KATHMANDU, April 21: The number of Nepalis obtaining permanent residency (PR) permits in Australia has soared. In 2022/23, as many as 12,041 Nepalis got PR permits. According to the latest data of the Ministry of Home Affairs, the number of Nepalis who have received PR permits in Australia by the end of June 2022 has reached 151,140.

By the end of June 2012, this number was only 30,730. In 10 years, the number of PR permit recipients in Australia has increased almost five times. Last year, 4,380 Nepalis got PR permits by migrating to regional areas, while around 5,000 got visas under commercial investment and innovation.

Similarly, 761 Nepalis got PR permits from employer sponsorship, 2,763 in the skillful independent category, 3367 via state and territory nomination, 26 under global talent stream, 675 through family ties and 69 under miscellaneous categories.

The data also reveals that 55.4 percent of PR permit recipients were men, while 44.6 percent were women. Nepalis constitute 2 percent of foreign nationals receiving PR permits, with their share of the Australian PR permit recipient population standing at 0.6 percent.

According to sources, most of the PR permit recipients are from the health sector, particularly nurses, followed by doctors, pharmacists, and other healthcare professionals.

Additionally, skilled individuals with backgrounds in accounting, cookery (including chefs and cooks), bakery, IT, and engineering fields have been successful in obtaining PR status.

According to Australian government data for 2022/23, the highest number of Nepali PR permit holders were 2,558 nurses and 1,246 accountants. Enrolled and Mothercraft nurses accounted for 367, followed by 322 chefs, 162 cooks, 153 software and applications programmers, 99 welfare, recreation, and community art workers, 86 information technology professionals and system analysts, 80 civil engineers, and 77 computer network workers.

Similarly, chefs make the  highest number of recipients of temporary residence permits. In addition, 187 cooks, 62 bakers and pastry cooks, 38 cafe and restaurant managers, 25 software and application programmers, 22 structural steel and welding trade workers, 19 accountants, 14 computer network professionals, 12 ICT business and system analysts, and 11 general practitioners and resident medical officers received temporary residence permits.

According to the Australian Department of Home Affairs, Nepal is at tenth place among the countries whose people are born abroad and get Australian PR perits, from 2019 to 2021, ranked in 11 position in 2019 and climbing to 10 th in 2022.

According to the statistics, the number of Nepalis who got PR in 2023 is twice more than that in 2021. In 2021, 6,628 people got PR permits, and in 2023, 12,041 Nepalis got PR permits with a sharp increase.

In 2014/15, Nepal was ranked ninth among the 10 countries whose people had received PR permits under Australia's immigration program. In recent years, the trend has been upward, with 5,048 (2019), 4,714 (2020), 6,628 (2021), and an increase to 12,041 Nepalis obtaining PR permits in 2023.

Among the top countries with significant numbers of PR recipients in Australia in 2022, following India's 41,145, were Britain, China, New Zealand, the Philippines, Vietnam, South Africa, Malaysia, Italy, and Nepal.

After Nepal, Sri Lanka holds the 11th position, followed by the United States, Hong Kong, South Korea, Germany, Iraq, Pakistan, Indonesia, Greece, Thailand, and Afghanistan.

 
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