Millions of UK citizens want Australia visa

July 03 2009 by Mark Johnstone

Millions of Brits want Australia visa

According to new figures from Foreign Exchange Direct, 11 million British citizens want to move abroad over the coming two years with 20% wanting to obtain an Australia visa.

The number of Brits emigrating to Canada, Australia, New Zealand and other countries is currently at levels equal to those in the 1950s when the '£10 Poms' made the move to Australia and the trend is set to continue.

Some 207,000 Brits emigrated in 2007, which equates to one every three minutes and in the coming two years, a quarter of working Brits want to move to countries with better job opportunities and sunnier climates. Australian immigration in particular is proving a key destination.

Unemployment in the UK seems to be a major driving factor for the recent boom in emigration. Unemployment is at its worst in the city of Birmingham, and in turn, people from Birmingham are more likely than people from others cities to want to move abroad. A significant 17% of people from Birminghgam hope to emigrate, compared with 13% from the South West and Wales.

The study also found that the 18-30 age bracket are most likely to want to move abroad, along with the 50-60 age bracket. Those ages 18-30 qualify for the Australian working holiday visa which allows people to travel and work for a year. Many start with this Australia visa and remain living in the country on a full work visa once the have found a permanent job, of which there are many for migrants who move to Australia.

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