Workers in defence and law enforcement are now at front of the queue for visa processing, or in the first of the five tiers, followed by workers in construction, healthcare and teaching who apply from Australia.<\/p>\n
But any migrant applying for a skilled visa from overseas \u2014 who is not in defence or law enforcement \u2014 has been bumped to the back of the queue, in effect pausing applications, as the government seeks to put its foot on the brake to stop people coming to the country.<\/p>\n
Before the new rules were introduced, Home Affairs was working through a 12-month backlog of applications for onshore permanent and temporary skilled visas, according to sources in the sector who note processing times differ depending on the exact visa type.<\/p>\n
Jamie Lingham, CEO of Absolute Immigration Group, criticised the directive as a “blunt tool”.<\/p>\n
“The impact is huge and I don’t think everyone has grasped the reality of what’s happening,” Mr Lingham said.<\/p>\n
“Why aren’t there priority areas for offshore applications too? It means your marketing manager could get in before your nurse.”<\/p>\n
Business groups have slammed the delays “being built into the system” which have seen decisions on visas blow out, in some cases, from “a few weeks to close to a year”, according to Australian Industry Group CEO Innes Willox.<\/p>\n
Burke’s quiet visa change prioritises onshore workers<\/a><\/p>\n The Home Affairs minister has quietly de-prioritised overseas skilled workers to reduce net overseas migration in a move the Coalition says is managing “migration by stealth”.<\/p>\n “The longer the pause goes on the more we risk robbing Peter to pay Paul \u2014 appearing to soothe public concern about migration at the cost of our long-term development and maintaining living standards,” Mr Willox said.<\/p>\n “We have unfortunately gone from a processing fast lane implemented by the government after COVID to the emergency stopping lane.”<\/p>\n Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry CEO Andrew McKellar has also expressed alarm at the change, which comes on top of a separate directive which effectively paused the processing of Working Holiday Maker, or backpacker, visas in July.<\/p>\n “You now have the government putting in place a sequence of measures to slow the processing of skilled visas, responding to a short-term political imperative rather than focusing on the proper administration of system and the urgent skills needs of business,” Mr McKellar said.<\/p>\n Working rights under cloud<\/p>\n Under pressure to reduce migration, Immigration Minister Tony Burke is working on a more comprehensive overhaul of the system which was due to be announced at the National Press Club a fortnight ago, before the minister was forced to postpone.<\/a><\/p>\n Central to the new policy will be a clampdown on temporary visas to reduce Net Overseas Migration (NOM) from the current 300,000 to Labor’s target of 225,000 by 2028.<\/p>\n The figure, which represents the number of people coming to live in Australia minus those departing to live overseas, reached a peak of 556,000 when international borders reopened after COVID and has not fallen as fast as forecast.<\/p>\n Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke has been working on a comprehensive migration overhaul amid pressure to reduce numbers. (ABC News: Matt Roberts)<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/1787465245_456_811da37622023a2d1846922c6960087e.jpeg\")
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