Skilled migration brings economic benefits but can pose significant challenges for national regulators who must decide whether these individuals are qualified to practice their occupations at destination. Maintaining occupational standards while accommodating the evolving patterns of mobility and facilitating the use of immigrants’ skills is a difficult task, and governments have struggled to meet the challenge.

With an increasing role for employer-sponsored migration designed to fill specific vacancies immediately, more flexible pathways into regulated occupations have become increasingly attractive for governments, employers, and individual migrants.

The report, by University of Melbourne migration expert Lesleyanne Hawthorne, argues that these more flexible ways to recognize qualifications have the potential to facilitate the flow of goods and services; enhance the efficiency of skilled migration programs; accommodate the fast-track entry of temporary labor; expedite transnational corporations’ global reach and mission; facilitate training to fill skills deficits; and reduce the level of skills wastage.

This report, the third in a series examining credential recognition issues, was produced with the assistance of the European Union. Following this report, MPI will publish a policy overview of strategies to reduce brain waste and improve the recognition of foreign academic and professional credentials.