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September 5, 2023

Permanent migration from Pakistan

Country Overview – Pakistan

Population
As of June 2021, Australia was home to 95,980 individuals of Pakistani origin, a substantial increase from the 34,150 recorded in June 2011. This Pakistani-born community now ranks as the nineteenth largest migrant group in Australia, representing 1.3 percent of the overseas-born population and 0.4 percent of the total Australian population.

Notable Characteristics of Pakistani-born Migrants in Australia:

  • Median age: 32.9 years, which is 5.4 years younger than the general population.
  • Gender distribution: Males make up 59.4 percent, while females account for 40.6 percent of this group. [Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Australia’s Population by Country of Birth]

Permanent Migration
Australia’s Permanent Migration Program encompasses various pathways to achieve permanent residency, including economic and family migration. It also accommodates individuals on humanitarian grounds.

Skill Stream Visas
The Skill stream caters to individuals possessing skills, qualifications, and entrepreneurial abilities that are in high demand within the Australian economy. This stream comprises seven distinct components:

  1. Business Innovation and Investment
  2. Distinguished Talent
  3. Employer Sponsored
  4. Global Talent (Independent)
  5. Regional
  6. Skilled Independent
  7. State/Territory Nominated

Family and Child Stream Visas
The Family stream enables the permanent migration of close family members, including partners and parents, of Australian citizens, permanent residents, and eligible New Zealand citizens. Additionally, it offers opportunities for other family members such as aged dependent relatives, carers, remaining relatives, and orphan relatives to join their family in Australia.

Child visas facilitate the permanent migration of children of Australian citizens, permanent residents, and eligible New Zealand citizens, encompassing two categories: Child and Adoption visas.

Special Eligibility Visas
Special Eligibility visas grant permanent residency to former residents and specific individuals who have served in the Australian Defence Force.

The following table presents the size of permanent migration from Pakistan categorized by the respective migration streams.

Migration category 2018–19 2020–20 2010–21 2021–22
Business Innovation and Investment 43 46 79 103
Employer Sponsored 489 403 326 360
Skilled Regional 1 93 n/a n/a n/a
Skilled Independent 1,353 451 231 117
State/Territory Nominated 1,387 674 573 688
Regional 2 n/a 1,223 762 1,358
Global Talent (Independent) 3 n/a 169 276 221
Partner 1,228 1,044 1,809 704
All other categories 146 126 65 183
Total places granted 4,739 4,136 4,121 3,734

Source: Department of Home Affairs

1 The Skilled Regional category closed to new applications from 1 July 2019.

2 The Regional migration category commenced 1 July 2019.

3 Global Talent (Independent) category commenced 4 November 2019.

Temporary Migration in Australia
Temporary migration to Australia serves various purposes, accommodating individuals who wish to stay in the country temporarily. These purposes range from tourism and business visits to specialized activities such as medical treatment, education, skilled work, and working holidays. Temporary stays can extend beyond three months, and there are six primary categories of temporary residents, with the applicability of these categories varying for migrants from different countries.

Visitor Visas
Visitor visas are predominantly utilized by individuals visiting Australia for leisure, tourism, recreational purposes, or to reunite with family and friends. They can also be employed for specific short-term business activities that do not involve working within Australia.

Working Holiday Maker Program
The Working Holiday Maker Program offers young adults the opportunity for an extended holiday experience in Australia, coupled with short-term work and study engagements.

Student Visa
The Student visa program enables international students to pursue full-time studies in registered courses within Australia.
Temporary Resident (Skilled Employment) Visa
This visa type permits businesses to sponsor skilled overseas workers if they are unable to find a suitably skilled Australian citizen or permanent resident to fill a particular skilled position.

Other Temporary Visas
Other temporary visas encompass a wide array of categories, catering to individuals who wish to undertake short-term, specialized work, contribute to social and cultural development, strengthen international relations, or participate in training programs beneficial to Australia.

New Zealand Citizens
Under the 1973 Trans-Tasman Travel Arrangement, New Zealand citizens enjoy the privilege of freely entering and leaving Australia. They can also reside in Australia indefinitely upon the grant of a Special Category visa (subclass 444).
The subsequent table illustrates the number of visa grants issued to migrants from Pakistan for Visitor, Student, and Temporary Resident (Skilled Employment) visas.

Temporary visa category 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22
Visitor 13,433 10,679​ 965 6,239
Student 7,322 7,653 6,386 5,164
Temporary Resident (Skilled Employment) 689 433 317 666​
Other temporary visa grants 1 3,625 4,035 2,059 2,640
Total temporary visa grants 25,069 22,800 9,727 14,709

Source: Department of Home Affairs​

1​ Excludes Transit visa (subclass 771), Border visa (subclass 773) and Maritime Crew visa (subclass 988).

Main occupations
The following table shows the main occupations for nationals of Pakistan, based on Skill stream migration outcomes and Temporary Resident (Skilled Employment) visa grants.

2021–22
  Auditors, company secretaries and corporate treasurers 54 Accountants 382
  Accountants​ 45 Electrical engineers 107
  Software and applications programmers​ 37 Software and applications programmers​​​ 92
  General practitioners and resident medical officers ​ 27 Industrial, mechanical and production engineers 87
  ICT business and systems analysts​ 16 Other engineering professionals 72
  Electrical engineers​ 10 Civil engineering professionals 70
  Chefs 10 Computer network professionals 46
  Other engineering professionals​ 9 Chefs​ 41
  Civil engineering professionals​ 8 ICT business and systems analysts​ 40
  Motor mechanics​​ 8 Auditors, company secretaries and corporate treasurers 36
2020–21
  Software and applications programmers 21 Accountants 201
  General practitioners and resident medical officers 14 Software and applications programmers 94
  Accountants 8 Electrical engineers 61
  Industrial, mechanical and production engineers 6 Industrial, mechanical and production engineers 54
  Other medical practitioners 6 Other engineering professionals 47
  ICT business and systems analysts 6 Civil engineering professionals 46
  Chefs 6 Computer network professionals 33
  Auditors, company secretaries and corporate treasurers 5 ICT business and systems analysts 32
  Computer network professionals 5 Database and systems administrators, and ICT security specialists 27
  Cooks 5 Chemical and materials engineers 21
2019–20
  General practitioners and resident medical officers 28 Accountants 336
  Accountants 10 Software and applications programmers 82
  Software and applications programmers 10 Other engineering professionals 51
  ICT business and systems analysts 7 Electrical engineers 48
  Cooks 7 Civil engineering professionals 40
  Auditors, company secretaries and corporate treasurers 6 ICT business and systems analysts 40
  University lecturers and tutors 5 Industrial, mechanical and production engineers 38
  Computer network professionals 5 Computer network professionals 38
  Electrical engineers < 5 Motor mechanics 34
  Industrial, mechanical and production engineers < 5 Auditors, company secretaries and corporate treasurers 27
2018–19
  General practitioners and resident medical officers 31 Accountants 226
  Accountants 24 Software and applications programmers 122
  Auditors, company secretaries and corporate treasurers 22 Electrical engineers 105
  Cooks 15 Telecommunications engineering professionals 99
  ICT business and systems analysts 13 Industrial, mechanical and production engineers 86
  Software and applications programmers 12 Computer network professionals 70
  Motor mechanics 10 Other engineering professionals 50
  Chefs 9 Civil engineering professionals 49
  Computer network professionals 8 Database and systems administrators, and ICT security specialists 48
  University lecturers and tutors 7 ICT business and systems analysts 44​​​

Source: Department of Home Affairs

Note: To protect the privacy of individuals, various data confidentiality techniques have been applied. These techniques include:

  • ​data masking — using primary and secondary suppression methods for values that are deemed to be a disclosure risk​
  • perturbation — a data security technique that allows for random data adjustment to prevent the release of identifiable data.

Note: Occupation level information is available for primary applicants only, and is based on Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations unit level data.

Geographic distribution
The following table shows the geographic distribution of migrants, based on permanent additions for the Skill and Family streams, international student visa grants, and Temporary Resident (Skilled Employment) visa grants.

Population NSW Vic. Qld SA WA Tas. NT ACT
Census 2021 (%)
Of all persons 32 26 20 7 10 2 1 2
Of Pakistani-born 38 35 7 6 8 2 1 3
Permanent additions – 2021–22 (%)
Skill stream 31 20​ 5 9 10 16 4 6
Family and Child stream 36 40 7 6 7 0 1 2
Temporary visa grants – 2021–22 (%)
International student visa grants 37 27 13 7 10 1 1 4
Temporary Resident (Skilled Employment) visa (primary) grants 43 36 6 3 9 1 1 1

Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics and Department of Home Affairs

​Note: Permanent additions consist of two components; those persons who, while already in Australia on a temporary basis, are granted permanent residence status or those persons who have subsequently arrived from overseas during the reporting period and are entitled to stay permanently in Australia.

Country ranking
This table uses rankings to show the significance of Pakistani migration for the past four financial years.

Ranked position of migrants 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22
Population in Australia 1 21 19 18 19
Regional n/a 5 5 4
Employer Sponsored 16 16 15 15
Total Skill stream 8 8 11 9
Total Family and Child stream 9 9 9 14
International students 15 11 8 13
Temporary Resident (Skilled Employment) visa 21 22 24 19
Visitors 38 37 23​ 28

Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics and Department of Home Affairs

Population level data is by country of birth and lags one year behind the financial year specified. Data based on the estimated residential population at 30 June; 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021.

Source: https://shorturl.at/CDRV1