Are you an International student studying in Australia who is keen on getting a Permanent Residency (PR) after completing your education? Well, this post will guide you through the process on how to obtain a PR in the Kangaroo land. Every year various international students like you move overseas for their higher education studies, and most of them, have a dream to settle abroad.

One of the common methods to stay in Australia for students is applying for Permanent Residency through a Skilled Independent Visa. For this, The Department of Home Affairs (DHA) runs an efficient application system worldwide, known as the SkillSelect Programme or the General Skilled Migration (GSM).

This programme runs entirely on the basis of the nation’s particular labor market requirements. Now, let us see what are the minimum GSM requirements for international students.

GSM Requirements

To attain PR for Australia, you must meet the Australian Study Requirement. You need to fulfil at least two years of study, which implies that you must complete a course with a length of two years in Australia. Plus, distance and online education doesn’t count towards this, you have to study an on-campus course.

Further, your age must be between 18 to 49 years, and you need to have an IELTS score of not less than 6 or a similar score in TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) or PTE (Pearson Test of English Academic).

Also, you have to nominate an occupation on Australia’s Skilled Occupation List (SOL). Applicants who have been nominated by an Australian territory or state government must nominate and hold a profession from the CSOL (Consolidated Sponsored Occupations List).Check out the list to review the details of approved skill accessors and to see whether your area of study appears.

Besides that, you need to hold a positive Skill Assessment for your specific field of work. While studying in Australia doesn’t always guarantee PR, there are many other ways through which you can boost your chances of getting it, and we have included some points down below.

Get a Higher Qualification

Develop your skills and knowledge by getting a higher qualification such as a Master or a doctoral degree. Although a diploma can fetch you ten points on the GSM point system, a Master or a doctoral degree can earn you up fifteen and twenty points respectively.

Reside in Australia

After successfully completing your education in Australia, apply for the Visa Subclass 485 also known as the Temporary Graduate Visa.

There are two streams under this Visa, the Post-Study Work stream and Graduate Work stream: The Post-Study Work stream allows you to work in Australia for a period of 2 to 4 years, whereas the Graduate Work stream enables you to do a job for a maximum of 18 months.

During this time, you can polish your English language and get valuable work experience. Having a work experience will help you get extra points on the GSM point’s grid.

Polish your English Language Skills

Polishing your English language skills will help you gain points and slightly improve your chances of getting PR. If you get a competent score of 6 on IELTS, you will not earn any points for your language ability. But with a proficient score of 7 or equivalent in IELTS, you will receive 10 points and with a superior score of 8 will get you 20 points.

Pursue your Education in a Regional Area

 

 

Students who completed the Australian Study Requirement of 2 years in a regional area are qualified to obtain an additional 5 points. Regional areas in Australia include Perth, Gold Coast, Adelaide and more.

Get a Valuable Work Experience

Getting skilled employment in Australia or overseas can help you obtain more points. To claim points for your valuable work experience, you must have worked at least twenty hours each week in your nominated profession or a closely related line-of-work.

Therefore, apart from your study, consider getting some valuable work experience or try applying for the Subclass 485 Temporary Graduate Visa so that you get the opportunity to gain meaningful employment experience. You can earn up to five extra points for as little as one year of work experience in Australia.

Consider your Age

Your age greatly affects your points. For instance, those who are between the age of 25 and 32 get the highest score of up to 30 points. Whereas, people aged between 45 – 49 will be eligible for no points.

Complete a Professional Year Programme (PYP)

PYP is a professional development program that combines education and work experience. Those who successfully complete this programme not only receives Australian work experience but also gets an additional five points.

PYP runs for a period of twelve months and is currently obtainable for subjects like engineering, computer science, and accounting. To earn additional points, it is necessary that the course undertaken is in your nominated occupation or closely associated area.

Keep Yourself Updated

Immigration rules constantly change in Australia. Here are a few resources you can check to keep yourself updated with the recent changes:

  • Skill-Select: The number of points required and the number of invitations issued for each Skill Select round may vary immensely. This means that the waiting period and points you need may be quite different from what happened this time last year.
  • State Nomination: State sponsorship opportunities may emerge at any moment, and they always fill up fast.
  • Occupations Lists: Important changes were made to the skilled migration occupation list this year. It appears that these adjustments will occur more often in the future. So you must keep a check on it.
  • Employer Sponsorship: Employer-sponsored visas also receive significant changes every year. Therefore, it is crucial to keep an eye on it. Under this visa category, you need to work in Australia for three years to further apply for permanent residency.

All in all, it is vital to keep yourself updated with immigration changes to give yourself the best possible chance of applying for Australian permanent residency.

What are the Benefits of Having Australian PR?

Once you attain the Australian permanent residency visa, you will be allowed to work, live, and study in Australia for five years without any restrictions. With a strong economy, laid-back lifestyle, and high standard of living, many immigrants around the globe wish to move to Australia.

Here are some more advantages of obtaining an Australian PR visa:

  • A PR visa holder can pursue higher education in Australia. And if you require funds because of some additional expenses, you will be eligible to apply for a few educational loans.
  • PR visa holders can also sponsor the PR application for their relatives only if the applicant fulfils specific support and residence assurance prerequisites.
  • The PR visa allows applicants to stay in Australia for an unlimited period. Once you have the PR, you can travel to and from the country at any time without any restrictions.
  • The children of PR visa holders are given Australian citizenship if they are born in Australia.
  • The Australian government has a special agreement with the government of New Zealand that allows the Australian PR holders to apply for the NZ visa and travel to New Zealand.
  • PR visa holders need to hold on to their PR status for a minimum of two years to avail the benefits of social security. Some of the benefits covered by Australia’s Social Security Departments include child care benefits, sickness allowance, unemployment benefits, age pension, family tax benefits, and more.
  • Australian visa holders have the right to apply for any government position or other professions like migration agent.
  • Last but not least, the family members of a PR holder will get permission to move in with them.

Conclusion

International students must keep in mind the above information are the most important factors to apply for Permanent Residency in Australia. The process of getting PR in Australia is tricky but definitely attainable.