Indians top list of temporary work visa receivers in Australia

Indians topped the list of temporary work (skilled) visa receivers in Australia during the first six months of the current financial year, according to latest official data.

The data released by the Immigration Department showed that Indians represented over 23 per cent of total 'subclass 457 visa' granted by it during July-December 2013.

"The top three citizenship countries for primary visa grants in the 2013-14 programme year to 31 December 2013 were India at 23.4 per cent follwed by the UK at 18.6 per cent and Ireland at 7.9 per cent," it said.

Indians topped the list in the category of primary applications granted under nominated positions located for Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland, Australian Capital Territory and Tasmania.

The only two regions where Indians followed other nationalities were in South Australia and Northern territory.

The number of primary visa holders in Australia during the six months till December last stood stood at 90,780, which was 8.3 per cent higher compared with the same period in the previous year with the UK topping the category.

The top three industries for primary visa grants were Other Services at 14.0 per cent, Accommodation and Food Services at 12.9 per cent and Information Media and Telecommunications at 10.2 per cent.

The largest occupation for primary subclass 457 visa grants were cooks, which represented 5.7 per cent of total primary grants. This was an increase from 4.0 per cent when compared to the same period in the previous year.

Cafe or Restaurant Managers recorded the second largest primary visa grants at 4.4 per cent of total primary visa grants. They were followed by Developer Programmer at 3.1 per cent of total primary visa grants.