Do well in your studies and a visa could well be waiting for you in South Australia. In a drive to draw and keep the best brains in the state after graduation, the South Australian government has announced that it will be making it easier for talented international graduates of South Australian public universities to qualify for state nomination through the ‘high performing graduate’ category.

High performing graduates from other South Australian higher education institutes may also be considered on a case-by-case basis according to Immigration SA, the South Australian state department which manages state nomination policies and processes state nomination applications.

As at 30 June 2015, there were 374,566 student visa holders in Australia with over 40% studying in the Higher Education Sector.  Over one third of students were from China (22.0 per cent) or India (13.0 per cent). Less than 10% of the total foreign student population in Australia, study in South Australia’s 3 public universities namely University of South Australia, University of Adelaide and Flinders University.

That could change with this policy which is set to make the state more attractive to international students, particularly the high-achievers. Immigration SA, has announced that graduates must meet all of the following requirements to be eligible for the program:

The following is a personal account of Australian lawyer, Mr Rami Yousif, an Australian lawyer who has just applied to become a Registered Migration Agent:

"As I comfort and assure my son at the tall green gates leading him to his first day at Fairfield Primary School, a wave of nostalgia sweeps me and takes me back to my teary first day at Al-Awda Primary School in Nineveh, Iraq. I feel happiness and enjoyment as I remember the friends that I met at school. I tell myself that he will be okay.

I feel overwhelmed by how far we have come. From being the only Christian kid out of a thousand students and how hard it was to be accepted amongst a majority of Muslim and Kurdish kids. How lucky my son is to be in a country where everyone is equal and free!

The 457 work visa is regarded as extremely useful by Australian businesses; however, there are people who do not like the scheme. Many people in Australia hold the view that the programme takes jobs away from Australians and gives them to immigrants who work for much lower salaries. Those people will not like the recent letter penned by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, who wants to decrease the market testing limitations which are attached to the 457 visas.

Market Testing

The whole point of market testing is to prevent jobs from being taken away from Australians. The business groups argue that the whole reason for market testing is a lie. The Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI) alleges that the limitations actually end up hurting the local economy. The basic idea which they dispute is that they will hire foreigners over the locals. The main reason that the ACCI is disputing the requirements of the 457 visa is that the programme is used by companies to fulfil positions for which they do not find suitable local candidates.

Australia has one of the best tools available online when it comes to immigration. The process of finding a job you can apply for internationally is always hard; you never know whether the companies will be interested in sponsoring your immigration or not. It was problematic for the companies as well because it was hard to judge how many people were interested in immigrating to Australia to fulfil a position.

The Australian government launched SkillSelect to make the process easier and we would highly encourage people to use the tool. The tool can be thought of as the meeting place for skilled workers willing to move 

Registering with SkillSelect

The first thing you need to do is go to SkillSelect and register yourself. Please note that registering on SkillSelect itself is not a part of the visa process; you are not applying for a visa, simply showing that you are willing to move to Australia. You will still need to work with a Registered Migration Agent if you want to start the immigration process. When you come to SkillSelect you will be asked to provide some data about yourself. You will need to submit an EoI (expression of interest).

Between 60,000 – 70,000 of the 140,000 New Zealanders holding the Special Category Visa will find it easier to gain Australian citizenship from 1 July 2017, the Australian Prime Minister announced on Friday.

Early details indicate that applicants will have to provide evidence that they have lived and worked in Australia for at least five years or more and during that time earned income in excess of the temporary skills migration income threshold, which now is about $54,000 a year.

Prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull, announced the “new pathways to citizenship” after hosting a meeting with his counterpart, John Key, in Sydney on Friday.

Speaking at a media conference, New Zealand Prime Minister John Key said the deal was in response to advocacy “for the plight of New Zealanders living in Australia who have been in a particular category that hasn’t allowed them to become Australian citizens”.

Joanne Cox, of New Zealand advocacy group Oz Kiwi, said the group was "cautious" about the announcement until further detail was available but said it looked like a "tool to screen out the poor," because many New Zealanders would fail to meet requirements.

"It will be a pathway for a number of people who have arrived since 2001 to access to permanent residency and citizenship, so that’s a win," she said. "But for every win there’s a loss."

"[For] those people who will not have earned sufficient income over the last five years, it’s going to be similar to a skilled visa by the sounds of things and many New Zealanders aren’t eligible for a skilled visa because they don’t work in the right fields."