Visa Information

Skilled Migration

There are four main visa subclasses under the Skilled Migration Program:

General Requirements for Skilled Migration

For General Skilled Migration to Australia, you or your spouse must be able to satisfy the following basic requirements:

Age English Qualifications Nominated occupation Recent work experience   More details for General Requirements

Business Skills Migration

Australia is actively seeking to attract business investors. There are several visa categories for business migrants to Australia, and each category has different criteria.

If you are a business owner, senior executive or have a background in business management or investment activities and are interested in:

• investing in Australia;
• starting a new business in Australia;
• purchasing an ownership interest in an existing Australian business,

you and your family may be eligible for temporary or permanent residence status under Australia's business migration program.

Please contact our office on info@axismigration.com.au to discuss your business migration opportunities.

Employer Sponsored Work Visas

An Australian employer can sponsor a skilled employee for temporary or permanent residence in Australia. The applicant must take up a skilled position (in an occupation on the Skilled Occupation List) with the sponsoring employer.

Before applying for permanent residence under the employer nomination scheme you must have an offer from an Australian employer for permanent employment. The employer must comply with several requirements before being able to nominate you.

Partner Migration to Australia

To be eligible for partner migration to Australia, you must meet the following basic requirements:

Spouse

You must be in a married or a de facto relationship with an Australian citizen, Australian permanent resident or eligible NZ citizen. You can apply from within or outside Australia.

If you are living overseas and are engaged to be married to an Australian citizen, permanent resident or eligible NZ citizen and intend to marry that person before entering Australia, you can apply for a spouse visa but you must marry that person before a spouse visa can be granted.

You must be able to prove to the Australian Department of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs (DIMIA) that your relationship is genuine and continuing.

Fiance

You must be living outside Australia and be engaged to be married to an Australian citizen, permanent resident or eligible NZ citizen, and wish to marry that person in Australia. You cannot apply for a fiance visa if you are in Australia.

You must be able to prove to DIMIA that you genuinely intend to marry your fiance and live together as spouses.

Interdependent partner

You must be in an interdependent relationship with an Australian citizen, permanent resident or eligible NZ citizen. Interdependent relationships include, but are not restricted to, same sex couples.

You can apply outside Australia or in Australia. Like the categories above, you must be able to prove to DIMIA that your relationship is genuine and continuing.

Parent Migration to Australia

The following requirements apply to all parent categories:

• you must be a parent of a child who is an Australian citizen, Australian permanent resident or eligible NZ citizen

 

• your child must be settled in Australia (in most cases, resident for at least 2 years), and must sponsor you

   

• you must pass the balance of family test (at least half of your children must live permanently in Australia, or you must have more children living permanently in Australia than in any other single country)

 

• you must meet health and character requirements

 

• in addition to paying the first Visa Application Charge (1VAC) and meeting the above requirements, you will need to pay a second Visa Application Charge (2VAC)

 

• if you are applying for any category that has the word 'aged' in its title, you must be old enough to be granted an Australian age pension

There are 2 groups of parent visas: "standard" parent visas and contributory parent visas. Within the 2 groups are 6 classes of temporary and permanent visas available for parents wishing to migrate to Australia.

Permanent Contributory Parent Contributory Aged Parent Parent Aged Parent Temporary Contributory Parent Contributory Aged Parent

Applicants for the contributory parent visa classes are required to make a higher contribution towards their future health and welfare costs. This is implemented by way of paying a substantially higher 2VAC. As of August 2003, the 2VAC is Australian Dollars $25,000 (per person).

Subject to visa places available, applicants who are able to meet all the requirements for the contributory parent visa classes:

1. will be granted a permanent visa if they choose to pay the full 2VAC at one time , or
2. will be granted a temporary visa valid for 2 years if they choose to pay 60% of 2VAC

Temporary visa holders must pay the remaining 40% before a permanent visa can be granted. Application for the permanent visa must be made before the temporary visa expires.

There are more than 3 times the number of visa places available each year in the contributory parent visa classes than in the parent visa classes. If you apply for a contributory parent visa, you can expect your application to be processed much more quickly.