Why is Australia PR Getting Tougher?

Australia is one of the most sought-after nations in the world for international students. Not only it provides great quality and variety of education, it is also quite affordable when compared to countries like United States of America, United Kingdom, Canada, etc. In addition to this, Australia also provides pristine environment with great job opportunities.

With passing time, immigrants have been having tough time getting permanent residency in Australia. It was comparatively easier earlier, but with new rules coming up and new policies in place, it is getting increasingly difficult for migrants to secure PR status in the country.

Let us go through some of the most common reasons why Australia PR is getting increasingly difficult these days.

More Stringent Rules

There have been many updates recently concerning the policies for immigrants.
The newer policies focus more on overall development of the country and not just few more-renowned regions. Australia is a big country and certainly has resources for large number of people, but more and more people are eyeing Australia PR and the government wants to make sure it absorbs only the skilled ones and not the ones who become liability on the country’s systems.

Newly-introduced policies are more stringent and test the immigrants on various parameters over a good period of time, making it increasingly difficult for them to secure PR.

Development of Regional Areas

Australia has more recently focused towards regional development, for the resources in regions like Melbourne and Sydney have extra pressure on them. The Government has made up strategies to distribute the population homogeneously throughout the country, and is providing extra perks to people who choose to study and live in regional areas.

Many other policies have been brought up by Department of Home Affairs to facilitate regional development of the country.

Course-Hopping Students

Agree it or not, most of the international students coming on Australian study visa have PR as their prime motive. While there are students who stick to their education line and end up securing job and experience in field relevant to their education, there is a big number that hops courses.

These ‘course-hopping students’ choose to take up courses that have better PR prospects in future irrespective of their educational background.

DHA strictly discourages this ‘course-hopping behaviour’ and considers it negatively when assessing PR applications. It is to be noted that there has been an increase in such category of students, which is one of the reasons it is getting increasingly difficult to secure Australia PR.

Scarcity of Skilled Individuals

Though there is no dearth of skilled immigrants in the country, there is a big number that doesn’t fall stand eligible for PR. Per the new policies, the territories are offering extra points and PR (in some cases) to immigrants who choose to study and live in regional areas, but this is what immigrants are finding difficult to cope with, for the regional areas have less number of job opportunities as compared to more developed areas like Melbourne, Sydney, Canberra, etc.

The drive to develop regional Australia has just started and will time to show positive effect. In midst of immigrants preparing themselves for the regional areas and the Government trying to get the new policies in place, time is certainly losing, making it a little more difficult to get Australia PR as compared to the recent past.

While the policies change and make things different for immigrants, the best approach still remains to start early, stick to the best PR-pathway course and gain relevant experience, thereby making your profile stronger and securing Australia PR.