2024/25 Visa Numbers for Australia
5 minute read ⌚
If you are looking to obtain a visa for Australia from the UK this post could bring important news for you.
On May 14th 2024, the Australian Government announced details about the 2024/2025 permanent Migration Program (Migration Program).
The headline figure in terms of the number of places is 185,000.
Here’s the breakdown:
- Skill Stream (132,200 places, approx 71% of total):
- For filling skill gaps, especially in regional areas.
- Family Stream (52,500 places, approx 28% of total):
- Mostly Partner visas (40,500) and Child visas (3,000).
- Special Eligibility Stream (300 places):
- For special cases, including returning residents.
2024/2025 State and Territory Nomination Allocations
On July 1st 2024, the Australian Financial Review released some details of expected skilled migrant visa numbers for 2024/2025 for the respective Australian states and territories.
While this is not an official confirmation, the source is reputable so I have summarised some of the available information in the table below.
It is worth mentioning that the article confirms increases across the board except for Queensland.
Western Australia, South Australia and Tasmania are set for the largest increases in numbers.
The article states that the Northern Territory will receive an additional 650 visas. However, I’m not yet certain of the split between 190 and 491.
For people such as ourselves looking to obtain a visa for Australia from the UK, this is an exciting update.
Please wait for official confirmation from https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/ and remember the numbers in the table below are not yet “official”.
| State | Skilled Nominated (Subclass 190) visa | Change from 2023/2024 Number | Skilled Work Regional (Subclass 491) visa | Change from 2023/2024 Number |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ACT | 900 | +300 | 900 | +300 |
| NSW* | ? | ? | ||
| NT** | ? | ? | ||
| QLD | 600 | -300 | 600 | -50 |
| SA | 3000 | +1900 | 1,200 | 0 |
| TAS | 2100 | +1500 | 600 | 0 |
| VIC* | ? | ? | ||
| WA | 3,000 | +1500 | 1,850 | +1000 |
| Total | 10,300 | 6,400 |
*NSW and VIC are expected to remain the same as 2023/2024 however there is no confirmation in the article so I have omitted the numbers for these states at the time of writing
2023/2024 State and Territory Skilled Visa Numbers
| State | Skilled Nominated (Subclass 190) visa | Skilled Work Regional (Subclass 491) visa |
|---|---|---|
| ACT | 600 | 600 |
| NSW | 2,650 | 1,500 |
| NT | 250 | 400 |
| QLD | 900 | 650 |
| SA | 1,100 | 1,200 |
| TAS | 600 | 600 |
| VIC | 2,700 | 600 |
| WA | 1,500 | 850 |
| Total | 10,300 | 6,400 |
What Could The Changes Mean?
With additional plans to cap foreign students and adjust points for recent graduates to favour them over offshore skilled migrants, you can read about the point test review here, the pool of eligible Expressions of Interest (EOIs) could shrink at higher point thresholds.
If you have 90+ points for a 190 visa or 100+ for a 491 visa, you could be more likely to receive an invitation to apply.
The state quota allocation for 2024/2025 will be higher than 2023/2024.
The exact increase is unknown, but hopefully, it will be sufficient to allow more people to receive invitations across a wider range of occupations.
If the above turns out to be true, it would be beneficial to us and our EOI. So from a selfish point of view, our fingers are crossed.
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