• The annual charge foreign workers pay to use the NHS has been increased from £624 to £1,035.

The need to reduce net migration through study, work and family visas came into effect when the number of migrants reached a record high of 745,000 in 2022. The above alterations in the Visa policy by PM Sunak imply that Britain needs to take ‘radical’ actions to reduce net migration and to curb abuse.

The significant results in numbers would be:

• 140,000 fewer will come via student routes.
• 100,000 fewer will come through health and social care routes.
• 50,000 fewer will come through other skilled worker routes.
• Tens of thousands fewer will come as sponsored family members.

Conclusion

To sum up, the UK’s Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, has made strict changes to visa rules to control the rising number of people coming to the country. The alterations affect students, skilled workers, and families, aiming to bring down the record-high migration numbers from 2022. These changes are a significant effort to manage immigration, and it’s expected to reduce the number of people coming to study, work, and join family members.