The Government has announced the formation of the Advisory Panel to support Afghan nationals in their settlement in Australia to ensure that there are appropriate settlement and integration supports available, including identifying the communities into which the people will settle. The panel is established with a purpose to play an important role in planning to support the provision of the initial 3,000 places in the Humanitarian Visa Program to Afghan nationals as well as developing community interest towards their welcoming and successfully integration. The panel is expected to operate for 12 months, which may be extended on need basis. The Hon Alex Hawke MP, Minister for Immigration, Citizenship, Migrant Services and Multicultural Affairs, said, “The Advisory Panel is a group of highly regarded Australian-Afghan community leaders and refugee and settlement experts, chosen for their commitment and expertise in refugee and integration issues…Australia has a proud history of helping those most in need and we are fortunate to have such a wealth of knowledge from across Australia to be working with us to ensure our world class settlement program is delivering to them the comprehensive support they need to get established and settled in Australia as fast as possible.”
Invitation Round: 01 September 2021 Matrix nominating Small Business Owners: 01 invitations 190 nominations: 01 invitations 190 minimum Matrix score:80 491 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: 71invitations ACT 190 nomination: 12 invitations 190 minimum Matrix score: 95 (Accountants: 110) ACT 491 nomination: 59 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 07 September 2021.
On 23 August 2021, in a joint media release the Government has announced a new Australian Agriculture visa to add to the existing Seasonal Worker Programme and Pacific Labour Scheme, to address workforce shortages in the agriculture, fisheries and forestry sectors in Australia. Agriculture visa corroborates to changes to the Working Holiday Maker program as a result of the UK-Australia Free Trade Agreement and will be operated by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. As per the announcement, by the end of September 2021, formal regulations are to be notified to enable the creation of the Australian Agriculture visa while its operations with other countries will depend on specific negotiations with each country undertaken through bilateral agreements in the course of 3 years. In a previous statement, The Hon David Little proud MP, Minister for Agriculture and Northern Australia said, “The new seasonal agricultural worker visa would mirror the existing Seasonal Worker Programme and will add to the pool of workers available to work on Australian farms…The new visa will also set up the industry for the future and will address a key brake for many of agriculture industries – the availability of labour.”
The applicants for Victoria nominations for Subclass 491 Skilled Work Regional (Provisional) visa and Subclass 190 Skilled Nominated visa must now register their interest for Victorian Visa Nomination as the nominations will be made by invitation only. For the 2021-2022 program, Registration of Interest (ROI) for the nomination can be madefrom07 July 2021 to 29 April 2022 and an applicant can only have 1 active ROI submitted at a time. In the first invitation round for subclass 190 visa nominations, while the focus was on filling critical skills in the health sector, other sectors also received a substantial percentage of nominations. A snapshot of the invitations issued and the top occupations are provided below: Occupations Lowest Points Mechanical Engineer Engineering Technologist Electrical Engineer 95 Food Technologist Mechanical Engineer Engineering Technologist 90 Medical Practitioners NEC Resident Medical Officer / Physiotherapist Occupational Therapist 90 Secondary School Teacher Food Technologist Chemical Engineer 95 Software Engineer Biomedical Engineer / Industrial Engineer / Life Scientist NEC 90 Electrical Engineer Mechanical Engineer Developer Programmer / Engineering Technologist 95 The State is also assessing the ROIs submitted for Subclass 491 visa and invitations are due to be issued in the near future. To register your interest for Victorian nominations, click here For applicants interested in the digital target sector, digital games engineers are now eligible for subclass 190 nominations in addition to subclass 491 nominations.
Migration (Fees for assessment of qualifications and experience) Instrument (LIN 21/023) 2021 dated 27 August 2021 [“the Instrument”] specifies the fees for skills assessment applications to Trades Recognition Australia (TRA), including applications for internal review of the assessment, for the purpose of Regulation 5.40 of the Migration Regulations 1994. The Instrument specifies the fees for the assessment of qualifications for Regulations 5.40(1)(a) and (b) of the Migration Regulations, regarding the fee payable for an assessment application for occupational qualifications or experience and educational qualifications, respectively. The Instrument also removes the fees specified for the Trades Recognition Service (TRS) and Skilled Worker Program (SWP) applications, as these services are no longer in operation. In addition, the Instrument clarifies that fees for applications made prior to the commencement of this Instrument will be determined in accordance with the Migration (LIN 19/034: Fees for Assessment of Qualifications and Experience) Instrument 2019 (LIN 19/034), which is now repealed. According to Section 2 of the Instrument, it commenced on 01 September 2021 and is now in force. To access the full Instrument, click here.
Invitation Round: 25 August 2021 Matrix nominating Small Business Owners: 01 invitations 190 nominations: 01 invitations 190 minimum Matrix score:80 491 nominations: 0 invitations 491 minimum Matrix score: 457 visa / 482 visa holders: 02 invitations ACT 190 nomination: 02 invitations ACT 491 nomination: 0 invitations Matrix nominating Critical Skill occupations: 104 invitations ACT 190 nomination: 44 invitations 190 minimum Matrix score: 85 (Accountants: 105 submitted before June) ACT 491 nomination: 60 invitations 491 minimum Matrix score: 65 (Accountants: 95 submitted before August) 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 02 September 2021.
The Director of the Office of the Migration Agents Registration Authority (OMARA) has informed vide the email dated 30 August 2021 with subject line “OMARA portal outage 30 August 2021” that the OMARA website(www.mara.gov.au)will undergo scheduled maintenance on Monday, 30 August 2021 from 05 PM to 08 PM AEST resulting in the suspension of services for the time being. During the OMARA portal outage, the following services will remain suspended: Applications, inquiries, and complaints lodgement Advertising and reporting Continuing Professional Development (CPD) activities Searching the Register of Migration Agents, former agents, and disciplinary decisions
The Director of the Office of the Migration Agents Registration Authority (OMARA) vide an email dated 20 August 2021 with the subject line “Planned ImmiAccount system maintenance and BPAY unavailability” has informed all registered migration agents that some of the services via ImmiAccount will remain suspended to perform system maintenance on Wednesday,01 September 2021 from 05 AM to 08 AM AEST. During the ImmiAccount system maintenance, the following services cannot be accessed: ImmiAccount Australian Trusted Trader APEC Business Travel Card (ABTC) LegendCom e-Lodgement (Online visa and citizenship applications) My Health Declarations (MHD) service e-Medical Visa Entitlement Verification Online (VEVO) Detention Visitor Application BPAY system will also remain suspended from Wednesday, 25 August 2021 12 AM AEST to Thursday, 01 September 202108AM AEST. However, payment options by PayPal, UnionPay, and credit card will remain available.
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT)is seeking urgent information about Australians and visa holders who are in Afghanistan to be able to carry out operations to assist them in evacuating from Afghanistan. DFAT needs to assess the individuals in Afghanistan at the earliest to help them evacuate since Kabul airport is expected to remain open only till 31 August 2021. Therefore, it is important for the Australian citizens, permanent residents, Australia visa holders or applicants, family members of Australian citizens, and permanent residents who are located in Afghanistan to contact the Australian authorities and provide with the necessary details in order to make authorities aware about their presence in Afghanistan. Information including personal and contact details, ID documents, visa documents, location in Afghanistan, relationship to Australia or Australian-based relatives, etc., should be sent via email to DFAT as soon as possible to assist the authorities in the operations.
Compilation of Migration Regulation 1994 dated 28 July, 2021 incorporates the amendments made by Migration Amendment (Subclass 417 and 462 Visas) Regulations 2021 to update the eligibility criteria for a subsequent Working Holiday Maker Subclass 417 visa and Subclass 462 visa by excluding employment under certain employers as constituting ‘specified work’ to facilitate the safety and welfare of persons undertaking work in Australia. Migration Amendment (Subclass 417 and 462 Visas) Regulations 2021 provide that to qualify for the grant of second or third Working Holiday visa working for the benefit of specified businesses, including a person, partnership or unincorporated association, as an employee or contractor, will not be counted as specified work for the related visa. This exclusion would apply only if a business is listed in the legislative instrument signed by the Minister on the considerations that the employer may pose a risk to the safety or welfare of a person performing work in the employment or performance of work in the employment may pose a risk to the safety or welfare of a person, for example, any relevant convictions. This is to ensure that the migrant workers are not exploited for work in Australia. The Compilation is registered on the Federal Register of Legislation on 24 August 2021, commenced on 28 July 2021 and is currently in force. To access the full compilation, click here.