The only country of the 97 where, after losing your job, you may work for six months rather than merely look for work.
On paper Australia is one of the most predictable countries in our sample. Applications are fully online, the department publishes real processing times, and about 7% of applications in non-humanitarian programmes are refused. A partner gets unrestricted work rights with the visa, the family goes on one application, and there are no integration courses or address registration. Places in the 2026-27 migration programme went up: employer-sponsored from 44,000 to 58,040, skilled independent from 16,900 to 21,090.
The hard part is getting in. Points-tested visas require a paid skills assessment that takes months, and the core 482 stream has a long tail: one decision in ten takes about 10 months. In New South Wales, children on a temporary 482 visa pay AUD 5,600-6,400 a year for state school; with permanent residence it is free.
After the Bondi Beach attack of 14 December 2025, a law dated 20 January 2026 was passed overnight: the minister can cancel visas already granted for "hate-motivated conduct", on some grounds on "reasonable suspicion" without a conviction. It applies to people who already hold a visa, with no transitional rules. Known uses so far concern people before entry. Cancellations on criminal grounds rose to 948 in 2024-25 from 602 a year earlier, but that is a long-standing rule tied to a sentence of 12 months or more, not a campaign against law-abiding residents.
No other country in our index treats job loss as gently: a 482 holder gets 180 consecutive days (up to 365 over the life of the visa) to find a new sponsor and may work for other employers or for themselves during that time. The new employer lodges a nomination; the visa itself stays. If you apply for a new visa before yours expires, a bridging visa keeps your right to live and work until the decision.
Day to day there is little friction: big banks open accounts on a passport, often online before you arrive.
The index score ignores nationality. This is what changes for citizens of specific countries.
An Electronic Travel Authority through the app covers visits of up to three months at a time, with an AUD 20 service charge. To live and work, the same 189 and 482 visas apply.
Under the 1973 arrangement they get a subclass 444 visa on arrival and may live and work in Australia indefinitely, with no points test and no sponsor.
Ukrainian passports are not on the ETA list, so even a visit needs a visa obtained in advance. The route to work and permanent residence is the same as for everyone: the 189 or the 482.
When we checked on 9 August 2026 we found no direct nationality restrictions on the 189 or 482 visas. Rules and requirements are the same as for everyone.
The place interval 1-4 shows where the country lands when the data is nudged and the index is recalculated. One place of difference in the table means nothing; a difference of a league means something.
The thin mark on each bar is the average across 97 countries
The strongest category here is Path to citizenship: 100 out of 100, against a 97-state average of 57.1. The weakest is Access to entry: 59 against 65.7. Above the world average: 6 out of 7.
180 consecutive days after losing your sponsor and up to 365 days in total. During that time you may work for other employers or for yourself. Nowhere else in the index does income survive that moment: everywhere else you may look for work but not work. Beyond that, the country simply stays out of your way: a bank account opens online before you even arrive, there is no compulsory address registration and no integration exams. Path to citizenship is scored at 100 out of 100.
DownsideAccess to entry scores 59. There is no visa for remote work or for the self-employed at all; you get in only through an employer, through points or through study. The salary threshold for the main work visa is A$79,423 a year from 1 July 2026, and an applicant on $2,500 a month does not clear it.
A warningIn January 2026 a new law added grounds for cancelling visas that are already in force.
All 97 states are calculated for one applicant: 35 years old, income of $2,500 and $3,856 a month before tax, passport not counted, the most accessible route that is actually in use.
Your passport, your income and your family do not change the table. They change which of its lines apply to you. A different income makes entry read differently, a family makes the family category read differently, and your passport makes everything read differently.
There is no deadline in law, but published actual times are: for the 189, half of decisions within 6 months and 90% within 8. For the 482 core stream, 83 days and up to 10 months; specialists from 10 days.
Yes, through the points-tested 189 visa: it needs no sponsor and gives permanent residence at once. There is no separate visa for remote workers or the self-employed; freelancers compete on points as skilled workers.
Government charges are AUD 6,135 per applicant and AUD 10,745 for a family of three on the 189, and AUD 4,015 per adult on the 482. Medicals, English tests and skills assessment are extra.
A 482 holder gets 180 consecutive days to find a new sponsor and may work for other employers or for themselves meanwhile. A separate risk since 2026: a visa can be cancelled for "hate-motivated conduct", including on suspicion without a conviction.
Permanent residence at once on the 189, after 2 years of work on the 482. Citizenship after 4 years of lawful residence, at least 1 of them as a permanent resident; dual citizenship is allowed.
The state recruits skilled workers: 2026-27 programme places went up, the family gets visas with the applicant and a partner may work freely. The bottlenecks are an expensive, slow entry, no visa for remote workers, and a 2026 law that widened the grounds for cancelling visas already granted.
97 states, 26 indicators, seven categories, 2,522 scores. Every score has a source and a source class: primary means the texts of laws and government portals; reliable secondary means reports by international organisations, tax reviews by audit firms and specialist legal publications; weak means community posts and single secondary sources. The classes add up to a confidence level for the country, and a country with low confidence gets neither a score nor a place.
Every indicator is scored against a fixed ruler, not against its neighbours. Adding new countries therefore does not move the old ones, and a change in a score means a change in policy and nothing else.
A high place does not mean a good country. It means one thing: the state machine treats newcomers predictably and by the rules. Living there may be expensive, dull or hot; that is not our question.
Checked 01/10/2026. Facts come from the country's index card and official websites.
We make mistakes and we will go on making them: policy changes faster than any database. Our answer is not a pose of infallibility but a visible trail of corrections. Every correction is published: what it was, what it became, the source and the reason for the error. The corrections log opens with the second issue, together with the first block of changes.