Korean Job Discussion Forums

[sojusucks]

Australia cinches immigration rules

http://joongangdaily.joins.com/article/view.asp?aid=2916465

February 10, 2010
Hundreds of Koreans planning to move to Australia were left scrambling to find alternatives this week, after the Australian government tightened its immigration rules and canceled 20,000 applications from hopefuls worldwide.

Immigration Minister Chris Evans Monday criticized the former John Howard government�s immigration policy, saying the country had accepted many cooks and hairdressers but not enough doctors and nurses. He also said changes are focused on giving priority to migrants with higher skills.

�You�ve got to say if they don�t have the English-language skills, don�t have the trade skills and can�t get a job, then really they should not be eligible for permanent residency,� Evans said. �The current points test puts an overseas student with a short-term vocational qualification gained in Australia ahead of a Harvard-educated environmental scientist.�

Evans was referring to vocational schools that teach cooking and hairdressing, among other subjects. Foreign Ministry officials in Seoul said that as of last November, about 11,500 Koreans were attending such institutes hoping to become permanent residents Down Under. An estimated 5,200 Koreans were granted permanent residency from July 2008 to June 2009, the last fiscal year.

According to a Foreign Ministry official, the Australian government said that only about 4 percent of the 20,000 applicants in question were Korean. All application fees will be refunded, a total of about $12 million.

The Korean official said the new policy didn�t appear to be targeting any specific country.

Another official in Seoul said there�s little the Korean government can do for the hopeful emigrants.

�Unless the Australian measure was aimed directly at us, it�s quite difficult for us to get involved in its government�s policy,� the official said.

If anything, Australia may have tried to curb the rise of its Indian population. Agence France-Presse reported that about 117,000 Indian students arrived in Australia in the 12 months prior to October 2009. Over that period, hundreds of Indians were assaulted and robbed, leading to media outrage and charges of racism.

The new policy will likely reduce enrollment at vocational schools but will instead favor applicants who already have job offers.

Australia altered its immigration rules in 2001 so that students at Australian colleges could apply for permanent residency while in school.


By Yoo Jee-ho [[email protected]]

[itaewonguy]

Australia is getting pretty bad though..Ive heard similar stories about Canada
its not like it use to be back in the 80's..
just getting over populated with immigrants!
once they come they ain't leaving..

something needs to be done...

[ms.catbc]

I don't think Canada is getting overpopulated with immigrants.

Canada isn't overpopulated at all. If you've got the money then immigrating to Canada is a hell of lot easier but you need to have $300 000 burning a hole in your bank account and a good business plan. If you are willing to start a business in rural Saskatchewan the provincial government will help you out big time.

If you want to move to Toronto or Vancouver it gets a bit trickier.

[Forever]

It still isn't difficult to get permanent residency in Australia.

It is much MORE difficult to get permanent residency in Korea.

The OP stated that "Koreans are angry....."

But what have they got to be angry about?

Australia should make it part of their policy that citizens who want permanent residency should speak very good English and want to assimilate with Australian society.

[andrewchon]

Not a surprise really, Labor Party is sliding in the polls and that (keeping wogs out) is the standard and popular response for the government on the skids.
Why shouldn't the Koreans be angry? Korean chaebols have invested heavily in Australia. Korea buys a lot of Australia's exports. Koreans want their money's worth.

[Wishmaster]

When Australians are allowed to immigrate to Korea, then the Koreans can be pissed. As of now, they have absolutely no reason to bitch. It should be reciprocal. If Australians are not allowed to come to Korea and open up shop, why the hell should Koreans be allowed to just waltz into Australia? I swear, Koreans like a rigged game. They can do to us, but we aren't allowed to do to them.

Oh, and I like the part where the one official says that they can't really do anything about the policy unless Koreans are directly targeted. Newsflash, South Korea, you wouldn't be able to do squat even if you were targeted. You have zero influence on what goes on in the Aussie government. Korea sure as hell wouldn't give a crap if the roles were reversed.

[korian]

maybe slightly off topic, maybe not. i just returned from a brief sojourn in london with my japanese girlfriend. aside from the great tourist attractions and wicked cold we encountered, the biggest thing we both noticed day in day out, was the incredibly high percentage of people who weren't speaking english.

it is just an observation, not a judgment, but it was incredible that on the tube, in buses, at galleries, on the street, in shops and so forth, i would say that about 60-70% of the people we encountered were not native speakers, and were not speaking english.

the reasons and/or implications i care not to get involved in, but it was really quite a shock to us.

[lichtarbeiter]

[Gaber]

[djsmnc]

[andrewchon]

I have lived in Australia and have experienced the rigged game Australians call 'assimilation', I can say Australian version is physically nice but mentally cruel on the immigrants. Korean version is the reverse.

[Gaber]

[Troglodyte]

For regular immigrants (not people coming to open a business or retired people) Canada uses a point system as well. Part of the point system is based on what Human Resources Canada determines the country needs (i.e. electricians and plumbers get a lot more points than an astrophysicist) but education level gets some points as well (so the guy with a PhD in astrophysics doesn't completely lose out). But if the primary appplicant can't speak English or French to a certain level then they don't get accepted, even if they do have enough points. That having been said, the language and profession of the dependants (usually a wife) are not taken into consideration.

A recent census report found that more than 40% of Toronto residents were not born in Canada.

I also think that it's a bit inappropriate for the Koreans to whine about the immigration policies in another country when they have such limiting standards themselves. If anything, it's the Australians that should be complaining because the Koreans make it hard for Australians (and everyone else) to immigrate here.

[PeterDragon]

It's tempting to give an all-snark response to this--- the average Korean is xenophobic and resentful of immigrants, so there's some definite hypocrisy here.

Having said that, the biggest issue here seems to be promising visas, encouraging people to uproot, prepare to emigrate at great expense, then pulling the rug out from under them.

Unless you count retracted employment offers from SMOE or disorganized hagwons, which are employers and not immigration offices, I'm not sure Korea has done anything on this scale when it comes to baiting people to come over here, then slamming the door shut.

Even if Korea has done something that crappy in the past, this sort of abrupt policy change is in bad from for any country, and it raises an understandable amount of anger.

Having said that, if Korea DID start doing that, I'm guessing that few Koreans would object, and a number of the Koreans who are mad at Australia right now would cheer.

[ekimswish]

Speaking of immigration, Filipinos pay big money for placement fees in a place like Canada. I think they'd be paying between 10 and 15K to get hooked up with a working visa (not even immigration). It's borrowed money they have to pay back once they're there. Filipinos wanting to work in Taiwan, Korea, or maybe the MidEast tend to pay a couple of thousand 'only', which is still quite big because they'll make far less money. They can't believe that plumbers and electricians and welders can make such good money in Canada. Everywhere else in the world, those jobs are cheap labor. That's why they all want to move there.