Among the many countries to have opened the floodgate for world population to enter them, Australia is on the top. Like many other developed countries of the world, they have also realized that the future in development lies in soft skills that will drive the IT industry, which eventually will determine among the countries being developed and developing.
Hence, the Australian authorities have made the visa rules to the country extremely simple than the earlier days. While the documents required have lessened down resulting in an ease of application, the number of consulates have also increased worldwide. Most importantly, the applications can now be submitted online with the help of approved agents who can clarify the rules and guidelines. Even e-visa and visa on arrival facilities have been extended to many nations wherefrom skilled and knowledgeable population is preferred.
Upsurge in migrants over the last decade
All these have led to an upsurge in the number of migrants from various countries to Australia over the last decade and especially since 2010. It is really interesting to take a note of the pattern of migration to Australia.
Being an English speaking nation, people from the United Kingdom were preferred as migrants since the beginning of legal immigration to Australia. But later on, English speaking nations like India have caught up. In fact, there are more numbers of skilled and qualified professionals in India due to an increase in higher education opportunities therein, but lesser number of jobs. Hence, the educated population there was looking for green pastures overseas, and Australia provided them one!
The latest government figures reveal evidences of the fact that Indians have surpassed all and are now the topmost country from where migrants are coming in to Australia. In 2013-’14, data from the Department of Immigration of the Govt. of Australia shows that Indian migrants were numbered at close to 40,000, followed by New Zealand and China, and the UK at no. 4. While China clocked at 26,776, the UK had 23,220 migrants.While New Zealand, Pakistan and the Philippines followed in closely, India, China and the UK made up for 46.9% of the total population of legal migrants to Australia in the last year.
An interesting analysis reveals an even more unbelievable truth- the number of Chinese migrants has trebled over the last 17 years to Australia at 427,590, but that from India has quadrupled over the same period to 369,680! From the UK, the population has grown by just a mere 5% over the same duration.
India right on top Down Under!
Figures clearly prove the increasing rate of Indian migrants to Australia, driven by various factors. Some of the reasons are availability of qualified professionals in India, lack of job opportunities back home, English speaking capability and ease of adaptation in a new country! Interestingly enough, studies also reveal that the highest numbers of migrants coming in with work travel visa and then going missing and not returning also is topped by China and India very closely, as shown by sc457 visa records analysed by the Fair Work Ombudsman in Australia. It clearly seems that this trend is going to continue for at least a decade more before global powers and trends take a major shift once again!
