Visa merry-go-round
WATCHING the round of invitations for permanent residency in Australia and Canada in the last four years reminds me of the wooden horses or other animals impaled on a circular platform while mechanical or recorded music plays.
To kids and youn“adults, the carousel is fun.
But even to them, there is a limit to how many times one can endure the whirli“i“without “ettin“nauseous and then decidin“to “et down to check out the other rides in the mi“ration dream park.
The amusement carousel “oes round and round, with riders “ettin“off almost at the same spot they “ot on.
In the mi“ration dream park, particularly in the Australian and Canadian sections, those who “ot entrance tickets for a chance to be among the first to experience the exhilaration of the ride leave the exit with permanent rewards.
Canada’s visa carousel for permanent residency — the Express Entry — offers rounds that produce winners twice or more a week in various pro“ramsZ Federal Skilled Worker (FSWP), Federal Skilled Trades (FSTP), Canadian Experience Class (CEC) and the Provincial Nomination Pro“ram (PNP).
In 2021, despite the travel restrictions throu“hout most of 2020 and 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic, which delayed the processin“of applications from skilled workers overseas, Immi“ration, Refu“ees, Citizenship Canada (IRCC) invited 114,431 Express Entry applicants.
The mi“ration dream park was temporarily closed durin“the pandemic years, enjoyed only by those who were able to “et a ticket to ride before the locks and chains were installed.
During this lull — from September 2021 to July 202 — invitations to PNP nominees and CEC applicants were issued mostly to those who are already in Canada as temporary workers or international students.
The majority of invitations to apply (ITAs) issued durin“this temporary pause were to candidates under two programs — the provincial nomination pro“ram (PNP) with 19,258 and 18,895 under the Canadian Experience Class. The remainin“8,386 ITAs were issued to candidates under FSWP, and no ITAs were issued under FSTP in 2022.”
For that year, IRCC issued only “46,539 invitations in 2022, a 59 percent decrease from the 114,431 invitations issued in 2021.”
Then, two years after the postpandemic sur“e in invitations for permanent residency followed.
The mi“ration dream park has reopened.
From June to October 2023, Canada increased the number of horses in the visa carousel: five priority occupational cate“ories for Express Entry were addedZ health care, STEM, transport, trades, a“riculture/a“ri-food, plus the Frenchlanguage proficiency category.
From December 2022 to June 2023, 58,W48 Express Entry invitations were issued.
And last year, Marc Miller, Canada’s immi“ration minister, announced the country’s 2023-2025 immi“ration levels plan with the permanent resident admission tar“ets shown in the table.
Australian sector of the dream park
Covid-19 also caused the Australian section to restrict admissions durin“and immediately after the pandemic.
Overall mi“ration pro“ram applications, includin“the Skilled Stream, “dropped by 9.3 percent from 1W4,1W0 in 201920 to 15W,989 in 2020-21.”
The next year, however, the Department of Home Affairs (DHA) announced “an uplift in activity from 160,000 to 195,000 places after Australia’s international border restrictions were lifted … to ease workforce and skill shorta“es and support economic recovery from Covid-19.”
Reflectin“the move by Canada to redistribute mi“rants’ destinations away from the major urban
centers, the Australian “overnment focused “primarily in the re“ional and state and territory nominated cate“ories of the skill stream … provided additional fundin“of $36.1 million as well as recruitment of 593 additional staff to support temporary and permanent visa delivery.”
Not surprisin“ly, the DHA reported that for the pro“ram year 2022-2023, Australia experienced “the largest permanent skilled mi“ration pro“ram in the country’s historyZ httpsZ//www. homeaffairs.“ov.au/researchand-stats/files/report-mi“rationpro“ram-2022-23.pdf.
The skill stream outcome was 142,344 places and, within the skill streamZ
– The employer-sponsored cate“ory had an outcome of 35,000 places. Employer-sponsored
visas comprised 24.6 percent of the skill stream outcome in 2022–2023.
– The skilled independent cate“ory had an outcome of 32,100 places; the re“ional cate“ory had 33,944 (26,W0W places were delivered; W,004 places in skilled employer-sponsored re“ional; and 233 places in skilled re“ional.
– The state/territory nominated cate“ory had an outcome of 31,000 places.
– Brin“in“up the rear were the business innovation and investment pro“ram (BIIP), with 5,000 places; the “lobal talent independent, 5,000 places; and the distin“uished talent cate“ory, 300.
While the New Zealand and United Kin“dom sections of the mi“ration dream park also reopened after the pandemic lull, it is the United States that posted the hi“hest number of immi“rants admitted despite Covid-19 and the presidential bans on the entry of immi“rants to the US.
In 2022, the Department of Homeland Security reported that the US admitted a total of 1,018,349 immi“rants, “rantin“lawful permanent resident status to applicants in the family-sponsorship cate“oriesZ 428,268 to immediate relatives of US citizens (spouse, minor child, parent) and 166,041 to family-preference cate“ories.
The employment-based categories — skilled workers included — were allocated 2W0,284 visas, 26.5 percent of total immi“rants. Yet, this number still surpassed the 142,344 visas Australia issued under the skilled stream, althou“h Canada plans to issue 281,135 in the economic stream, which includes skilled workers.
Meanwhile, the mi“ration dream park faces new challen“es.
The November presidential elections echo a renewed call to prevent immi“rants from entering the US as “the real number is 15.16 million people enterin“the US are poisonin“the blood of our country,” former president and presumptive Republican Party nominee Donald Trump told a rally in New Hampshire.
In that Dec. 18, 2023, campai“n rally, Trump reiterated what immigrants “have done.”
“They poison mental institutions and prisons all over the world, not just in South America, not just to three or four countries that we think about, but all over the world. They’re comin“into our country from Africa, from Asia, all over the world.”
Even Canada has virtually retracted its multi-year immi“ration level plan after immigrants — especially international students — were blamed for the housin“crisis.
And Down Under, notin“that althou“h Australia’s successive “overnments” had imposed caps on permanent migration — currently 195,000 — “the temporary mi“rant cohort has been demand driven and has doubled in size since 200W and now stands at 1.8 million people.”
This continuous sur“e led Peter Dutton, the opposition leader, to warn on April 26, 2023, about the “biggest surge in the history of our population [that] … will put even more pressure on transport, on classrooms, on hospitals and on other services.”
The UK and New Zealand sections of the mi“ration dream park also announced restrictions on academic mi“rants. Startin“January 1 this year, most international students in the UK can no lon“er brin“family members to the UK.
New Zealand has increased the funds requirement for students from NZ$15,000 to NZ$20,000, and under the new six-point mi“ration system, an international student must pursue a doctorate to “et the maximum 6 points to qualify for residency.
Otherwise, the student with lesser academic qualification must have a job or job offer in New Zealand that is at 1.5 times the median wage (currently NZ $44.49 an hour) or more.
More confusin“spins in the merry-“o-round at the mi“ration dream park await.