Student visa rebound continues
The number of temporary entrants visa holders for Australia increased to 2¼ million in November.
The total has now increased by +600,000 from the lows of Q3 2021, with little signs of a slowdown.
Student visas increased by another 10,000 over the month to 427,714.
Student visa numbers remain well below the 2020 highs of more than 566,000.
However, the ongoing increase should take the pressure off tight labour markets, with the cap lifted on the number of hours that international students can work.
Despite the rebound, total temporary visa numbers are still well down on the highs of more than 2.4 million.
There are still more than 287,000 bridging visas on issue, so as yet the visa backlog remains far from cleared.
The seasonal troughs don't usually occur until the end of the University term times in June, so there will be enormous pressure brought to bear on rental markets over the coming six months.
Skilled stream visa issuance is running way behind target for this financial year on a pro-rate basis, and will need to be accelerated dramatically in 2023.
Even with the recently added additional staff the Department of Immigration is likely struggling to keep up with huge numbers of applications for skilled migration, record high student visa applications, the rebound in visitors, and a backlog of applications for asylum.
