Visa

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<div>There has been a lot of misleading commentary about population growth dropping off a cliff, and so on.</div>
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<div>It really isn't, but the composition of growth is sure changing.</div>
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<div>I explained <a href="https://petewargent.blogspot.co.uk/2015/12/students-to-drive-population" target="_blank">here</a> back in 2015 why international students would be the key driver of growth going forward.<br><br> It's a key reason why so many bloggers and analysts got their supply and demand ratios so muddled last year, particularly in Melbourne where <a href="https://petewargent.blogspot.co.uk/2016/12/melbournes-population-explosion" target="_blank">population growth broke all known records in 2016</a>, but also in Sydney, and to a much lesser extent Brisbane. </div>
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<div>The latest figures from the DIBP confirmed a walloping increase of 90,380 temporary visa holders over the year to September 2016, with a crunching increase in student visa holders of 45,070 over the year.</div>
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<div>Remember many international students are expected to go to secure Australian residency through other visa classes.</div>
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<div>There was also a massive 51.4 per cent increase in temporary graduate visa holders, easily eclipsing the relatively small decline in skilled 457 visas (that form the basis of most doomsday scenarios).</div>
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<div><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-lK4sTHM0uYs/WHdgU0fcoSI/AAAAAAAAhM0/GyXPi2QtKwIIQYK41p-R605PYMtqVcG5QCLcB/s640/V1.jpg" target="_blank">Click to enlarge</a></div>
<p><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-lK4sTHM0uYs/WHdgU0fcoSI/AAAAAAAAhM0/GyXPi2QtKwIIQYK41p-R605PYMtqVcG5QCLcB/s1600/V1.jpg"><img src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-lK4sTHM0uYs/WHdgU0fcoSI/AAAAAAAAhM0/GyXPi2QtKwIIQYK41p-R605PYMtqVcG5QCLcB/s640/V1.jpg" width="640" height="240"></a></p>
<p>Source: DIBP</p>
<div>By far the greatest number of temporary visa holders were Kiwis on the visa subclass 444, increasing by 2.3 per cent to 677,030, dispelling the narrative that all Kiwis are heading home.<br><br> Total temporary entrants will rise towards 2.1 million by the end of 2017.</div>
<p><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VzgXJuEpkk0/WHdgUqv7CTI/AAAAAAAAhMw/DC6WVITK2OUb1g5rEkB6izXpV9_sxBxDwCLcB/s640/V2.jpg" target="_blank">Click to enlarge</a><br><br><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VzgXJuEpkk0/WHdgUqv7CTI/AAAAAAAAhMw/DC6WVITK2OUb1g5rEkB6izXpV9_sxBxDwCLcB/s1600/V2.jpg"><img src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VzgXJuEpkk0/WHdgUqv7CTI/AAAAAAAAhMw/DC6WVITK2OUb1g5rEkB6izXpV9_sxBxDwCLcB/s640/V2.jpg" width="640" height="270"></a><br><br> Thanks to the visa subclass 444, some 34.5 per cent of temporary visa holders are New Zealanders.<br><br><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rfnlCybJ6ME/WHdgVEXjSuI/AAAAAAAAhM4/SpZNbB3_84gsYYaz5gmVwrT8KZm2wSIHwCLcB/s640/V3.jpg" target="_blank"> Click to enlarge</a><br><br><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rfnlCybJ6ME/WHdgVEXjSuI/AAAAAAAAhM4/SpZNbB3_84gsYYaz5gmVwrT8KZm2wSIHwCLcB/s1600/V3.jpg"><img src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rfnlCybJ6ME/WHdgVEXjSuI/AAAAAAAAhM4/SpZNbB3_84gsYYaz5gmVwrT8KZm2wSIHwCLcB/s640/V3.jpg" width="640" height="296"></a><br><br> However, the real growth sector is in student visas, particularly to Chinese and Indian students.</p>
<p><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-S7kZqDb9cgU/WHdgToxuj0I/AAAAAAAAhMs/WzCBZ5Otx-IThjZwfZ_c-6tQ9aCvGp_ewCLcB/s640/STUDENT.jpg" target="_blank">Click to enlarge</a></p>
<div><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-S7kZqDb9cgU/WHdgToxuj0I/AAAAAAAAhMs/WzCBZ5Otx-IThjZwfZ_c-6tQ9aCvGp_ewCLcB/s1600/STUDENT.jpg"><img src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-S7kZqDb9cgU/WHdgToxuj0I/AAAAAAAAhMs/WzCBZ5Otx-IThjZwfZ_c-6tQ9aCvGp_ewCLcB/s640/STUDENT.jpg" width="640" height="298"></a></div>
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<div>Most international students head to institutions in Melbourne, Sydney, and Brisbane - in that order.</div>
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<div>As expected, the insatiable demand from international students will keep on keeping on, delivering a substantial boost for population growth in those three capital cities through 2016 and beyond.</div>
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<div>PETE WARGENT is the co-founder of <a href="https://allenwargent.com/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">AllenWargent</a> property buyers (London, Sydney) and a best-selling author and <a href="https://petewargent.blogspot.com/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">blogger</a>.</div>
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Students help temporary visa holders soar towards 2 million: Pete Wargent

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<p class="post-title entry-title">EXPERT OBSERVER</p>
<p class="post-title entry-title">Despite election talk of reducing the permanent intake into Australia, any prospective slowdown has been offset by an increase in temporary visa issuance. </p>
<div>The big drivers have been seen in student visas, bridging visas, and other visitors.</div>
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<div class="separator"><img src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2dolV8p17RI/Xe1r4gkH2gI/AAAAAAAAzRw/IeetJKg5qFgWXm5cF3qROpTq3BnHYzE9ACNcBGAsYHQ/s640/A1.jpg" width="640" height="374" data-original-height="817" data-original-width="1398"></div>
<p class="post-body entry-content"><br>In particular, student visas have exploded into Sydney and Melbourne.<br><br></p>
<div class="separator"><img src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hYmdWqZ2KKo/Xe1stn5KXPI/AAAAAAAAzSA/UgSES-Ow_400t_FzvJt1VF7WbUecawliQCNcBGAsYHQ/s640/A3.jpg" width="640" height="222" data-original-height="258" data-original-width="743"></div>
<p class="post-body entry-content"><br>The total number of temporary visas hit a record high 2.3 million in Q3 2019.<br><br></p>
<div class="separator"><img src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8d-Y6SOpCok/Xe1r4jQv62I/AAAAAAAAzR0/blfhsvjEnes8K7TRpFUotwkXhHg0nWV7ACNcBGAsYHQ/s640/A2.jpg" width="640" height="382" data-original-height="801" data-original-width="1339"></div>
<p class="post-body entry-content"> </p>
<div>Temporary visas on issue have fairly consistently increased by about 100,000 per annum over the past six years, from 1.7 million in 2013 to a record high of 2.3 million as at September 2019. </div>
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<div class="separator"><img src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hRMdurDD-gU/Xe1tTj9GfBI/AAAAAAAAzSI/D7uRiuenV_kc9R_a6ONc6lfH22qCS3EVgCNcBGAsYHQ/s640/A4.jpg" width="640" height="244" data-original-height="280" data-original-width="729"></div>
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<div class="separator">This means that population growth, when including temporary and permanent immigration, and the natural population increase (births minus deaths), is running at close to 400,000 per annum.</div>
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<div>I recently <a href="https://gonextlevelwealth.com.au/the-stars-never-align-perfectly-2-minute-video/" target="_blank">discussed here</a> that while population growth can drive housing prices, it isn't a precondition for rising prices. </div>
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<div><em>PETE WARGENT is the co-founder of AllenWargent property buyers (London, Sydney) and a best-selling author and <a href="https://petewargent.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">blogger</a>. </em></div>
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No slowdown in visa issuance: Pete Wargent

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<p>GUEST OBSERVATION</p>
<p>Rumours have circulated for months that the National Party and National Farmers Federation are pushing for a new so-called agricultural visa for temporary migrants. Now they have gained momentum, and reports indicate an announcement early next week.</p>
<p>Details are scarce, but it seems the visa will differ from the two existing visas for agricultural workers from the Pacific – the Seasonal Worker Program (SWP) and the Pacific Labour Scheme (PLS) – in being more flexible and also open to workers from across Asia.</p>
<p>The SWP allows workers to come to Australia from the Pacific or Timor Leste for up to six months to pick fruit and vegetables. It is growing rapidly: by almost 40% per year.</p>
<p>The newer PLS allows Pacific Island workers to come to regional Australia to work in any sector for up to three years. Only a year old, it too could grow rapidly.</p>
<p><strong>No longer solely Pacific</strong></p>
<p>Here are the three reasons why an additional extra agricultural visa is not just a bad idea, but one that makes no sense.</p>
<p>First, we don’t need one. Farmers can already hire SWP workers to meet their short-term needs (up to six months) and PLS workers for their long-term needs (up to three years). If there are problems with these schemes, the best approach would be to fix them.</p>
<p>Second, a new agricultural visa would reduce our leverage in the Pacific relative to China’s.</p>
<p>The one thing we can offer Pacific nations that China can’t is labour mobility. More than 10% of Tongans aged 20–45 travel to Australia or New Zealand each year for seasonal work.</p>
<p>If they were partly or largely replaced by workers from countries such as Indonesia and Vietnam, it would greatly antagonize our Pacific island neighbours, shred our credibility in the Pacific, and it would drive Pacific countries towards China.</p>
<p><strong>Less closely regulated</strong></p>
<p>Third, the new class of visa is being touted about as more flexible.</p>
<p>There’s a risk that might mean fewer safeguards, and easier worker exploitation. The SWP is a well regulated, and has far fewer compliance problems than the unregulated backpacker scheme.</p>
<p>In practice, it probably won’t have a weaker set of standards to the two existing Pacific schemes, because to do so would be to treat workers from different countries differently, meaning the flexibility promised won’t be delivered.</p>
<p>If the National Party was serious about improving the access of Australian farmers to workers from overseas, it would be demanding reforms to the existing SWP and PLS. Those reforms could make the conditions more employer-friendly or add more countries to the list.</p>
<p>Those proposals could be publicly debated.</p>
<p>Creating a new extra agricultural visa makes no sense. It would not help farmers, and, from a strategic perspective would be a serious own goal.<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/103228/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important; text-shadow: none !important;"></p>
<p><em><strong>Stephen Howes</strong>, Director, Development Policy Centre, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University</em></p>
<p><em>This article is republished from <a href="http://theconversation.com" target="_blank">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-yet-another-visa-for-farm-work-makes-no-sense-103228" target="_blank">original article</a>.</em></p>
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Why yet another visa for farm work makes no sense: Stephen Howes

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<p><span>The Australian Government has implemented changes today to the complying investment framework for the popular Significant Investor Visa (SIV) program in order to direct investment away passive investment towards investment in innovation and industrial development.</span></p>
<p><span>The changes to the investment framework commencing from 1 July 2015 will require a visa applicant to invest at least $5 million over four years in select investments.</span></p>
<p><span>Investment in residential real estate will only be permitted to comprise 10% of the $5 million minimum investment amount, although investors may invest in excess of this outside of this limit.</span></p>
<p><span>A new class of investment visa, the Premium Investment Visa (PIV) program has also been introduced on 1 July 2015.</span></p>
<p><span>Unlike SIV which requires investor to invest $5 million into complying investments for a minimum of four years before being eligible to apply for a permanent visa, PIV offers a more expeditious, 12 month pathway to permanent residency.</span></p>
<p><span>It is established to attract talented entrepreneurs and innovators and access to the program will be by invitation of the Australian Government.</span></p>
<p><span>An applicant under the PIV will be required to invest a minimum of $15,000,000 in managed funds or direct investment in ASX listed assets, government or semi-government bonds or notes, corporate bonds or notes, proprietary limited companies, real property in Australia (excluding residential property), annuities or government approved philanthropic donations.</span><span> </span></p>
<p><span>Solicitor Michael Sing at <a href="https://rostroncarlyle.com/" target="_blank"><span>Rostron Carlyle</span></a> says t</span><span>he PIV represents an "outstanding opportunity for successful entrepreneurs to invest and secure permanent residency in 12 months, without having to live here, regardless of age and English language ability."</span></p>
<p><span>The Government announced that the scope of eligible investments must be an Australian managed fund(s) or direct investment in:</span></p>
<ul>
<li><span>Australian securities exchange-listed assets.</span></li>
<li><span>Australian government or semi-government bonds or notes.</span></li>
<li><span>Corporate bonds or notes issued by an Australian exchange-listed entity (or wholly owned subsidiary of the Australian listed entity) or investment grade rated Australian corporate bonds or notes rated by an AFS licensed debt rating agency.</span></li>
<li><span>Australian proprietary limited companies.</span></li>
<li><span>Real property in Australia excluding residential property.</span></li>
<li><span>Deferred annuities issued by Australian registered life companies.</span></li>
<li><span>State &amp; Territory government approved philanthropic donation.</span></li>
</ul>
<p><span>The investment may be made into one or more of these categories at any time in the qualifying period of 12 months.</span></p>
<p><span>Direct Investment in Commercial Property </span></p>
<p><span>Because non-residential property is a qualifying investment category, the purchase of commercial property such as a shopping centre or industrial development over $15 million will allow an application for the PIV as a direct investment.</span></p>
<p><span>Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB) approval is usually able to be obtained for any commercial property up to $54 million in any event, he said.</span></p>
<p><span>Cash is to be no more than 20% of a fund’s net assets and derivatives are to be used for risk management purposes only.</span></p>
<p><span>Direct investment into residential real estate is excluded and indirect exposure through investment vehicles is to be restricted to less than 10% of a vehicle’s net assets. Investors can of course invest in residential real estate, subject to FIRB rules, but this investment will not be assessed for PIV purposes.</span></p>
<p><span>Loan back’ arrangements, where the investment is used as collateral by the applicant, are excluded.</span></p>
<p><span>The PIV applicants will be eligible for Permanent Residency after only 12 months of maintaining their investment.</span></p>
<p><span>"At this stage, there are no minimum residency requirements to be complied with under the PIV: the applicant does not have to live in Australia at all for the 12-month period.</span></p>
<p><span>"This is a new visa, and the process for this is still being developed," he said.</span></p>
<p><span>"This is a new opportunity specifically for entrepreneurial investors to secure a visa as a bonus to investing in Australia.</span></p>
<p><span>"For Australian developers, it’s also an opportunity to offer another benefit or sales feature to prospective investors or joint venture partners seeking to acquire sites or equity participation."</span></p>
<p><span>Legitimate source of investment funds is still required to be proved. </span></p>
<p><span>Michael Sing noted that the third party penalties for assisting in breaching FIRB laws make it important for agents and brokers to also be aware of the new rules.</span></p>
<p><span> </span></p>
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