That’s what David Stephens, registered migration agent of the Australasian Immigration Services Pty. Ltd., says.  In his seminars and conferences in the Philippines last month, wherein he talked about the requirements and current Australian policies on immigration, he found out that as much as 75 percent of the people who underwent initial assessment were qualified to apply for a visa that could allow them to work, live, and study in Australia.

The high passmark  and the prioritization of certain occupational skills has discouraged many educated, skilled, family-oriented Filipinos who were in their middle 30s to early 40s from applying for the Permanent Resident Visa, also known as the “Australian green card”.   Stephens acknowledges that the “trades” (or technical-vocational skills in Filipino parlance) are in demand, such as “carpenters, electricians, butchers, cooks, hairdressers, the hands-on people.”  He also includes engineers (which is THE  first in the list), doctors, nurses, radiographers, pharmacists, IT specialists, and accountants.

Yet Stephens also points out a little-known morsel of good news to those who do not practice any of the above professions, “Recent significant changes in the migration program since September 2007 favor people with a good quality of English and who attain a higher score in the IELTS exams.

 “If you got a degree in the Philippines, reasonably good work experience, and your English is good, then you stand a very good chance to be eligible for a Temporary Visa, such as a 3-year visa that could lead to permanent residence.”

The 3-year Temporary Visa is one of several that could help a Filipino who may not be qualified for the more stringent Permanent Resident Visa to work his way for one.  This type of Visa grants an immigrant for a period of three years “unrestricted work, travel, and study in a lower growth area” or a region outside the capital of Sydney that does need migrants.

Stephens says, “A lower growth area includes the non-capital cities of Melbourne and Brisbane as well as the East Coast of Australia. A state like Adelaide is  looking at encouraging more migrations.  Western Australia which has a great mining boom iis encouraging migrants as well and lowering the points required which makes the Temporary Visa easier to get.”

An immigrant with a 3-year Temporary Visa is required to live in that particular region which has approved his application for three years.  “After he’s lived there for two years and then worked for one year, then he can apply to get that Temporary Visa converted into Permanent Residency, and that is not a complicated process,” Stephens says.  “The only condition is that you live in that regional area.”

Another way to secure a Permanent Resident Visa is the study-to-migrate process which opens the possibility of migration to students who take and finish a course of study in Australia.  “Once you finish three years’ worth of study and get an award, you get an 18-month unrestricted Work Visa.  After the expiration of your Student Visa, you can apply for that 18-month visa where you can work anywhere in Australia and do multiple travel.”

The Filipino-Australian community is composed of 200,000 immigrants, a number that is rising.  Many of these migrants moved to Australia from the Philippines in the 1980s, and the children of that first-generation of migrants are now in their early adult years studying in university.

Expect that number to grow given the Australian government’s program that seeks a net migration of over 100,000.

Stephens says, “Migration is just an integral part of Australian society.  Forty-percent of the households are not born in Australia or at least one parent was not born in Australia.

“Australia is one of the ideal places to migrate to.  It is a civilized country yet easy going with a relaxed environment, without the harsh abrasive edges that you may encounter in the United States or some parts of Europe.”

For more information about immigration, work, and studying in Australia, e-mail  intl_edu_specialists@pldtdsl.net.