Migration (Visa Pre-application Process) Charge Act 2023 imposes a charge on a person registering to participate in a visa pre-application process. It amends the Migration Act 1958 to provide that a charge may be imposed on and paid by a person to become a registered participant in a visa pre-application process. The amount of charge imposed on the registration of a person as a registered participant in a visa pre‑application process will be prescribed by the regulations and the amount will be capped at $100 subject to indexation. The regulations may prescribe different amounts in relation to different visa pre‑application processes or different classes of visa pre‑application processes. The amount prescribed by the regulations in relation to a visa pre‑application process may be nil. The purpose of imposing a small charge for registration for some visa pre-application process will be to discourage vexatious and frivolous registrations and ensure those who register have a genuine intention to apply for the relevant visa if they are successful in the visa pre-application process. The Act is registered on the Federal Register of Legislation on 27 October 2023 and received Royal Assent on 26 October 2023. To know more, click here.
Migration Amendment (Australia’s Engagement in the Pacific and Other Measures) Act 2023 enables the Minister to implement a visa pre-application process, involving random selection of eligible persons who will then be permitted to apply for a relevant visa. In order to engage Pacific nations and to strengthen ties among Australia and Pacific nations, the Australian Government has committed to the creation of a new class of visa, to be called the Pacific Engagement Visa (PEV), to provide access to permanent residence in Australia for an annual quota of citizens of certain Pacific countries and Timor-Leste. The creation of the PEV, and its application requirements and criteria for grant, requires to amend the Migration Act, as the Migration Act does not currently provide a framework for the Minister to conduct a visa pre-application process. The Act amends the Migration Act 1958 by inserting new subsection 46(4A) which prescribes that a pre-application process may be a requirement for a valid visa application. New subsection 46(4B) prescribes the visas that a pre-application process cannot be applied to The Act inserts new section 46C in the Migration Act, which establishes the legislative power for the Minister to arrange a visa pre-application process to be conducted in relation to one or more visas. New subsection 46C provides the detail for the visa pre-application process including the characteristics of the process, use of a computer program, associated Ministerial determination, eligibility requirements, visa pre-application charge and extra territorial application of this amendment. The Act is registered on the Federal Register of Legislation on 27 October 2023 and received the Royal Assent on 26 October 2023. To access the act, click here.
Migration Amendment (Biosecurity Contravention) Regulations 2023 dated 26 October 2023 amends the Migration Regulations 1994 to expand the cancellation ground for specified visa (visitor, student and temporary work visas) where the visa holder has contravened provisions of the Biosecurity Act. Migration Regulations prescribes grounds for cancellation of a visa for contraventions of certain provisions of the Biosecurity Act. This provision allows the Minister to cancel certain listed types of temporary visa which includes visitor, student, working holiday, maritime crew and temporary work visas, if the visa holder is in Australia and has not been immigration cleared, and the Minister reasonably believes that the visa holder has contravened the following subsections of the Biosecurity Act: The Biosecurity Act provides the regulatory framework for the management of diseases and pests entering Australia that may pose a serious threat to Australia’s economy, agricultural sector, animal, plant, human health and the environment. The Migration Amendment (Biosecurity Contravention) Regulations 2023 (the Amendment Regulations) amends the Migration Regulations to expand the cancellation ground for specified visa (visitor, student and temporary work visas) where the visa holder has contravened subsection 186A(1) of the Biosecurity Act. Subsection 186A(1), provides that a person is liable to a civil penalty if: Conditionally non-prohibited goods may include goods such as meat or meat products, live animals and animal reproductive material, live plants, seeds, animal material and goods made of or containing animal material, plant products and goods containing or made of plants, infectious agents and microorganisms, and fungi and goods containing or made of fungi. The instrument is registered on the Federal Register of Legislation 0n 31 October 2023 and commenced on 1 November 2023. It is currently in force. To access the instrument, click here.
Migration (LIN 19/198: Evidence of financial capacity—Subclass 500 Visa and Subclass 590 Visa) Amendment (LIN 23/070) Specification 2023 dated 29 September 2023 amends Migration (LIN 19/198: Evidence of financial capacity—Subclass 500 Visa and Subclass 590 Visa) Instrument 2019 to increase the amount of savings international students will need in order to get a student visa from 1st October 2023. For an applicant seeking to satisfy the primary criteria for a student visa, the Minister may require the applicant to give to the Minister evidence of financial capacity that satisfies specified requirements to demonstrate that the applicant will have access to the funds while they are in Australia to support themselves throughout their studies. The evidence of financial capacity may include evidence of sufficient funds to cover travel costs, the living costs, and the course fees. These financial requirements for a student visa (subclass 500) and student guardian visa (subclass590) are updated from 1st October 2023 to ensure students coming to Australia to study can afford to support themselves and will not face increased risk of exploitation due to an urgent need for employment. The Australian Government has increased the amount of savings international students will need in order to get a student visa. This requirement was last indexed in 2019 (an increase from AUD20,290 to AUD21,041) and now again government considered it important to increase it to reflect higher living expenses in Australia. From 1st October 2023, the amount of savings international students will need in order to get a student visa has increased from AUD21,041 to AUD24,505. This means that the 12 month living costs for international students from 1st October 2023 will be $24,505 in savings, which is a 17% increase on current levels. The instrument also increases the level of amount of savings required to demonstrate the financial capacity of primary applicant for each secondary applicant making a combined application with the primary applicant: The instrument is registered on the Federal Register of Legislation on 9 September 2023. To access the instrument, click here.
As per the Free Trade Agreement Services Section within the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the Innovation and Early Careers Skills Exchange Pilot (IECSEP) is a new visa pathway that will enable eligible UK citizens to take their next career step in Australia. IECSEP is one of a number of outcomes under this comprehensive free trade agreement that will deepen economic ties between the two countries. IECSEP offers two streams: IECSEP is a 2-year pilot and places will be limited to 1000 in 2023-24, and a further 2000 places in 2024-25. It is open for applications and will close on 20 November 2023. To be able to apply under this pathway, IECSEP applicants need to have a confirmed job in Australia and must remain with this employer for the duration of the visa. Applicants can undertake placements, secondments, graduate rotations or intra-company transfers between the applicant’s UK employer and any partnering Australian organisation. Alternatively, IECSEP applicants can commence a new role in Australia. Applicants who will work in regulated occupations in Australia must have current Australian occupational licencing without any conditions or restrictions. Applications to participate in the IECSEP will be processed by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT). Successful applicants will be provided a letter of support by DFAT. This letter will enable the applicant to apply to the Department of Home Affairs for a Temporary Work (International Relations) subclass 403 visa (Government Agreement stream). To know more about IECSEP, click here. For any query regarding IECSEP, contact DFAT at aukfta.iecsep@dfat.gov.au
South Australia General Skilled Migration Program is open now and skilled occupation list 2023-24 has also been published by the SA government. Read more The potential applicants cannot apply for state nomination directly now and they must submit a ROI and be invited to apply for state nomination by South Australia. South Australia’s international graduates and temporary visa holders will be given priority under this invitation process. Moreover, this invitation process for South Australian nomination aims at targeting experienced overseas workers with skills in high demand in South Australia, such as Trades and Construction, Defence, Health, Education, Natural and Physical Science and Social and Welfare Professional. In addition, SA is also looking for people with experience in defence industry as well as highly specialised skills in digital and critical technologies sector who can contribute to the fast-growing industries as well as projects of national priority. It must be noted that South Australia is not open to applications for state nomination for the Business Innovation and Investment (Provisional) visa (subclass 188). Business or investor migrants who already hold a provisional visa (subclass 188) can apply for nomination for the extension stream or permanent visa (subclass 888) in 2023–24 as these are not subject to a nomination cap. To access the skilled occupation list 2023-24, click here. To know more, click here.
Trades Recognition Australia (TRA)has provided an update on the skills assessment requirements for electricians due to the recent cases of potential migrant electricians being provided incorrect information about qualifications awarded in whole or part via Recognised Prior Learning and then having no clear pathway to skilled migration to Australia. TRA is the authorised assessing authority for the occupations of Electrician (General) and Electrician (Special Class) under the Migration Regulations 1994, offering skills assessment services for migration and skills recognition. The purpose of the assessment is to ensure that an applicant can perform at the required skill level for their nominated occupation in Australia. TRA offers assessment services via the following programs, depending on the circumstances of the applicant for both occupations: Temporary Skills Shortage (TSS) skills assessment program The TSS program provides skills assessments for applicants from nominated countries applying for a TSS visa, including those who are in the occupations of Electrician (General) or Electrician (Special Class). The program also supports successful applicants applying as an Electrician (General) and Electrician (Special Class) to access licensing to work in their occupation once in Australia. Offshore Skills Assessment Program (OSAP) The OSAP provides a pathway for applicants seeking a permanent migration visa which has requirements for a skills assessment. The OSAP is mandatory for people applying as an Electrician (General) or Electrician (Special Class). Once in Australia, a successful OSAP skills assessment for Electrician (General) and Electrician (Special Class) assists with a licence to work in that occupation. Offshore Technical Skills Record (OTSR) The OTSR is a record issued to migrant applicants for licensed trades (including electrical), who have received a successful skills assessment through the above programs. It was developed in 2006, as part of a Council of Australian Governments (COAG) pre-migration skill assessment trial, as a step on the pathway to occupational licensing in Australia for applicants who completed their training/employment overseas. All Australian state and territory electrical regulatory authorities and licensing bodies support the OTSR pathway, and clearly state on their websites that migrant electricians with overseas qualifications and/or employment must be issued an OTSR to be eligible for the issuance of a provisional licence in the Australian state or territory in which they plan to work and reside. TRA advises all applicants who are seeking an electrical licence to contact the relevant state and territory electrical regulatory authority directly, so they fully understand the regulator’s requirements before considering any other pathway. An applicant may be declined the issuance of a ‘provisional’ or ‘full’ electrical licence if they have chosen an alternative pathway that is not accepted by the relevant Australian state and territory electrical regulatory authority.
Migration (Arrangements for Visitor (Class FA) visa applications) Amendment Instrument (LIN 23/074) 2023, dated 22 September 2023 amend the Migration (Arrangements for Visitor (Class FA) visa applications) Instrument (LIN 21/056) 2021 to update the table of the ADS approved travel agents in China, for the purpose of item 3 of the table in subitem 1236(6) of Schedule 1 to the Migration Regulations for the Approved Destination Status stream of Visitor visa. The Subclass 600 (Visitor) visa has five streams: the Tourist stream, the Sponsored Family stream, the Business Visitor stream, the Approved Destination Status stream and the Frequent Traveller stream. Applicant seeking to satisfy the primary criteria for a Subclass 600 (Visitor) visa in the ‘Approved Destination Status’ (ADS) stream must meet certain requirements to make a valid visa application, one of which requires that the applicant must be intending to travel to Australia as a member of a tour organised by a travel agent specified by the Minister in an instrument in writing (LIN21/056) for this (item 3 of the table in subitem 1236(6) of Schedule 1 to the Migration Regulations). However, this ADS scheme was paused due to COVID-19 border restrictions in early 2020 by Government of China, which has been recommenced again. Migration (Arrangements for Visitor (Class FA) visa applications) Amendment Instrument (LIN 23/074) 2023 provides a new table of ADS approved travel agents in China for the ADS stream for the purpose of item 3 of the table in subitem 1236(6) of Schedule 1 to the Migration Regulations. Given below is the list of travel agents for Approved Destination Stream: Item Travel agent Code Province/ municipality 1 Beijing ANZ International Travel Service Co, Ltd BANZ Beijing 2 Beijing CAISSA International Travel Service Co BCAISSA Beijing 3 Beijing China International Travel Service Co, Ltd BCITS Beijing 4 Beijing China Youth Travel Service Co, Ltd BCYTS Beijing 5 Beijing Global Tour International Travel Service Co, Ltd BGTI Beijing 6 Beijing Hua Yuan International Travel Co, Ltd BHUAYUAN Beijing 7 Beijing North Star International Travel Service Ltd BNSITS Beijing 8 Beijing U Tour International Travel Service Co, Ltd BUTI Beijing 9 Beijing Xinhua International Tours Co, Ltd BXINHUA Beijing 10 BTG International Travel & Tours Co, Ltd BBTG Beijing 11 China Comfort Travel Service Head Office CHINA COMFORT National 12 China Golden Bridge Travel Service Co, Ltd Head Office CGBTHO National 13 China International Travel Service Ltd Head Office CITSHO National 14 China International Travel Service of Zhongshan Co, Ltd CITSZS Guangdong 15 China International Travel Service Shanghai SCITS Shanghai 16 China International Travel Service Shenzhen Co Ltd CITSSZ Guangdong 17 China Merchants Group Shanghai International Travel Service SCMG Shanghai 18 China Merchants International Travel Service Shenzhen Co Ltd CMITSZ Guangdong 19 China Peace International Travel Corporation BCPI Beijing 20 China Post and Telecom Tours BPOST Beijing 21 China Travel International (Guangdong) Ltd CMITGZ Guangdong 22 China Travel Service Co, Ltd, Beijing BCTS Beijing 23 China Travel Service Co, Ltd, Head Office CTSHO National 24 China Travel Service Head Office Beijing Co, Ltd BCTI Beijing 25 China Travel Service Shunde CTSSD Guangdong 26 China Women Travel Service Head Office CWTSHO National 27 China Youth Travel Service Dalian DLCYTS Liaoning 28 China Youth Travel Service Guangdong CYTSGD Guangdong 29 China Youth Travel Service Head Office CYTSHO National 30 China Youth Travel Service Jiangsu JSCYTS Jiangsu 31 Chongqing China Youth Travel Service Co, Ltd CQCYTS Chongqing 32 CITS Group Shanghai Co, Ltd SNITS Shanghai 33 CTS Holiday International Travel Co, Ltd Nanhai CTSNH Guangdong 34 CYTS Tours Guangdong Railway Co. Ltd CYTSGR Guangdong 35 Dongguan International Travel Service Co, Ltd DITS Guangdong 36 Guangdong China Travel Service Co, Ltd CTSGD Guangdong 37 Guangdong Great Scenery International Travel Service Co, Ltd GTSCEN Guangdong 38 Guangdong SZL International Travel Service Co, Ltd SZL Guangdong 39 Guangdong Yangchengzhilu International Travel Service Co, Ltd YCZL Guangdong 40 Guangzhou Comfort International Travel Service Co, Ltd CCTGZ Guangdong 41 GZL International Travel Service Ltd GZL Guangdong 42 Hangzhou China Travel Service HZCTS Zhejiang 43 Hangzhou OTC Travel International HZOTC Zhejiang 44 Hebei China Travel Service HBCTS Hebei 45 Hunan Tongcheng Enjoygoing International Travel Service Co, Ltd HUNITS Hunan 46 Liaoning Comfort International Travel Service Co, Ltd LNCCT Liaoning 47 Mingguang (Shanghai) International Travel Service Co, Ltd MGITS Shanghai 48 Nanhu International Travel Service Co., Ltd. NHITS Guangdong 49 Nanjing Zhongbei Friendship International Travel Service Co, Ltd NJZBF Jiangsu 50 Phoenix Travel Worldwide Co, Ltd BCSTS Beijing 51 Qingdao China International Travel Service QDCITS Shandong 52 Qingdao Huaqing International Travel Service QDHUAQING Shandong 53 Shandong China Youth Travel Service SDCYTS Shandong 54 Shanghai Airline Tours International Co, Ltd SATI Shanghai 55 Shanghai Ba-Shi International Travel Service Co, Ltd SBUS Shanghai 56 Shanghai China Travel International Ltd (CTIS) SCTI Shanghai 57 Shanghai China Women International Travel Service Co. Ltd SWIT Shanghai 58 Shanghai China Youth Travel Service CYTS03 Shanghai 59 Shanghai Ctrip International Travel Service Co, Ltd SCHIT Shanghai 60 Shanghai Eastern Air International Travel Service & Transport Co SEAIT Shanghai 61 Shanghai Jin Jiang Tours Co, Ltd SJIN Shanghai 62 Shanghai New Comfort International Travel Co, Ltd SNCIT Shanghai 63 Shanghai Railway International Travel Service SRIT Shanghai 64 Shanghai Spring International Travel Service SSIT Shanghai 65 Shenzhen CEPT International Travel Service CEPT Guangdong 66 Shenzhen Comfort Travel Service Co, Ltd CCTSZ Guangdong 67 Shenzhen Port China Travel Service Co, Ltd CTSSZP Guangdong 68 Shenzhen Tourism (Group) Corporation SZTC Guangdong 69 Sichuan China Youth Travel Service SCCYTS Sichuan 70 Sichuan Comfort International Travel Service Co, Ltd SCCOMFORT Sichuan 71 TUYI Group Co, Ltd ZJTIS Zhejiang 72 VTOUR Travel Service Zhejiang Co, Ltd ZJVTS Zhejiang 73 Wuxi China International Travel Service WCITS Jiangsu 74 Wuxi China Travel Service Sincerity Tour Corp WXCTS Jiangsu 75 Xiamen Airlines International Travel Service Co, Ltd XMITS Fujian 76 Xiamen C&D International Travel Service Group XCDITS Fujian 77 Zhejiang CYTS International Travel ZJCYTS Zhejiang 78 Zhejiang China Travel Service Group ZJCTS Zhejiang 79 Zhejiang Everbright International Travel Co, Ltd ZJEIT Zhejiang The instrument
Victoria’s 2023-24 Skilled Visa Nomination Program (subclass 190 and subclass 491) is now open to applicants living in Victoria and overseas and provides a pathway to permanent residency in Victoria to skilled migrants. To be eligible to apply for Skilled Work Regional (Provisional) visa (subclass 491) nomination in the 2023-24 program, onshore applicants must be living and working in regional Victoria at the time of nomination. The Department of Home Affairs has included some outer suburbs of Melbourne in the regional zones. Due to this change, the ROI requirements for Skilled Work Regional (Provisional) visa (subclass 491) nomination has been updated. According to the new ROI requirement, if the applicant submitted a subclass 491 ROI in 2022-23 and was not selected, the applicant will need to submit a new ROI if they are still eligible. However, there are no changes to the Skilled Nominated visa (subclass 190) nomination program. The applicants are not required to re-submit their ROI (unless the information provided has changed) for program year 2023-24, if they had already submitted a subclass 190 Registration of Interest in 2022-23 and were not selected. Victoria Skilled Visa Nomination Migration Program 2023-24 will close in early 2024 at a date to be confirmed. To know more, click here.
VETASSESS vide its email on 18 September, has informed all Migration Agents and Lawyers that from September 25 it will pause acceptance of new applications for assessment for 7 trade occupations, to cope up with a high number of applications. The acceptance of the new applications for assessment have been paused for the following trade occupations: Applications for the occupation of Plumber (General), ANZSCO Code 334111- new Pathway 1 will also be paused from September 30. VETASSESS currently assess this occupation for the CPC32413 Certificate III in Plumbing, which has been superseded and is not equivalent to the new CPC32420 Certificate III in Plumbing qualification that is due to come into effect on January 31, 2024 and are awaiting instructions from Trades Recognition Australia (TRA) on assessment requirements for the new qualification.