Pacific Engagement Visa
The Australian Government has recently announced a new visa for Pacific Islanders. Australia is set to offer up to 3,000 permanent residency visas each year to people from Pacific island countries and Timor-Leste. This program is called the Pacific Engagement Visa. https://www.dfat.gov.au/geo/pacific/people-connections/people-connections-in-the-pacific/pacific-engagement-visa
To be eligible, you:
- Need to be between 18 and 45 years old.
- Win a random draw (ballot).
- Get a job offer in Australia.
- Speak English well.
- Have a clean criminal record and good health.
- Be from a participating country.
What is a Ballot:
Essentially it will work like the Green Card Lottery. Applicants will put in an application to be included in the ballot and invitees will be drawn at random. We expect this to be incredibly popular, so if there are 300,000 ballots from applicants around different countries, then you will have a 1% chance of being invited. If there are 1,000,000 ballots, then you will have a 1 in 333 chance of being invited.
What you can do on this visa?
This visa lets you live, work, and study anywhere in Australia! It helps build cultural and business ties between Australia and Pacific nations.
Here are some other things to know:
- The application fee is expected to be $25.
- You can include your partner and children in your application.
- The visa program is expected to start sometime in 2024.
I hope this makes the information easier to understand! At the moment, there is little else to know about the ballot, however, we will be sure to let you know as soon as we have an update. For further information, feel free to contact pathwaytoaus.
