Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Prime Minister Narendra Modi met while the Indian PM was in Sydney for bilateral discussions.
The leaders announced the finalisation of the Australia-India Migration and Mobility Partnership Arrangement, which will promote the two-way mobility of students, graduates, academic researchers and business people, while also enhancing cooperation to prevent irregular migration and people smuggling.
This agreement streamlines the process of migration for skilled workers and graduates between the two countries and it is to take effect on 1 July this year, it will benefit Indian graduates of Australian institutions who are on a student visa. These graduates will be eligible to seek employment and engage in professional advancement without the need for visa sponsorship for a period of up to eight years.
A ten-page migration agreement was revealed that showed a new range of opportunities to extend or apply for visas. Those covered by this agreement included students, academics, professionals and graduates.
Part of this agreement document was the introduction of a pilot program called Migration Australian Temporary Employment Scheme (MATES) designed for university graduates and early career professionals from India to enable them to obtain a two-year working visa in Australian without needing to get sponsorship.
MATES will have an annual cap of 3000 places for four years and will have a joint working group responsible for developing protocols for implementation of the scheme, for reviewing the annual cap and the list of eligible qualifications.
“Prime Minister Modi’s visit to Australia has strengthened the close and strong relationship that Australia enjoys with India,” said Prime Minister Albanese.
“This is a relationship we need to invest in. Our strong partnership with India will deliver benefits for Australia in trade, investment and business, and in regional security and stability.”