Australian Skilled Independent Visa
For the year 2007 to 2008, Australia happily announced that they have increased the quota for employees petitioning under the skilled migrants program of the country. Previously, the quota or cap was set at 102,500. However, due to continuous labour shortages, they have increased the figure by 6,000, making it 108,500 this year.
Skilled professionals and tradesmen can migrate to Australia under the country’s General Skilled Migration and Employer Sponsored visa programs. These programs enable individuals to move to and work in Australia permanently. There are a number of visas depending on the category of the professional worker. There are some professionals who will need sponsorship while there are others who can become an Australian immigrant without having a specific employment offer. Those who need sponsorship must have an existing employment offer and should be sponsored by the employer or state or territory government offering the job. On the other hand, those that do not need an offer are the highly skilled professionals.
The highest priority of the Australian Immigration is for those who are seeking an employer-sponsored visa because there is already a specific job waiting for them. This means that with such professional applicants, they are able to address the need for workers in the country.
With the increase of the number of Australia skilled migrants to be admitted this coming 2009, the country will see some improvement in their labour shortage. Hopefully, Australia will also add more advantages to obtaining skilled migrant visas to attract more skilled workers to the country.