The Albanian government has introduced a new visa for young Indians who want to work and holiday in Australia.
Indian citizens between 18 and 30 years of age can now apply for the First work and holiday visaallowing them to work or study on a short-term basis to help fund their extended holiday to Australia.
Visa slots are allocated through a random voting system; Applicants must pre-register by October 31 and pay a $25 registration fee.
However, demand is high: more than 40,000 young Indians have already applied for only 1,000 available places.
During his visit to India this week, Immigration Minister Matt Thistlethwaite said there are no restrictions on what type of work can be done with the new visa.
“What we tend to find is they tend to work in the hospitality industry, the agricultural sector, aged care and a number of service industries where there are skills shortages in Australia,” Mr Thistlethwaite said.
India’s Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said the visa was a “key commitment” of the India-Australia Trade and Economic Cooperation Agreement that came into force this month.
“It will facilitate mobility and deepen connection between people,” said Mr Goyal.
The ‘first working holiday visa’ allows Indian citizens aged 18 to 30 to study short-term or work to fund their extended holiday in Australia.
It is the first time India has been included in Australia’s Working Holiday programme, and leaders say the visa will strengthen ties between the two countries (pictured: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Prime Minister of Australia, Anthony Albanese, hugging).
In June this year there were 976,000 Indian-born people living in Australia and, based on current immigration flows, they are likely to have already surpassed one million.
‘Indians are loved in Australia. We are about to celebrate Diwali. When I return home, I will celebrate Diwali,” Thistlethwaite told his Indian audience.
‘It is a great symbol of how Indians have enriched Australian society and culture with their festivals, their food, their arts and their culture. And it’s great to live in Australia.”
A new class of visa that provides easier access to Australia goes against the Albanian government’s verbal commitments to curb record levels of immigration that have created a severe housing shortage in the country and subsequent exorbitant prices.
In the year to July, 432,150 net migrants moved to Australia; the equivalent of adding a city the size of Canberra to the country every year.
This year’s budget sees net overseas migration falling to 260,000 by the end of the 2024-25 financial year, compared to 528,000 in 2022-23.
Institute of Public Affairs deputy chief executive Daniel Wild said the latest data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics exposed how immigration continued to grow at unsustainably high levels.
“The federal government has repeatedly promised to reduce immigration levels, but month after month records for immigrant admissions continue to be broken,” he said.
“It is clear that the Prime Minister has no intention of stopping unsustainable immigration.”
