The Department of Home Affairs has now introduced a new multipurpose online webform to contact various Ministers for intervention. Any ministerial intervention will now be required to be lodged by the new online webform available on the Department of Home Affairs website. The form can be used to send enquiries to Ministers: Peter Dutton, David Coleman, David Littleproud and Jason Wood.
The Morrison Government’s Population Plan to effectively manage Australia’s future population came into effect on 01 July 2019. The Plan directly affects the Australian migration scheme, in particular applicants who are overseas students or temporary residents. What initiatives are included in this Plan? The Population has four (4) main components, in the following: Easing the population pressures on Australia’s big capitals and supporting the growth of smaller cities and regions; A massive boost in infrastructure; A better planning mechanism with states and territories; and Keeping Australia together by building safe and connected communities How is the government implementing these initiatives? First initiative plans include: Cutting the permanent migration program by a cumulative 120,000 places over four years The new cap is 160,000 per annum, and below the current cap of 190,000 places per annum. Within this 160,000 places cap, there are only 23,000 places for permanent residents who chose to reside outside the four big capitals. Introducing strong incentives for new international students New $94 million scholarship program to study in the regional areas will come into effect. Destination Australia program will also provide 4,720 scholarships Students studying outside of the big capitals to receive an extra year of post-study work rights. Changes to the working holiday maker program There will be increase to the number of countries involved and places available, and allowing people who work in the regional areas to stay an extra year. Second initiative plans include: Operation of National Faster Rail Agency The Agency commenced operating from 01 July 2019, will oversee the government’s 20 years fast rail agenda which will connect satellite regional cities to our big capitals. This will allow people to reside in regional centres with its cheaper housing and regional lifestyle but will still be able to access easily the major employment centres. The first fast rail connection will be Melbourne-Geelong. Third initiative plans include: Establishing a new Centre for Population This centre is being established inside Treasury from 01 July 2019, providing detailed analysis and advice on population issues. $23.4 million has been allocated to establish this Centre. Fourth initiatives plans include: Boosting infrastructure expenditure Ensuring population growth does not outstrip infrastructure capacity Connecting communities Encouraging people out of major cities and into regional areas, helping regional communities to fill employment gaps and grow their economies Takeaways Although, we have yet to see how the above changes will make a significant difference to the migration settings, it will nonetheless support a strong economic growth in Australia. The changes will also complement the four Designated Area Migration Agreements (DAMA) which will assist employers in regional areas across NSW, Victoria, South Australia and Western Australia to find the labour and skills they need.
Visa applications obtaining 80 points (including state nomination points) on the Department of Home Affairs points test, are able to access additional occupations (special conditions and Supplementary Skilled List). As of 26 July 2019, applications submitted under the High Points category are required to have 85 points. Immigration SA has received a high volume of applications for the high points category and will be monitoring applications received over the coming weeks. Once Immigration South Australia reach the ‘high points’ category quota, the minimum points requirement will be automatically increased to 90 points. Some individual occupations like Quality Assurance Manager, Hotel or Motel Manager, ICT Sales Rep, Technical Sales Rep nec, Geologist, Occupational Health and Safety Advisor, Web Developer, ICT Support and Test Engineers nec have low nomination left for the 2019/20 program year.
Education and Training Minister for Western Australia today launched StudyPerth’s 2019 International Student Ambassador Program. This initiative is a long-term State Government strategy to attract more international students to Perth, which will help improve Western Australia’s economy, contribute to the community and create more jobs. The program intends to promote Perth as a first-choice study destination for International Students. A group of 10 international students were today named as the program’s ambassadors at the Council of International Students Australia annual conference in Perth. Each will be tasked with helping the State Government and StudyPerth to position Perth as a first-choice study destination. The ambassadors will also raise awareness about the social and economic benefits that international education brings to Western Australia. They will write blogs and social media posts; facilitate question and answer forums and attend social business events, where they will discuss the benefits of international education in Perth Australia. The development of the International Student Ambassador Program is one of 16 initiatives in StudyPerth’s Action Plan, which outlines how international students can live, learn and launch their future selves in Perth’s environment.
Parents of migrants visiting Australia on the newly introduced parent visa could risk being deported if they fail to notify the Department any changes made to their personal and contact details, including “online profiles and usernames” at least two days before the change is to occur. The temporary parent visa was introduced in July this year. The visa is subject to conditions 8103, 8303, 8501, 8531, 8550 and 8564. Condition 8550 states that the visa holder must notify the Department personal details, including any change in the visa holder’s name, address, phone number, email address, online profile used by the visa holder and user name not less than 2 working days before the change is to occur. A spokesperson for the Department of Home Affairs confirmed to a News channel that the measure ensures that the records held are accurate and the Department can communicate with visa holders when required. The requirement is also applied to the Frequent Traveller stream for Chinese citizens which allows for a visa validity of up to ten years.
The NSW Government will re-commence nominating supported applicants by Monday 22 July 2019. Regional Development Australia Northern Inland (RDA) will be accepting applications for Skilled Regional State Nomination (sc489) for the region from Midday today. Regional Development Australia Northern Inland is the certifying body on behalf of the Northern Inland region of NSW. RCBs assist employers to sponsor permanent skilled workers. RDA through their knowledge of the local labour market, are able to certify the nomination before it is submitted to the Department for Home Affairs for approval. The revised Occupation List is available online on the Skilled Regional NSW Sponsorship page of the RDA website. The application process will remain the same as last financial year, and full details can also be found on the Skilled Regional NSW Sponsorship page of RDA website. The occupation list will be updated regularly to reflect the applications that are received. Due to the commencement of the new Skilled Regional State Nominated visa sub-class 491 on 16 November 2019, the last day that nominations for the 489 visa will be processed and invitations from the Department of Home Affairs will be issued will be 10 September 2019. To allow time for processing before this cut-off time, RDA will not accept any 489 applications after the 3 September 2019. The Regional Sponsored Migration Scheme (RSMS) for employers seeking to nominate a skilled worker will also be replaced on the 16th of November this year. Therefore, to allow time for assessment, we will be unable to accept applications for assessment under this program after the 11th of November. Applications for certification for the RSMS are currently open, and details on how to apply are available on the RSMS Employer Nomination page of our website. Information on the new Skilled Employer Sponsored Regional (Provisional) visa, while limited at this stage, is available on the Department of Home Affairs website.
Changes were introduced on the 10 July 2019 to Job Ready monthly /quarterly journal process and the Employment verification process. From 10 July 2019 TRA is changing the way it monitors a JRE participant’s work experience and skills development during steps 2-4 of the program. JRE participants will no longer be required to complete a monthly work journal entry through the online portal. This will be replaced by a new, simpler Quarterly Progress Report process. The new template for this quarterly report will be emailed to participants every three months, or as required, for completion until a successful Job Ready Workplace Assessment is achieved. Current JRE participants will no longer have access to the JRE Journal page in the online portal after 10 July 2019, but the number of validated work hours can still be viewed. Applicants must enter the date they started working with an employer during the online JRE application process and must provide supporting pay evidence for the period being claimed with their application documents. Only pay evidence submitted as part of the application will be considered by TRA. Further applicants and current participants will now be able to download an Employment Verification Report relevant to their nominated occupation from the TRA website. The Report must be completed and signed by the employer and/or supervisor who signs the Employment Registration Form. It must be provided to TRA with any Employment Registration Form.
The Migration Amendment (Strengthening the Character Test) Bill 2019 and Migration Amendment (Streamlining Visa Processing) Bill 2019 are currently before the House of Reps under the Immigration, Citizenship, Migrant Services and Multicultural Affairs portfolio The Bills were read on 4 July 2019 and second read on 4 July 2019 in the Parliament. The Bills are looking to: For the purposes of character test, to create an additional discretionary, objective ground to grant or refuse to grant a visa under section 501 of the Migration Act 1958, where a person has been convicted of a serious violent crime in Australia or on foreign land, regardless of the length of sentence that has been imposed. To streamline the visa application process by requiring the provision of personal identifiers (biometrics) at the time of lodgement of the application by a class of visa applicants, rather than after a written request from the Case Officer. The Migration Amendment (Strengthening the Character Test) Bill 2019 has been referred to the Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Legislation Committee on 4 July 2019 and the Report is due on 13/09/2019.
From 22 July 2019, Victoria’s Skilled & Business Migration Program will remove the invitation process for all Business Innovation and Investor Program streams. Victoria is no longer issuing invitation for Business Innovation and Investor Program streams. If an Expression of Interest has been submitted through the Department of Home Affairs’ SkillSelect system, but no invitation has been received to apply for Victorian nomination, the applicant should lodge a nomination application directly from 22 July 2019. There is no need to submit a new EOI. A new minimum eligibility criteria will be applicable for some visa subclasses from 22 July 2019, including: A minimum Department of Home Affairs’ SkillSelect Points test of 80 will be required for all 188 Innovation stream applicants 188 Innovation nomination applicants must agree to employ at least one (1) full time employee in their main business Applicants proposing to engage in export activity must demonstrate that the business will export 100% Victorian manufactured products only 188 Investor applicants must agree to make a minimum additional investment of at least A$500,000 in Victoria during the provisional visa period. The investment must be held for no less than 12 consecutive months immediately preceding the Business Innovation and Investment (Permanent) visa (subclass 888) Investor Stream nomination application 188 Investor and Significant Investor applicants will be required to have A$200,000 available for migration purposes (consistent with 188 Innovation stream requirements) Victoria’s Skilled & Business Migration Program will only accept visa nomination applications that meet these new criteria. Existing visa holders and applicants who have applied for the nomination before 22 July 2019 will not be subject to these changes.
New changes have been introduced in the ImmiAccount in respect of visas for GP initiatives. All employers who intend to nominate a position to be filled by a doctor, who needs a visa to work in the ANZSCO occupations 253111, 253112, and 253999 are required to obtain certification (a Health Workforce Certificate) from a Rural Workforce Agency (RWA). A Health Workforce Certificate is a letter issued by a RWA confirming the genuine need to fill a primary healthcare position at a given location in Australia by a doctor. On choosing any of the three occupations above, a new page will appear in the nomination application advising that a caveat applies to the nominated occupation. Select ‘Position has been endorsed / certified by relevant body’ from the list of reasons a caveat does not apply. At the end of the nomination you will require to upload the “Health Workforce Certificate”. This is a requirement to proceed with the remaining nomination application.