If this resident remains overseas for 12 months or more, he or she has changed travel category from short to long-term and is regarded as a category jumper. Estimates for category jumping ensure that the estimated population reflects the population who are usually resident in Australia. Over the last 30 years there has been a significant change in the source countries of permanent arrivals. The number of visas issued to prospective settlers varies significantly from year to year. So too does the balance between the types of visas issued.
Skilled migration is a very volatile component of the migration intake.
The birthplaces of these immigrants partly reflect past migration patterns. A quarter of immigrants on humanitarian visas had been born in North Africa and the Middle East. Before 1980 the number of settlers from Asia was small. With the final dismantling of the White Australia Policy in the early 1970s and acceptance of refugees from the Viet Nam war, the number of migrants from Asia began to increase. Generally, the level of permanent arrivals from Asia has followed the patterns of total permanent arrivals, reflecting the constraints of the Migration and Humanitarian Programs.