The government has announced that soon fully vaccinated Australian citizens and permanent residents will be eligible for international travel without needing a travel exemption. Australian citizens and permanent residents aged 12 or above who are fully vaccinated with an Australian government-recognized vaccine will be eligible to travel without seeking a travel exemption. This is expected to start in November and more information regarding this will be provided soon. Also, children under the age of 12 and those who are unable to get vaccinated due to health reasons will also be eligible to travel without a travel exemption. The ineligible Australian citizens and the permanent residents must follow the current border process while leaving and returning to Australia. Also, the Australian citizens and permanent residents returning to Australia who are fully vaccinated or under 12, may be eligible for reduced quarantine arrangements.
Migration Amendment (Australian Agriculture Workers) Regulations 2021, dated 30 September 2021, [“the Instrument”] amends the Migration Regulation 1994to introduce a new Australian Agriculture Worker (AAW) stream under the Subclass 403 Temporary Work International Relations visa, to provide for the overseas workers to enter Australia and to support the government objective to fill labour shortages in primary industry sector including horticulture, meat processing, dairy, wool, grains, fisheries including aquaculture and forestry. The visa applicants who are the participants of the Australian Agriculture WorkerProgram (the AAWP) and the visa applicants sponsored by an employer who is a participant of AAWP will be eligible for the Australian Agriculture Worker (AAW) stream under the Subclass 403 Temporary Work International Relations visa. Bilateral agreements with foreign countries, negotiated by the Department of Home Affairs and Trade will be the basis to enact AAWP. Only the visa applicants of a country who is a party to contract under the AAWP are eligible under this stream. The Instrument is registered on the Federal Register of Legislation on 30 September 2021 and commenced on the same date. It is currently in force. To access the Instrument, click here.
Migration (Arrangements for Visitor (Class FA) Visa Applications) Instrument (LIN 21/056) 2021 dated 28 September 2021[“the Instrument”], prescribes the requirements related to approved forms, place, and manner that an applicant for a Visitor(Class FA) visa must meet to make a valid visa application under any of its five streams: the Tourist stream, the Sponsored Family stream, the Business Visitor stream, the Approved Destination Status stream and the Frequent Traveller stream. The instrument provides that applications for all streams must be made as an internet application through ImmiAccount. Applications for the Tourist, Sponsored Family, Business Visitor, and Frequent Traveller streams must be made using form 1419 (Internet) inImmiAccount, and the applications for the Approved Destination Status stream must be made using form 48G (Internet) in ImmiAccount. The applicants must indicate within the prescribed form the stream they are applying for. The instrument also provides that any applicant under Tourist stream (outside Australia) and Business Visitor stream, on receiving written notice from the Department may make an application using a form and manner other than an internet form through ImmiAccount. For the Approved Destination Status stream, a list of approved travel agents has been provided. This instrument brings uniformity in the process of making an application irrespective of the passport an applicant holds for the Tourist, Sponsored Family and Business Visitor streams, by streamlining the arrangements. The Instrument is registered on the Federal Register of Legislation on 29 September 2021 and commenced on 30 September 2021. It is currently in force. To access the list of approved travel agents and the Instrument, click here
Invitation Round: 27 September 2021 Matrix nominating Small Business Owners: 0 invitations ACT 190 nominations: 0 invitations 190 minimum Matrix score: ACT 491 nominations: 0 invitations 491 minimum Matrix score: 457 visa / 482 visa holders: 0 invitations ACT 190 nomination: 0 invitations ACT 491 nomination: 0 invitations Matrix nominating Critical Skill occupations: invitations ACT 190 nomination: 36 invitations 190 minimum Matrix score: 100 (Accountants: 110) ACT 491 nomination: 61 invitations 491 minimum Matrix score: 65 (Accountants: 100) Invitations were not issued if the applicants have an active application in the system or have previously received ACT nominations. The next Canberra Matrix invitation round will be held before 06 October 2021.
Form 956 for Appointment of a Registered Migration Agent, Legal Practitioner, or exempt person, as updated in September 2021, is now available on the Department of Home Affairs website. The updated form enables the clients to end the appointment of the authorized representatives as an authorized recipients by completing the relevant declarations on Page 6 of the form. To access the updated form, click here.
NSW has announced that the applications for State’s nomination for Business Migration Program 2021–22 can be made online for Subclass 188 (Business Innovation and Investment) provisional visa. Eligible applicants must meet all the criteria, including State-specific requirements and the Department’s requirements are eligible to lodge an Expression of Interest (EOI) in SkillSelect in the following streams: Business Innovation and Investment (Provisional) visa (subclass 188A) – Business Innovation stream Business Innovation and Investment (Provisional) visa (subclass 188B) – Investor stream Business Innovation and Investment (Provisional) visa (subclass 188C) – Significant Investor stream For Business Innovation and Investment (Provisional) visa (subclass 188E) – Entrepreneur stream, the applicants cannot directly submit an EOI and instead must be invited to apply for NSW nomination before submitting an EOI. Once the applicants have received an invite, they are able to apply online for NSW nomination using this form, along with supporting documentation. To know more about NSW Business Migration Program and requirements, click here.
From 28 September 2021, South Australia’s State nominations for the Skilled Migration Program is open to offshore applicants in 70 occupations, as part of the State’s recovery in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. In addition, the applicants must meet the minimum work requirements in the occupation or closely related occupation and other requirements for the chosen occupation as well as demonstrate the least proficient level of English language. Overseas skilled migrants who meet all the criteria, including State-specific, requirements and the Department’s requirements are eligible to lodge a Registration of Interest (ROI) from 28 September 2021, 10 am, ACST onwards. The list of occupations open to offshore applicants is as below: To know more about the specific requirements for individual occupations, click here. Sales and Marketing Manager Advertising Manager Public Relations Manager Corporate Services Manager Human Resource Manager Policy and Planning Manager Research and Development Manager Customer Service Manager Human Resource Adviser Recruitment Consultant Management Consultant Organisation and Methods Analyst Liaison Officer Information and Organisation Professionals nec Advertising Specialist Market Research Analyst Marketing Specialist Public Relations Professional Technical Sales Representatives nec Grain, Oilseed or Pasture Grower Mixed Crop Farmer Vegetable Grower Crop Farmers nec Apiarist Beef Cattle Farmer Dairy Cattle Farmer Mixed Livestock Farmer Pig Farmer Poultry Farmer Sheep Farmer Livestock Farmers nec Mixed Crop and Livestock Farmer Construction Project Manager Project Builder Production Manager (Manufacturing) Supply and Distribution Manager Procurement Manager Child Care Centre Manager Environmental Manager Laboratory Manager Quality Assurance Manager Statistician Surveyor Other Spatial Scientist Agricultural Consultant Agricultural Scientist Food Technologist Conservation Officer Environmental Consultant Environmental Research Scientist Environmental Scientists nec Geologist Geophysicist Hydrogeologist Life Scientist (General) Biochemist Biotechnologist Botanist Marine Biologist Microbiologist Zoologist Life Scientists nec Medical Laboratory Scientist Veterinarian Conservator Metallurgist Meteorologist Physicist (non-medical) Exercise Physiologist Natural and Physical Science Professionals nec
Invitation Round: 20 September 2021 Matrix nominating Small Business Owners: 0 invitations ACT 190 nominations: 0 invitations 190 minimum Matrix score: ACT 491 nominations: 0 invitations 491 minimum Matrix score: 457 visa / 482 visa holders: 03 invitations ACT 190 nomination: 03 invitations ACT 491 nomination: 0 invitations Matrix nominating Critical Skill occupations: 53invitations ACT 190 nomination: 09 invitations 190 minimum Matrix score: 110 (Accountants: 115) ACT 491 nomination: 44 invitations 491 minimum Matrix score: 65 (Accountants: 100) Invitations were not issued if the applicants have an active application in the system or have previously received ACT nominations. The next Canberra Matrix invitation round will be held before 29 September 2021.
As part of the easing of restrictions imposed in response to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic and re-opening international borders, NSW Government has received approval from the Commonwealth Government to allow fully vaccinated international students to undertake travel to NSW as early as the end of this year under the pilot plan, as per the media announcement made on 24 September 2021. In the first phase, the pilot aims to bring back 500 international students to Australia by the end of the year, with having the travelers to quarantine for a 14-day period at the specified facility at Redfern. For this purpose, an accommodation provider named Scape has been identified which complied with COVIDSafe standards, as approved by NSW Health and NSW Police, and can accommodate up to 650 students. The plan is expected to expand and evolve as the local and global vaccination rates continue to rise. John Barilaro, Deputy Premier and Minister for Regional New South Wales, Industry and Trade said, “The international education sector sustains thousands of jobs across NSW, and I’m proud that NSW is leading the way with the return of international students to our shores…The safety of the people of NSW is paramount and we are taking no risks. All participating students will be required to be fully vaccinated with a TGA-recognised COVID-19 vaccine, and strict quarantine protocols will be in place…Importantly, this plan will not come at the expense of any Australian citizen or resident wishing to return home.”
Compilation of Migration Act 1958dated 1 September 2021 incorporates the amendments made by Migration Amendment (Tabling Notice of Certain Character Decisions) Act 2021 to include provisions in relation to making certain character decisions by the Minister where the Minister must cause notice of the making of the decision to be laid before each House of the Parliament. The amendment inserts new provisions to subsection 501(4), namely subsection (4A) which requires the Minister to lay down before each House of Parliament notice of the making of certain character decisions in relation to a person under subsection 501(3) within 15 sitting days of that House after the day the decision was made; subsection (4B) which outlines the provisions where subsection (4A) is not applicable. Subsection 501(3) decisions are the decisions for visa refusal or visa cancellation on character grounds that the Minister makes personally in the national interest, without notice to the visa applicant or visa holder. The compilation was registered on the Federal Register of Legislation on 21 September 2021 and commenced from 01 September 2021 and is currently in force. To access the full compilation, click here.