Part of the problem is that hundreds of thousands of people are waiting for their visa applications to be processed, creating a disincentive for new highly skilled applicants who may have offers elsewhere.Australia's immigration policies are notoriously tough, but Mistry from Easymigrate said even for people with highly sought-after skills, the visa system can be frustratingly slow.
"It could take sort of eight to 12 months to bring someone in, so it becomes a big disincentive to businesses who are kind of looking for someone to start immediately," he said. Partner visas can take up to two years, he added.
Mistry said the problems predate the pandemic, going back five years or so to when Border Force, the agency tasked with border control, was absorbed into a larger Department of Home Affairs. "It seems to have been a very big culture shift from being about facilitating visas to one of more border protection," Mistry said.