Skilled workers prioritised amid backlog of almost one million visa applications

Australian Visa

Source: Getty Images/LuapVision

Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil outlined how the government will attempt to deal with the issue.


Highlights
  • Australia’s visa backlog will be tackled by first prioritising 60,000 permanent visa applications lodged by skilled workers based overseas as the federal government focuses its response on workforce shortages being hindered by processing delays.
  • New government figures have revealed, that the current visa backlog is 961,016 visa applications across all categories with some 560,187 lodged by people outside Australia.
  • The Australian Chamber of Commerce has called for the annual migration program to be expanded to 200,000 people to help secure the country’s economic pathway out of the pandemic.

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