Australia is the second home to over 100,000 Sri Lankans who had benefitted tremendously on almost every measure of excellence, from health to wealth, from success in business to educational attainment, says Sri Lanka’s leading Australian Immigration Law Specialist – Don Susantha Katugampola of Australia Gateway.

“Out of these 100,000 Sri Lankans majority live in Melbourne, which clinched top spot for the fifth year in a row on the prestigious World's Most Livable Cities List 2015. Join your family and friends and feel at home right here in Australia,” said Katugampola at Australia Gateway Open Day 2016 held on January 9, 2016.

Speaker of the Victorian Legislative Assembly, Australia – Telmo Languiller MP who was on an official visit to Sri Lanka, attended the event as a special guest. Parliamentarian Languiller was accorded a special reception in Parliament on January 9, 2016.

According to Australia’s Ministry for Immigration and Border Protection, up to 190,000 permanent migration places will be available in 2015-16.

“The number of permanent places available will remain the same as last year. This includes up to: 128,550 places for skilled migrants, including employer sponsored, general skilled and business categories; 57,400 places for family migrants sponsored by immediate family members; and 565 places for special eligibility migrants, who include former permanent residents who have maintained close business, cultural or personal ties with Australia,” Minister for Immigration and Border Protection announced as part of the Budget on 12 May 2015.

In light of these developments, one of Sri Lanka’s leading Australian Migration Consultants - Australia Gateway, the Sri Lankan arm of Melbourne-based Fairfields Lawyers has embarked on aggressively promoting investment, trade and immigration opportunities in the Continent.

“Australia is the world's most popular destination for international students and is one of the richest countries in the world, ranking fifth highest in GDP Per Capita Income, way passing United States, United Kingdom and Canada. With the second-highest human development index globally, Australia ranks highly in many international comparisons of national performance, such as quality of life, health, education, economic freedom, and the protection of civil liberties and political rights.  It has an open market economy, a relatively high GDP per capita, and is identified as the nation with the highest median wealth in the world and the second-highest average wealth per adult in 2013. The country was ranked second in the United Nations 2011 Human Development Index and first in Legatum's 2008 Prosperity Index. All of Australia's major cities fare well in global comparative livability surveys, with Melbourne clinching the number one spot for the fifth year in a row on The Economist's prestigious list of the world's most livable cities-2015, followed by Adelaide, Sydney, and Perth in the fifth, seventh, and eigth places respectively,” he added.

As a distinguished Sri Lankan expatriate in Melbourne, Don Susantha Katugampola has reiterated that Sri Lankan expats from all backgrounds in Australia needed to strengthen the relationship between Australia and Sri Lanka in the future for benefit of Sri Lanka.

Susantha Katugampola left Sri Lanka 25 years ago for Australia where he completed his LLB degree at Monash University in Melbourne after which he was admitted to the Supreme Court of South Australia as well as that of Victoria and practiced Law in Adelaide and in Melbourne. In 1998 he joined Immigration and Commercial Law with the Law firm Knox and Hargrave Lawyers in Adelaide the second oldest law firm in Australia and the oldest Law firm in South Australia established in 1838.

In order to cater to the ever increasing demand in migration inquiries of Sri Lankan clients and to provide a timely, reliable and effective service to our growing clientele, Fairfields Lawyers set up its very own office in Sri Lanka - Australia Gateway, located at the Jaic Hilton Towers, in 2003. With expert consultants for regional, state-sponsored and tradespersons migration matters, Australia Gateway offers reliable, trusted and credible services to assist you in your skilled and business migration to Australia.

Katugampola steered Australia Gateway to become the most sought-after migration consultancy firm in Colombo of which he is the Director with the intention of assisting Sri Lankans to migrate and settle in Australia, and to call Australia ‘home’.

“With Australia being the no 1 immigration-friendly country, we have a trend in Sri Lanka where many professionals and businesses are looking into the possibilities of migrating to Australia. It is therefore very important that the general public receive the right information and advice with regards to this issue as the possibilities of potential immigrants being mislead are many. With regards to migration majority of people in Sri Lanka have a limited access to the accurate information,” Katugampola added.

Australia has abundant migration and employment opportunities for Sri Lankan migrants, mainly for professionals such as accountants, IT professionals, engineers etc. In the case of most individuals the Sri Lankan qualifications alone will be sufficient enough to be eligible to fulfill the migration and employment requirements in Australia as most local Sri Lankan Government university degrees are equivalent to an Australian degree.

Australia is a rich, stable, well-run nation with good infrastructure and strong education and healthcare systems. Its strong multi-cultural influence and timezones make it an attractive destination for migrants from Asia in general and Sri Lankans in particular. In terms of economic performance, Australia was one of the few rich nations to avoid a recession throughout the global recession. It has maintained relatively strong GDP growth, recently underpinned by a mining boom, low unemployment and low levels of government debt.

Sri Lankan expatriate community in Australia has made significant contribution to advancement of Australia and has been well recognized and respected by the Australian public over many years. Katugampola has been repeatedly awarded the ‘Best Lawyer Award’ at the Serendib Sri Lankan Community Awards in Australia.

In 2015, the Sri Lankan Cricket team received a very special welcome at the Victorian Parliament in Australia during the Cricket World Cup tour in Australia. Out of the 14 international teams participate at this World Cup Sri Lankan team was the only one to receive such a recognition and honour in an Australian Parliament.

“This reflects the relationship between Sri Lanka and Australia and the recognition of the Sri Lankan expatriate community in Australia including Australian political arena. Australia is an important regional partner for Sri Lanka that can make a great contribution in development, investments, education & training and reconciliation in the future prosperity of Sri Lanka. Australia has been true friend of Sri Lanka during hours of need,” Katugampola added.