We investigate the causal effect of English proficiency on labour, social and health outcomes
of immigrants in Australia. We use age at arrival combined with country of origin to form an
instrument of English proficiency. We find that immigrants in Australia with better language
proficiency are able to earn higher income, attain higher level of education, have higher
probability of complete tertiary studies, and get more hours of work per week. Language
proficiency also improves social integration, leading to higher probability of marriage to a …