Pathways to permanency

• More than half (58%) of permanent migrants were granted a permanent visa as their first visa.
• The most common visa pathway of migrants who arrived on a temporary visa was a Student visa to a Permanent skilled visa (453,000 or 36%).
• The visa pathway with the shortest average time was Temporary skilled to Permanent skilled (2 years, 10 months).

Australia is a multicultural country that has diversified and grown through multiple waves of migration. Australia has welcomed 3 million migrants who have permanent visas in the first two decades of the 21st Century (1 January 2000 and 10 August 2021). This article explores the visa pathways for these migrants. What proportion of permanent migrants initially had temporary status in Australia before applying for and receiving a permanent visa? Where were our migrants born and how does this change for different visa pathways? What are the occupations, industries and fields of study of our migrants?

The data source used in this article is the Australian Census and Migrant Integrated Dataset 2021 (ACMID 2021).

ACMID 2021 combines Department of Home Affairs permanent migrant settlement records for arrivals between 1 January 2000 and 10 August 2021 with the 2021 Census of Population and Housing.

The 2021 Census was conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic, when international borders were closed. This impacted the number and type of visa holders who were present in Australia on 10 August 2021. Please consider this when making comparisons with other data sources.

Further information regarding scope, coverage, and concepts can be found in the Permanent migrants in Australia methodology. For definitions of terms, refer to the Permanent migrants in Australia glossary.

Migrants to Australia can achieve permanent resident status via different visa pathways. Some are granted permanent visas offshore, while others are granted permanent visas onshore, after initial migration on a temporary visa. Some migrants hold multiple temporary visas and bridging visas before achieving permanent residency.

ACMID 2021 provides new insights as to how a migrant may have moved (or transitioned) from one temporary visa to another before becoming a permanent migrant. This article provides information on:

• the first temporary visa held by permanent visa holders who arrived between 1 January 2000 and 10 August 2021
• the time it took from when a first temporary visa was granted until permanent residency was achieved
• education, employment, and country of birth for people who took particular pathways.

Of the 3 million migrants who arrived in Australia and were granted permanent status between 1 January 2000 and 10 August 2021:

• 1.7 million people arrived on permanent visas
• 1.3 million people arrived on temporary visas.

1. First temporary visa excludes bridging and visitor visas, and visas prior to a break in visa history for 12 months or more. For more information go to Visa transitions in Permanent Migrants in Australia methodology.

For Skilled and Family migrants who arrived on a permanent visa between 2000 and 2021, four of the same countries were among the top five source countries of birth (India, China, England and Philippines).

However, the main source countries of those on Humanitarian visas were different, with Iraq and Afghanistan being the two most common countries of birth for these migrants.

For migrants who arrived on a permanent visa:

• Residential Care Services and Social Assistance Services were in the three most common industries for Family and Humanitarian visa holders.
• Carers and Aides was the most common occupation for Family, and Humanitarian visa holders.
• Business and Management among the three most common fields of study for qualified Skilled, Family, and Humanitarian visa holders.

Pathways from a temporary visa to permanency can vary from being quite direct to being more complex, varying in number and types of visas held.

Two-thirds (66%) of permanent migrants who arrived on a temporary visa followed the two most common temporary-to-permanent visa pathways:

• Student-to-skilled (36% or 453,000 people)
• Skilled-to-skilled (30% or 384,700 people).

Of the 1.3 million permanent migrants who arrived on a temporary visa, over one-third (36% or 450,000 people) held three or more temporary visas before being granted permanency. The majority of these (368,000 people) were Permanent skilled migrants.

For the student-to-skilled pathway, 60% (or 273,800 people) held three or more temporary visas before being granted a permanent visa. In contrast, for the skilled-to-skilled pathway, only 4.5% (or 17,200 people) held three or more temporary visas prior to reaching permanency.

For migrants who transitioned from a temporary to a permanent visa:

• India and China were among the five most common countries of birth for migrants in the student-to-skilled, skilled-to-skilled, and student-to-family pathways.
• Professional, Scientific and Technical Services was one of the three most common industries for migrants in the student-to-skilled, skilled-to-skilled, and student-to-family pathways.
• Business, Human Resource and Marketing Professionals was the most common occupation for migrants in the student-to-skilled and student-to-family pathways.
• Business and Management was among the three most common fields of study of qualifications for migrants in the student-to-skilled, skilled-to-skilled, and student-to-family pathways.

The average time from a temporary to a permanent visa varied from 2 years, 10 months for Temporary skilled visa holders to 7 years, 9 months for Special Category (New Zealand citizens).

For temporary-to-permanent visa pathways:

• Skilled-to-skilled had the shortest average time (2 years, 10 months)
• Special category-to-family had the longest (8 years, 2 months).

Those who took the most common temporary-to-permanent visa pathway, student-to-skilled, took five years to achieve permanency on average. This transition time is consistent with students moving to other temporary visas such as a post-study work stream visa that allows international students to live and work in Australia for two to four years after completing their studies. In 2021 there was over 89,000 people in Australia with this type of temporary visa (ACTEID, 2021).

There was also considerable variation by country of birth in the transition time from a temporary to a permanent visa. The shortest average time from temporary to permanent visas was experienced by migrants born in South Africa (2 years, 11 months), 80% of whom arrived on a Temporary skilled visa.

The longest transition time was for migrants born in New Zealand (9 years, 4 months). Most (99%) New Zealand-born permanent migrants (16,500 people) held a Subclass 444 Special Category visa (SCV) at some point in their visa history. This is a temporary visa category for New Zealand citizens that has broad eligibility requirements, provides flexibility about length of stay and includes a range of health-related and financial benefits that may reduce the necessity of SCV holders to apply for a permanent visa. This may be a factor as to why New Zealand-born migrants have longer transition times compared to migrants born in other countries.

For other countries of birth, migrants who had the longest transition time tended to arrive on a Student visa. For example two-thirds (67%) of Hong Kong-born migrants who arrived in Australia on a temporary visa were students. For Thailand-born it was higher at 83%.