As per a proposed visa law, the new migrants to Australia will have to stay in regional areas of the country for a fixed period, under the terms of their visas, to allegedly stop them from shifting to the different big Australian cities, once Permanent Residency (PR) is given to them.

According to the update that we have on the subject, the Department of Home Affairs (DHA) is working on the new visa regulations, to allegedly “bind” migrants to a regional area, for the period of a visa, to better assist them integrate. The development comes post not more than 7000 of 190,000 migrants settled in the different rural areas of the country in 2017.

Justifying the proposed law, and sharing more information on the issue, Alan Tudge, the citizenship minister, reportedly stated that though numerous migrants get sponsorship for the Permanent Residence status, on the ground of an aim to live and do a job in regional Australia, many don’t stay for long in the area post they obtain their permanent visas.

But, some migrant support groups reportedly allege that the proposed visa amendments, chaining migrants to the nation’s regional & rural areas, is ‘unfair’ and it would be highly prejudicial to force some new arrivals to live in the nation’s regional & rural areas.

Reportedly, the incumbent Turnbull Government is planning some amendments to the Regional Skilled Visas, which would chain migrants to rural areas, for a fixed time-frame.

So far, the administration, however, has not come to any final decision, and has reportedly maintained that it is also exploring the option of providing some inducements to the migrants, to inspire them to live and work in the regional areas.

A not-too-convinced Assistant Minister for Families David Gillespie has reportedly stated that it is “disappointing” and “counter-productive” for the various regional organizations that sponsored migrants to have them shift to a city, adding in place of a castigatory solution what is required is to certify there is a motivation for everybody and not just migrants to shift to regional centres.

Criticizing the proposed rule, another concerned person reportedly says that many issues may erupt thanks to a complete mismatch of rule & actual truth.

Oz has some visas earmarked for those who agree to do a job in the regional areas. They don’t however chain migrants to a regional town even as among the jobs provided in regional towns are certain lower-skilled jobs, like fruit picking that the native Australians are frequently not too keen to take up.

Migrants Interested in Different Opportunities

Absence of work opportunities and motivations has been the experience of several migrants in the Riverland area of South Australia (SA), and as per a concerned person from the area, such migrants cannot find jobs.

Besides, at present, there hardly any inducements exist that would inspire migrants to stay regional. He added that it’s not right to put restrictions on the migrants and individuals should have the right to stay where they are more at ease.