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Easier visa for rich retirees
By Rebecca DiGirolamo and Sophie Morris, The Australian
January 12, 2004
Rich retirees would be lured from overseas to regional Australia and skilled migrants would find it easier to get visas if they spent two years outside Sydney under a federal Government initiative unveiled yesterday.
Acting Prime Minister John Anderson announced a new visa category for self-funded retirees would apply from November 1, to boost regional economies struggling with declining populations.
From July 1, skilled migrants will be able to gain permanent residency after spending two years living and working anywhere but Sydney.
They will need fewer points to gain a visa. The NSW Government is the only state authority actively seeking to reduce the migration intake in its capital city.
The announcement follows a declaration last year by the federal Opposition that it wants at least 45per cent of skilled migrants funnelled to regional Australia, up from 12per cent.
The government scheme has no target for regional skilled migrants.
The re-routing of skilled migrants follows a 92per cent rise in the number of skilled migrants settling in regional Australia last year compared with 2001/02, with record flows to Tasmania.
Immigration Minister Amanda Vanstone said the new visas would not increase Australia's total migration intake, but would "redirect" migrants with skills and grey money to regional areas.
Only retirees aged over 55 and backed by $800,000 to $1million of net worth and willing to invest $500,000 in state and territory bonds will receive a four-year rolling visa.
They must be sponsored by a state or territory government, have no dependents, pay a one-off $8000 visa charge and have full private health cover. "All in all, they will bring benefits to Australia while they spend four years of their retirement here," Senator Vanstone said.
She said the two-stage, three-year temporary visa for skilled migrants would force thousands of people into regional areas for at least two years and the Government hoped they would stay longer.
But demographer Bob Birrell, director of the Centre for Population at Monash University, said the scheme would not necessarily funnel migrants to the bush because states could also nominate their capitals as regional.
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