The number of permanent immigrants in Australia has generally declined as a result of a sharp decline in the number of visas granted to Australian spouses and partners last year. According to the Ministry of Home Affairs, 162417 applications were approved in 2017 / 18, but the official permanent immigration program quota was one hundred and ninety thousand.
The difference is due to the stricter approval programme being introduced by Darden, while the number of Australian partner visas granted fell from 47825 in 2016-17 to 39799 last year. Partner visas account for 83% of all family reunion visas, and 80, 000 applications are still pending.
