Latest news with #PacificEngagementVisa
RNZ News
3 days ago
- Politics
- RNZ News
Australia opens 2025 Pacific Engagement Visa registration for Pacific and Timor-Leste
Australian National University's Professor Stephen Howes says the Pacific Engagement Visa "indicates that this new visa is here to stay". Photo: Facebook / Pacific Engagement Visa Australia's Pacific Engagement stream visa (PEV) ballot for 2025 is now open. The PEV programme allocates up to 3000 visas from nine Pacific Island countries and Timor-Leste to live and work in Australia permanently. The Australian Department of Home Affair says the ballot is open for registrations from 28 July until 25 August 2025. The2025 ballot and registrations will not include the ballot and registrations from 2024 in the draw. "To be able to apply for a PEV, you must first be selected in the random ballot," the Department of Home Affairs stated. "Eligible citizens from participating countries can enter - people of all skill levels, genders and occupations are welcome." The participating countries for the PEV 2025 program are: Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Timor-Leste, Tonga and Vanuatu.
Perth Now
21-07-2025
- Politics
- Perth Now
Half this country desperate to live in Aus
More than half of the citizens of Tuvalu have applied for a visa to permanently migrate to Australia. Just more than a month ago, Australia opened the The Falepili Mobility Pathway ballot, a program to provide citizens of the tiny island nation of Tuvalu a permanent migration pathway to Australia. The country has a population of just 10,643, while at least 5157 of them entered the lottery, more than half of the nation's people. This was through 1466 registrations, with many of the people being included as family members on applications. The ballot, which closed on Friday, randomly selected up to 280 people each year to apply for the visa. It is open to all Tuvalu citizens, regardless of age, and visa holders do not need to gain employment in Australia before applying. Tuvalu's population is particularly exposed to the effects of climate change. Credit: Supplied If the pace of applications keeps up, it could mean the entire population of Tuvalu could live in Australia within 40 years. Selections for the ballot will take place between July 25, 2025 and January 25, 2026. The scheme allows successful applicants to live, work and study anywhere in Australia indefinitely, sponsor relatives to also migrate to Australia, and apply for citizenship once eligible. The population of the island nation is one of the world's most exposed to the effects of climate change, with this program providing a path to flee as the impacts worsen. The visa program is part of an agreement between Australia and the Pacific nation. Credit: Supplied The pathway is part of the Australia-Tuvalu Falepili Union that both countries signed on August 28, 2024, part of which is to build climate resilience. Also included in the union is a commitment of $38m to invest in climate adaptation measures on the island. Pacific Minister Pat Conroy said the ballot's opening was a 'landmark moment'. NewsWire / Martin Ollman Credit: News Corp Australia When the ballot opened last month, Pacific Island Affairs Minister Pat Conroy called it the 'most significant agreement' between Australia and a Pacific country since Papua New Guinea's independence in 1975. 'The opening of the mobility pathway ballot is a landmark moment for Australia and Tuvalu,' Mr Conroy said. 'Alongside the Pacific Australia Labour Mobility scheme and the Pacific Engagement Visa, the Falepili migration pathway will strengthen relationships with our Pacific neighbours. 'It demonstrates how we are working in partnership with the Pacific to ensure our region remains peaceful, stable and prosperous.' Foreign Minister Penny Wong said the program provided a pathway 'as climate impacts worsen'. NewsWire / Martin Ollman Credit: News Corp Australia Foreign Minister Penny Wong said 'as climate impacts worsen' the program allowed Tuvaluans to live, study and work in Australia. 'The pathway reflects the deep trust between our two countries, and we look forward to the contributions Tuvaluans will make to Australian society,' Senator Wong said.
Time of India
30-06-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
What is Australia's 'Climate Visa' and why are Tuvaluans turning towards it
Tuvalu faces threat from rising sea levels. Many citizens apply for Australian climate visa. The Pacific Engagement Visa offers Tuvaluans permanent residency. Over 4,000 individuals seek relocation. Only 280 people get selected annually. The visa provides access to Australian benefits. This initiative addresses climate migration challenges. The program continues in future years. It safeguards Tuvalu's sovereignty. Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Live, work, and study in Australia Access public health benefits through Medicare Receive subsidised education and childcare support Travel freely between Australia and Tuvalu More than one-third of Tuvalu's population has applied for a new Australian climate visa , as fears rise over the island nation's long-term survival due to rising sea levels. Located in the Pacific Ocean between Australia and Hawaii, Tuvalu is among the world's most climate-vulnerable countries. Scientists predict much of it could be underwater in a few decades if sea levels continue to rise, Reuters is made up of nine atolls and is home to around 11,000 people. According to NASA, if sea levels rise by one metre by 2050, half of Funafuti, the main atoll that hosts 60% of the country's population, could be submerged daily by tides. The worst-case scenario, a two-metre rise, could submerge up to 90% of the area. As per a report by Reuters, the island's average elevation is only two metres above sea level. Over the last 30 years, sea levels around Tuvalu have risen by 15 cm, more than one and a half times the global average. The country has started building artificial land in an effort to preserve habitable space, but those efforts are unlikely to fully protect the population in the long environmental risks intensify, Tuvaluans are now looking at migration as a permanent June 2025, Australia opened applications for the Pacific Engagement Visa , which provides Tuvaluans the opportunity to migrate to Australia permanently. The visa program is part of the Falepili Union, a bilateral treaty signed between Australia and Tuvalu in 2024. The treaty includes commitments not only to provide migration options but also to support Tuvalu in the event of natural disasters, public health emergencies, and security threats, according to Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, to Australia's Department of Home Affairs, 1,124 Tuvaluan citizens submitted primary applications by June 27. When family members are included, the number of individuals seeking relocation under this visa rises to 4,052, BBC News reported. This figure represents nearly 40% of the entire population, based on Tuvalu's 2022 the terms of the visa, only 280 people will be selected each year through a random ballot system. The selection process is designed to avoid a sudden brain drain from Tuvalu, allowing for controlled Pacific Engagement Visa grants successful applicants indefinite residency in Australia. This includes the right to:Tuvalu's ambassador to the United Nations, Tapugao Falefou, said the community was 'startled by the huge number of people vying for this opportunity.' He also noted that many Tuvaluans see this as a way to support families back home through Prime Minister Feleti Teo described the treaty with Australia as a 'legally binding commitment to safeguard the statehood and sovereignty of a nation affected by climate change.'The first phase of applications closes on July 18, 2025. Given the limited annual intake, most applicants will not be selected this year. However, the program is expected to continue in future Australian government has positioned this visa as a landmark policy response to the realities of climate migration.
ABC News
27-05-2025
- Business
- ABC News
Australia welcomes new residents under the new Pacific Engagement Visa
Successful applicants of the Pacific Engagement Visa, have started to settle into their new lives in Australia. The PEV grants permanent residency to citizens from the Pacific and Timor-Leste, chosen through a random ballot it's similar to the "Green Card Lottery" seen in the US. Those selected can apply for a visa, and up to 3,000 visas are available each round. Jehhand Topai and her daughter just touched down in Australia on the weekend, joining her partner, who was previously employed under the PALM scheme in regional New South Wales town, Casino. An accounting officer in PNG, she resigned from her job last October for the visa application.
ABC News
26-05-2025
- Politics
- ABC News
Timor president rejects pardon proposal for former priest and convicted pedophile
On the program today: Timor Leste President Jose Ramos Horta has decided against pardoning convicted former priest Richard Daschbach. There are calls for calm in Papua New Guinea's capital, Port Moresby, following the shooting of a 29-year-old woman by police officers. Outspoken, fierce and a protector of culture and a peacemaker. That's how family, friends and the people of Vanuatu are remembering the late Hilda Lini. From the ABC's archives, a 1980 interview with Hilda Lini before New Hebrides became independent from France and Britain. People at the site of a massive landslide in Papua New Guinea are calling for action one year on after more than 600 people died. Successful applicants of the Pacific Engagement Visa, have started to settle into their new lives in Australia. A new academy has just been launched by Vanuatu Cricket, with the aim of drawing in the best male and female talent and building a new generation of national team players. The Trump administration has dramatically stepped up its dispute with one of the United States' top universities, attempting to block Harvard's ability to enrol foreign students.
