Graduates to face tougher requirements

Skilled migrants may face tougher visa tests

James Riley, The Australian

January 19, 2006

OVERSEAS students seeking to remain in Australia as permanent residents may face strict new visa conditions as part of a government rethink of the skilled migration program.

A discussion paper being circulated by Immigration Minister Amanda Vanstone flags the likely imposition of a higher English language requirement for skilled migrants to ensure they do better in the Australian job market.

It also points to the likely creation of a temporary visa category targeting overseas students studying in Australia to make sure they get skilled work experience locally before they become eligible to migrate.

The Immigration Department has appointed an outside panel of labour market experts from Monash, La Trobe and Flinders universities to assess the performance of skilled migrants in the workforce.

The evaluation of the General Skilled Migration program will focus on areas where large numbers of recent graduates with permanent resident status have flooded job markets already in oversupply.

The report will be handed to Senator Vanstone early next month for presentation to cabinet.

Changes to the skilled migration program are expected to be introduced in May.

One of the report's authors, Monash University's Bob Birrell, said that although the evaluation looked at the entire skilled migration program, it focused on onshore visas granted to students.

"There are problems, particularly with the overseas student group, because they are the most rapidly growing group," Dr Birrell said.

"The enrolment of overseas students has been mainly driven by the potential for permanent resident outcomes. So we are looking at how they are doing in the Australian labour market, and I think it's fair to say that there are some problems."