India and Australia Sign a major new Immigration Pact

India and Australia have signed a crucial and new immigration pact which has been applauded for the creation of increased opportunities for youth and professionals in early careers in both nations.

The immigration pact was one of the 2 deals finalized at the first visit of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Australia in nine years. A temporary bilateral trade pact is operational for the last 5 months and it has been planned to enhance its scope and finalize the deal by the end of 2023.

The deal seeks to augment bilateral trade to $100 Billion.

India is the 6th largest partner in trade for Australia and the mutual trade in services and goods was valued in 2022 at $46.5 Billion.

The immigration pact consists of 10 pages and highlights fresh options for Visa aspirants to file extensions or applications for Visas. The aim is to boost employment-related movement for Graduates, Students, Professionals, Academics, and Short-stay arrivals. Also included are provisions for stringent action on illegal immigration and human trafficking.

Leaders’ Opinion on the new deal

Earlier, Modi announced the Green Hydrogen and Immigration deals and added that these demonstrated a fresh profundity and maturity of the bilateral ties. In Cricket language our relationship has progressed to the T20 mode, he added. The relationship has been built on a common cluster of democratic values and boosted through respect and trust, said Modi.

Narendra Modi emphasized that the Indian community in Australia is a live bridge between the two nations.

The Indian community is the quickest-growing immigrant group in Australia, expanding at a five-fold rate in the past 2 decades. Australian Bureau of Statistics has revealed that a little less than 60,000 Indians arrived in Australia in 2021-22. Nearly 784,000 Australians have ancestry in India which is 3.1% of the population of the nation.

The Indian-born population is the 2nd biggest immigrant community in Australia just behind the UK-born population. It is around 9.5% of the total population in Australia that is born overseas.

Albanese said that he intends 360-degree growth of bilateral ties. We wish to witness more connections wherein more Indian and Australian students reside and study in one another’s nation. These must be then able to bring home these experiences, he added.

Albanese expressed these views at the announcement of a fresh Australia-India Relations Centre to be based at Western Sydney’s Parramatta.

The significance of the deal

Leaders in Australia and India and Analysts have welcomed the pact. They have said that is a reflection of the growth of bilateral ties for recognizing the enhanced immigration levels amongst both nations.

Sheba Nandkeolyar the ex-Chair at Australia-India Business Council said that the pact is a victory for both the nations. Modi is quite vocal about the abundant offerings of Indic to the world. He has said that India will emerge as the workforce for the world ranging from Engineers to Doctors and IT to STEM.

Nandkeolyar said that Australia will be greatly benefited from highly educated, callable, talented, and professionally eligible individuals. With the growth of the Indian community in Australia, it has become even more significant for both nations to boost fields of cooperation, she added.

Australian Strategic Policy Institute Analyst Teesta Prakash said that Modi is highly strategic in backing the latest immigration pact. This outlines the manner in which immigration is propelling the ties. It is chiefly because of the fact that Modi is now actually attempting to shape his foreign policy guided by domestic priorities, she added.

The new immigrant arrivals are younger than immigrants who arrived in Australia 1 or 2 decades earlier said Prakash. The kind of reception that Modi was accorded in Sydney shows that the Indian Diaspora in Australia is even today highly connected to their motherland, explained the Analyst.

The Additional Visa Options

Further accommodating rules and conditions have been highlighted in the Immigration and Movement Collaboration Pact. It covers Professionals, Researchers, Graduates, Students, Short-stay arrivals, and those who seek Training Visas for employment-based prospects.

Beginning from 1 July 2023, Indian graduates from tertiary institutions in Australia on Student Visas can file applications for work and pursue career advancement without sponsorship for a Visa for a maximum of 8 years.

Citizens of Australia seeking to conduct research in Private or Public Higher Education or Research Institutions in India can file an application for the S-5 Visa. It is for a duration of 3 years or the project duration.

An individual fresh pilot program Mobility Arrangement for Talented Early-professionals Scheme/MATES has also been announced. It has provision for 3,000 places annually for 4 years.

For the latest updates on Immigration to Australia from India or Tourist Visa for Australia from India contact Best Immigration Consultants in Hyderabad Nationwide Visas.