For the 2014–15 programme year, 205,383 permanent migration visas were granted—a decrease of 1.2 per cent on the 207,947 delivered in the previous year. This comprised 189,097 places under Australia’s Migration Programme, 13,756 under the Humanitarian Programme and an additional 2530 places to New Zealand citizens—provided for outside of Australia’s Migration Programme.
The Migration Programme comprised 127,774 visas (67.6 per cent) granted through the Skill stream, 61,085 visas (32.3 per cent) granted through the Family stream and the remaining 238 visas (0.1 per cent) granted under the Special Eligibility visa category.
For the fourth year in a row, India was the top source country for the Migration Programme, with 34,874 places (an 18.4 per cent share)—down 10.6 per cent on the previous year. The mainland China followed with 27,872 places and the United Kingdom with 21,078 places. In addition to this regulated migration, 23,365 New Zealand citizens entered Australia as permanent settlers under the Trans-Tasman Travel Arrangement.
Demand for the Temporary Work (Skilled) visa (subclass 457) decreased slightly in 2014–15. Grants for these visas fell 2.5 per cent, from 98,571 in 2013–14 to 96,084 in 2014–15. For the third year in a row, India was the top nationality, followed by the United Kingdom and the mainland China, with 25,244, 14,729 and 6653 grants respectively.