The Australian government announced a new scheme for graduates and early career professionals from India’s top universities.

Key Points:

  • The new Mobility Arrangement for Talented Early-professionals Scheme (MATES) visa allows eligible Indian nationals to live and work in Australia for up to two years.
  • The application process will begin with a visa preapplication ballot process, and those selected will then apply for the new temporary work (international relations) (subclass 403) visa.
  • Officials confirmed there will be 3,000 temporary visa places each year.

Additional Information: Participants will be able to bring dependents. Eligible fields of study include agricultural technology, artificial intelligence, information and communications technology, engineering, financial technology, mining and renewable energy. More information on the MATES initiative can be found here.

BAL Analysis: The first ballot for the new visa stream opens for registrations in December. Officials stated that MATES continues to build on Australia’s and India’s strong people-to-people ties. It will benefit Indian nationals to gain employment and valuable experience in their areas of expertise as well as benefit Australian industry sectors and businesses by giving access to talented graduates with in-demand knowledge and skills.

This alert has been provided by the BAL Global Practice Group.

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