5 Migration Wins 2023: Your Action Plan for Success

Look, if you have been thinking about an Australian visa, 2023 changed the game. I have been practising immigration law for over a decade, and I can tell you: this year brought reforms we have not seen in a long time.

Here are the five changes you need to know about.

1. The Pacific Engagement Visa Opens Doors

Are you from a Pacific Island nation or Timor Leste? This one is for you.

From July 2023, Australia created 3,000 new permanent visa places specifically for Pacific Islanders. It works through a ballot system. You put your name in, and if you get selected, you can apply for permanent residency.

Here is what makes this different: these 3,000 spots are on top of the regular migration program. They did not take places away from anyone else. They added them. That is rare.

You still need to pass health checks, character requirements, and English tests. But the pathway? It exists now when it did not before.

2. New Zealand Citizens Finally Get Priority

If you are a Kiwi living in Australia, you have probably felt like a second-class resident for years. That changed.

The Department now fast-tracks Skilled Independent (Subclass 189) visas for New Zealand citizens. And they scrapped some of the old barriers that made no sense:

• No more waiting five years in Australia

• No minimum income requirements

• Relaxed health conditions

They paused new applications from December 2022 to July 2023 to clear the backlog. If you get approved now, your Australian-born kids automatically become citizens. You get NDIS access immediately. The pathway to citizenship got faster too.

After years of being in limbo, New Zealanders finally have a clear route forward.

3. State Sponsorship Just Got Bigger

Want to know why state-sponsored visas are worth looking at? You are not tied to one employer. That is freedom most temporary visa holders do not have.

This year, the numbers went up significantly:

• 31,000 places for Subclass 491 (Regional)

• 34,000 places for Subclass 190 (Skilled Nominated)

• 5,000 places for Subclass 188 (Business and Investment)

The catch? You need to be under 45, and you have to find your own job. Nobody hands you employment. But if you have the skills and you are willing to put in the work, this is one of the strongest pathways available right now.

4. Partner Visas: No More Waiting in Line

This is the one that matters to families.

For years, partner visas had a cap. Only so many could be granted each year. If you missed out, you waited. Sometimes for years.

The Albanese government changed that. Partner visas are now demand-driven. There is no cap. If you meet the requirements, you get processed. The government expects around 40,500 partner visas this financial year, plus about 3,000 child visas.

I have seen couples wait three, four, five years to be together. This change means faster reunification. It means families can actually plan their lives.

5. Teachers and Healthcare Workers Jump the Queue

Ministerial Direction No. 100 rewrote the processing order. If you are a teacher or healthcare worker, your application now gets priority. We are talking processing times as short as three days.

Here is the new order:

1. Healthcare and teaching occupations

2. Employer-sponsored applicants with Accredited Sponsors

3. Regional area applications

4. Permanent and provisional visas (except Subclass 188)

5. Everything else

If you are in healthcare or education, this is your moment. The government needs you, and they are making it easier to get here.

What Should You Do Now?

Here is the thing about migration law: it changes constantly. What worked last year might not work today. I see people every week who assumed the old rules still applied. They lodged applications based on outdated information. Some of them got refused.

Do not let that be you.

If any of these changes affect your situation, now is the time to act. Book a consultation and let us work out exactly where you stand and what your next move should be.