In a media release from the Australian Government on 23 August, it has been confirmed that the Australian Agriculture Visa will go ahead in 2021. In the statement it was announced that new Regulations would be in place by the end of September 2021. Speculation about the promised visa has been widespread since Australia’s Minister for Agriculture, Drought and Emergency Management, David Littleproud, announced in June that it would be coming soon. We wrote an article about the Agriculture visa at the time of the announcement, based on Minister Littleproud’s assertions, but the scope of the visa seems to have expanded substantially over the last few months creating more places in more industries.

If you're a Permanent Resident of Australia, congratulations!  You've already come so far and done so well.  But you're looking to take things one step further, you might consider becoming an Australian Citizen.  Citizens have the privilege of voting rights, financial assistance for education, government jobs, and protection from deportation.  It's definitely worth pursuing!  So how do you become a citizen of Australia?

Move to South Australia released one of the longest Occupations List for 491 and 190 visas.

Move to South Australia (Move to SA) released its Skilled Occupation List for 491 and 190 visas on 4 February 2021. The list is the longest among all the states; it covers 23 categories with hundreds of occupations.

Move to SA will started accepting application from Sat, 8 February 2021.

The Australian Department of Home Affairs has updated their policies on 20 January 2021 so that Bachelor with Honours and Masters (both research and coursework) graduates are no longer eligible for invitation under the GTI program.

Prior to 20 January 2021, the Department’s policy had been that candidates with a Bachelor with Honours or a Masters from the last 3 years with high grades were considered “highly likely” to earn at or above the required threshold (the Fair Work High Income Threshold, currently $153,600). This is no longer the case.

While these qualifications no longer meet the requirements, candidates with those qualifications can still be invited if they are able to show through other evidence that they can attract the high salary.

Some changes have been announced by the Minister Alan Tudge on 19 December 2020. These changes might bring relief to Graduate Subclass 485 Post Study Work Stream (PSW) visa holders and students who wish to apply for 485 visa but are stuck outside Australia due to Covid19 pandemic.