What does the Australian 2020-21 Budget mean for you?
Partner Visa English Requirement Changes
The Australian Government has announced changes to partner visas as part of the 2020-21 Budget, with English language requirements being introduced for applicants and their permanent resident sponsors.
In Tuesday’s Federal Budget announcement, the government said that partner visa applicants will be prioritised – welcome news for families seeking to be reunited – as the planning level is raised from 47,732 to 77,300 places on a ‘one-off basis’ for this program year. However, from July 2021 all applicants will be required to meet basic English language requirements.
“The English language is absolutely critical to help people when they come to Australia to take the greatest opportunity of what life in Australia can mean,” PM Scott Morrison said.(source).
While the details of the language test have not yet been announced, the social and economic rationale behind the measure have been explained. Mr Morrison continued, “It’s a much more basic level of English language competency and we think this is important to just enable people to engage to access government services, for example, to engage with those who are seeking to assist to access and get the best possible medical treatment to understand what teachers are saying at school at parent-teacher conferences, to understand their rights.”(source).
What this means for visa applicants
The uncertainty of the new Australian Partner Visa English Requirements requirements may cause stress for applicants but what we can assume is that both applicants and sponsors will require basic levels of English. Acting Immigration Minister, Alan Tudge also weighed in. “What this will mean is that we will require an applicant and a sponsor to have met functional level English or to have at least made reasonable efforts to learn English,” Mr Tudge said.(source).
The Minister’s office has also outlined that the language requirement will only need to be met once an application is made for Permanent Residency, which usually occurs around the two year mark of living in Australia.
The news will come as a surprise to many who are already in the midst of overcoming unprecedented Permanent Residency challenges this year due to COVID-19. It’s essential for those now facing yet another barrier to their PR hopes that they move quickly in light of this news.
How we can help
Rest assured, as a global provider of English test preparation, E2Language is here to make this process much easier. Whether you’re preparing for a specific test or are learning English from scratch, E2Language provides your study requirements for IELTS, OET, PTE and TOEFL high stakes tests. With 1:1 tutorials, mock tests, live classes featuring our expert teachers, feedback and more, E2Language is a world leader in online test preparation.
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As more details are announced, we will update this blog to reflect the most recent information and keep you informed.
