The Australian government updated their visa processing times webpage to highlight the median processing times for key programs.

Key Points:

  • The government stated that in most instances they have reduced the time it takes to finalize visa applications and that visa processing times have already improved across most visa programs, particularly across temporary visa programs.
  • Officials provided the following median visa processing times for key visa categories:
Visa Category Median visa processing time
Skilled (Permanent) 11 months
Partner (First Stage) 13 months
Skilled (Temporary) 61 days
Student 30 days
Visitor Less than 1 Day

Additional Information: The new Skills in Demand visa, which BAL reported replaced the Temporary Skill Shortage (subclass 482) visa on Dec. 7, 2024, is currently processing 90% of applications for the specialist skills stream within 39 days and the core skills stream within 47 days, according to the government guide. In most categories, the government said they are focused on reducing processing times and will continue to prioritize the older and more complex applications.

This alert has been provided by the BAL Global Practice Group.

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