There are two programs designed to help
people wanting to come to Australia permanently. One is
the migration program which is made up of:
A skill migration stream, which has a
number of categories for people who have particular
occupation skills, outstanding talents or business
skills;
A family migration stream, where people
can be sponsored by a relative who is an Australian
citizen or permanent resident;
Special eligibility migrants, who are
former citizens or residents wanting to return to
Australia, or certain New Zealanders.
The migration program for 2004-05 has
120,000 places available for migrants, with a strong
focus on attracting skilled people and people who agree
to live in regional areas of Australia.
The second program is the separate humanitarian
program which is designed for refugees and others in
special humanitarian need.
A major component of the humanitarian
program is the offshore resettlement program, which
assists people in humanitarian need overseas for whom
resettlement in another country is the only option.
The onshore protection component is for
those people already in Australia who arrived on
temporary visas or in an unauthorised manner, and who
claim Australia’s protection.
The size of the 2004-05 humanitarian
program is 13,000 places.
If you want to migrate, you should also
research topics such as living costs in Australia,
employment conditions, availability of social security
and medical costs.
You will find links to this information
on the
Australian migration information website.
*Information
extracted from The Australian Government Imigration
website
