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Permanent migration from Vietnam

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​​​​​​Cou​ntry profile - Vietnam

Population

At the end of June 2021, 268,170 Vietnamese-born people were living in Australia, 29.2 per cent more than the number (207,620) at 30 June 2011. This makes the Vietnamese-born population the sixth largest migrant community in Australia, equivalent to 3.6 per cent of Australia's overseas-born population and 1.0 per cent of Australia's total population.

For Australia's Vietnamese-born migrants:

  • The median age of 48.4 years was 10.1 years above that of the general population.
  • Females outnumbered males—56.3 per cent compared with 43.7 per cent.1

​1 Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Australia’s Population by Country of Birth​

Permanent migration

Australia's permanent Migration Program incorporates economic and family migration and is the main pathway to permanent residence. It includes the Skill stream, Family stream and Special Eligibility visas. The only other way to obtain permanent residence is on humanitarian grounds.

Skill stream visas

The Skill stream is designed for workers who have the skills, qualifications and entrepreneurship most needed in the Australian economy. There are seven components:

  1. Business Innovation and Investment

  2. Distinguished Talent

  3. Employer Sponsored

  4. Global Talent (Independent)

  5. Regional

  6. Skilled Independent

  7. State/Territory Nominated.

Family and Child stream visas

The Family stream allows the permanent migration of close family members, of Australian citizens, permanent residents, and eligible New Zealand citizens. It focuses on partners and parents, but also provides the opportunity for additional family members, such as aged dependent relatives, carers, remaining relatives and orphan relatives, to join their family in Australia.

Child visas allow the permanent migration of children, of Australian citizens, permanent residents, and eligible New Zealand citizens. The Child visa comprises two categories, namely Child and Adoption visas.

Special Eligibility visas

Special Eligibility visas allow former residents and certain people who served in the Australian Defence Force to live in Australia as permanent residents.

The following table shows the size of permanent migration from Vietnam by migration category.

Table 1: Permanent migrant places granted, 2018–19 to 2021–22

Migration category

2018–19

2019–20

2020–21

2021–22

Business Innovation and Investment

478

368

1,144

1,339

Employer Sponsored

736

569

410

821

Skilled Regional 1

11

n/a

n/a

n/a

Skilled Independent

425

156

82

27

State/Territory Nominated

538

702

433

612

Regional 2

n/a

669

343

481

Global Talent (Independent) 3

n/a

107

325

247

Partner

2,697

2,245

4,749

2,421

All other categories

647

582

634

544

Total places granted

5,532

5,398

8,120

6,492

Source: Department of Home Affairs

1 The Skilled Regional category closed to new applications from 1 July 2019.

2 The Regional migration category commenced 1 July 2019.

3​ Global Talent (Independent) category commenced 4 November 2019.

Temporary migration

People can come to Australia for a temporary stay for a range of purposes, for example, visiting Australia for tourism or attending a conference, or for more specific purposes, such as medical treatment, study, skilled work, working holidays or other specialist activities. There are six main categories of temporary residents, which can cover stays of more than three months in Australia.

Note: Not all categories apply to migrants from each country.

Visitor visas

Visitor visas are mostly used by people visiting Australia for holidays, tourism and recreation, or to see family and friends. People may also use Visitor visas for certain short-term business activities that do not entail working in Australia.

Working Holiday Maker Program

The Working Holiday Maker Program allows young adults to have an extended holiday and engage in short-term work and study.

Student visa

The Student visa program enables international students to come to Australia to study full-time in a registered course.

Temporary Resident (Skilled Employment) visa

Allows a business to sponsor a skilled overseas worker if they cannot find an appropriately skilled Australian citizen or permanent resident to fill a skilled position.

Other temporary visas

Other temporary visas include visas that allow people to undertake short-term, non-ongoing highly specialised work, enrich social and cultural development, strengthen international relations or provide training opportunities of benefit to Australia.

New Zealand citizens

Under the 1973 Trans-Tasman Travel Arrangement, New Zealand citizens can enter and leave Australia freely and live in Australia indefinitely on grant of a Special Category visa (subclass 444).

The following table shows the number of visa grants to migrants from Vietnam, for Visitor, Student, Temporary Resident (Skilled Employment) and Working Holiday Maker visas.

Table 2: Temporary visas granted by selected categories, 2018–19 to 2021–22

Temporary visa category

2018–19

2019–20

2020–21

2021–22

Visitor

72,852

56,001

6,124

25,167

Student

11,988

10,706

6,776

9,243

Temporary Resident (Skilled Employment)

1,401

706

465

1,076

Working Holiday Maker

343

922

381

1,945

Other temporary visa grants 1

3,494

2,952

2,556

2,822

Total temporary visa grants

90,078

71,287

16,302

40,253

Source: Department of Home Affairs

1Excludes Transit visa (subclass 771), Border visa (subclass 773) and Maritime Crew visa (subclass 988).

Main occupations

The following table shows the main occupations for nationals of Vietnam, based on Skill stream migration outcomes and Temporary Resident (Skilled Employment) visa grants.

Table 3: Main occupations, 2018–19 to 2021–22

Period

 Temporary Resident  (Skilled Employment) visas

No. of migrants

Skill stream migration

No. of migrants

2021–22

 

Accountants​

62​

Accountants

190

 

Chefs​

54

Registered nurses​

87

 

Software and applications programmers​

51

Software and applications programmers​

79

 

Bakers and pastrycooks​

42

Chefs​

51

 

Cooks​

33

Cafe and restaurant managers​

36

 

Auditors, company secretaries and corporate treasurers​

12

Civil engineering professionals​

31

 

ICT​ business and systems analysts

9

Cooks​

27

 

Management and organisation analysts​

8

Early childhood (pre-primary school) teachers​

25

 

Mechanical engineering draftspersons and technicians​

8

Social workers​

21

 

Cafe and restaurant managers​

7

Chemical and materials engineers​

19

2020–21

 

Bakers and pastrycooks

36

Accountants

110

 

Software and applications programmers

24

Software and applications programmers

70

 

Cooks

23

Registered nurses

49

 

Accountants

19

Civil engineering professionals

28

 

Chefs

18

Bakers and pastrycooks

21

 

Other personal service workers

11

Medical laboratory scientists

20

 

Cafe and restaurant managers

10

ICT business and systems analysts

20

 

Advertising and marketing professionals

5

Chefs

20

 

ICT business and systems analysts

5

Cafe and restaurant managers

13

 

Actuaries, mathematicians and statisticians

< 5

University lecturers and tutors

13

2019–20

 

Software and applications programmers

35

Accountants

172

 

Bakers and pastrycooks

30

Registered nurses

86

 

Cooks

24

Software and applications programmers

56

 

University lecturers and tutors

14

Cooks

49

 

Cafe and restaurant managers

13

Cafe and restaurant managers

44

 

Chefs

13

Bakers and pastrycooks

41

 

Accountants

11

Civil engineering professionals

27

 

Ministers of religion

9

Chefs

25

 

Other personal service workers

9

University lecturers and tutors

22

 

Management and organisation analysts

8

Agricultural and forestry scientists

21

2018–19

 

Accountants

43

Accountants

160

 

Chefs

34

Software and applications programmers

76

 

Software and applications programmers

32

Registered nurses

43

 

Cooks

29

Cooks

38

 

Bakers and pastrycooks

21

Cafe and restaurant managers

30

 

University lecturers and tutors

19

Civil engineering professionals

26

 

Ministers of religion

11

Chefs

18

 

Auditors, company secretaries and corporate treasurers

9

Auditors, company secretaries and corporate treasurers

17

 

Cafe and restaurant managers

8

University lecturers and tutors

16

 

Structural steel and welding trades workers

8

Bakers and pastrycooks

16​

Source: Department of Home Affairs

Note: To protect the privacy of individuals, various data confidentiality techniques have been applied. These techniques include:

  • data masking — using primary and secondary suppression methods for values that are deemed to be a disclosure risk
  • perturbation — a data security technique that allows for random data adjustment to prevent the release of identifiable data.

Note: Occupation level information is available for primary applicants only, and is based on Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations unit level data.​

Geographic distribution

The following table shows the geographic distribution of migrants, based on permanent additions for the Skill and Family streams, international student visa grants, and Temporary Resident (Skilled Employment) visa grants.

Table 4: Geographic distribution

Population

NSW

Vic.

Qld

SA

WA

Tas.

NT

ACT

Census 2021 (%)

Of all persons

32

26

20

7

10

2

1

2

Of Vietnamese-born

38

36

9

7

7

1

1

2

Permanent additions - 2021–22 (%)

Skill stream

28

32

12

13

6

5

2

3

Family and Child stream

41

37

8

5

6

0

1

1

Temporary visa grants - 2021–22 (%)

International student visa grants

29

38

10

14

5

2

1

2

Temporary Resident (Skilled Employment) visa (primary) grants

35

38

10

4

8

0

3

1

Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics and Department of Home Affairs

​​Note: Permanent additions consist of two components; those persons who, while already in Australia on a temporary basis, are granted permanent residence status or those persons who have subsequently arrived from overseas during the reporting period and are entitled to stay permanently in Australia.

Country ranking

This table uses rankings to show the significance of Vietnamese migration for the past four financial years.

Table 5: Country ranking, 2018–19 to 2021–22

Ranked position of migrants

2018–19

2019–20

2020–21

2021–22

Population in Australia 1

6

6

6

6

Regional

n/a

9

9

8

Employer Sponsored

13

13

14

6

Total Skill stream

9

9

8

7

Total Family and Child stream

3

4

5

5

International students

6

6

6

4

Temporary Resident (Skilled Employment) visa

13

17

18

14

Visitors

16

16

8

12

Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics and Department of Home Affairs

1 Population level data is by country of birth and lags one year behind the financial year specified. Data based on the estimated residential population at 30 June; 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021.

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