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.
Migration (Specification of eVisitor eligible passport) Instrument (LIN 23/064) 2023 dated 13 September 2023 specifies eVisitor eligible passports and the conditions that must be satisfied for such passports in relation to an application for an eVisitor visa by an applicant. This instrument repeals Migration Regulations 1994 – Specification of an eVisitor – Eligible Passports – IMMI 13/078 and amends the reference to the country of Slovakia, which was listed as Slovak Republic in IMMI 13/078. All applicants must hold an eVisitor eligible passport, to make a valid application for a Subclass 651 (eVisitor) visa. Given below is the list of eVisitor eligible passports and the conditions in relation to such passports: Item Kind of Passport Condition(s) 1 Andorra Passport must indicate that applicant is a national of Andorra 2 Austria Passport must indicate that applicant is a national of Austria 3 Belgium Passport must indicate that applicant is a national of Belgium 4 Bulgaria Passport must indicate that applicant is a national of Bulgaria 5 Croatia Passport must indicate that applicant is a national of Croatia 6 Cyprus Passport must indicate that applicant is a national of Cyprus 7 Czech Republic Passport must indicate that applicant is a national of the Czech Republic 8 Denmark Passport must indicate that applicant is a national of Denmark 9 Estonia Passport must indicate that applicant is a national of Estonia 10 Finland Passport must indicate that applicant is a national of Finland 11 France Passport must indicate that applicant is a national of France 12 Germany Passport must indicate that applicant is a national of Germany 13 Greece Passport must indicate that applicant is a national of Greece 14 Hungary Passport must indicate that applicant is a national of Hungary 15 Iceland Passport must indicate that applicant is a national of Iceland 16 Ireland Passport must indicate that applicant is a national of Ireland 17 Italy Passport must indicate that applicant is a national of Italy 18 Latvia Passport must indicate that applicant is a national of Latvia 19 Liechtenstein Passport must indicate that applicant is a national of Liechtenstein 20 Lithuania Passport must indicate that applicant is a national of Lithuania 21 Luxembourg Passport must indicate that applicant is a national of Luxembourg 22 Malta Passport must indicate that applicant is a national of Malta 23 Monaco Passport must indicate that applicant is a national of Monaco 24 Netherlands Passport must indicate that applicant is a national of the Netherlands 25 Norway Passport must indicate that applicant is a national of Norway 26 Poland Passport must indicate that applicant is a national of Poland 27 Portugal Passport must indicate that applicant is a national of Portugal 28 Romania Passport must indicate that applicant is a national of Romania 29 San Marino Passport must indicate that applicant is a national of San Marino 30 Slovakia Passport must indicate that applicant is a national of Slovakia 31 Slovenia Passport must indicate that applicant is a national of Slovenia 32 Spain Passport must indicate that applicant is a national of Spain 33 Sweden Passport must indicate that applicant is a national of Sweden 34 Switzerland Passport must indicate that applicant is a national of Switzerland 35 United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland Passport must indicate that applicant is a national of Britain (excluding British National (Overseas), British Dependent Territories Citizen, British Overseas Citizen, British Protected Person and British Subject) 36 Vatican City (Holy See) Passport must indicate that applicant is a national of the Vatican City (Holy See) The instrument is registered on the Federal Register of Legislation on 18 September 2023 and commenced on 19 September 2023. It is currently in force. To access the instrument, click here.
Migration (Purposes of Managed Fund Investments) Instrument (LIN 23/056) 2023 dated 13 September 2023 specifies the purpose of an investment in a managed fund, to enable Subclass 188 visa holders in the Significant Investor stream who applied between 23 November 2013 and 30 June 2015, to meet the criteria of Significant Investor Extension stream of the Subclass 188 visa or the Significant Investor stream of the Subclass 888 visa which requires the applicant to hold a complying investment in a managed fund (directly or through an investor directed portfolio service) for a specified purpose. It also repeals Migration Regulations 1994 – Specification of Eligible Managed Fund Investments – IMMI 13/092. For paragraph 5.19B(2)(c) of the Regulations, the following are regarded as the specified purpose of an investment in a managed fund: The instrument is registered on the Federal Register of Legislation on 19 September 2023 and commenced on 20 September 2023. It is currently in force. To access the instrument, click here.
Migration (Removal of health workforce certificate requirements) Amendment Instrument (LIN 23/065) 2023 dated 13 September 2023 amends the Migration (LIN 19/047: Specification of Occupations—Subclass 187 Visa) Instrument 2019 and the Migration (LIN 19/049: Specification of Occupations and Assessing Authorities—Subclass 186 Visa) Instrument 2019 to remove the requirement for employers to provide a health workforce certificate for certain occupations for subclass 186 visa applications. The purpose of this instrument is to remove health workforce certificate requirements. The applicants for a subclass 186 visa in the DE stream at the time of decision must certify certain criteria. One of such criteria states that an applicant’s skills must be assessed as suitable for the applicant’s nominated occupation by an assessing authority specified by the Minister in a legislative instrument as the assessing authority for that occupation (Subclause 186.234(2)(a) of Schedule 2 to the Regulations). As per the abovementioned power, the Minister in LIN 19/047 and LIN 19/049 specified a requirement that a health workforce certificate (HWC) from a health workforce certifier be provided when an employer nominates a position in certain medical occupations. In LIN 19/047, these medical occupations were In LIN 19/049, these were HWX program was introduced to manage the growth of overseas trained doctors entering primary care in well-serviced major capital cities and metropolitan areas, however, considering the widespread shortages of doctors in Australia, the measure is no longer required. The Minister for Health and Aged Care and Minister for Immigration, Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs have agreed to end the program, and as such the HWC is no longer required. The amendments made by this instrument enable employers to nominate a position in Australia which identifies a medical occupation, in relation to a person seeking to apply for a subclass 186 or a subclass 187 visa in the TRT stream or DE stream, without being required to provide a HWC. The instrument is registered on the Federal Register of Legislation on 15 September 2023 and commences on 16 September 2023. To access the instrument, click here.
Queensland has opened its state nominated skilled migration program on 5 September 2023 and will begin inviting selected applicants from the end of September and hold invitation rounds at the end of each month to ensure equal distribution of workload throughout the program year. Queensland has received a reduced allocation from the Department of Home Affairs the year 2023-24 (1550 skilled nominations and no BIIP allocation), Migration Queensland will begin inviting selected applicants from the end of September 2023, and hold invitation rounds at the end of each month for the rest of financial year 2023 – 24. The number of invitations to be issued each month will be capped to ensure a steady rate of invitation throughout the program year. Due to this highly competitive scenario, Migration Queensland recommends exploring alternative migration options. To apply for Queensland nomination, the applicant must meet the eligibility criteria of the Department of Home Affairs as well as Migration Queensland and must submit a brand new EOI in SkillSelect. Migration Queensland will only consider EOI’s lodged on or after 5 September 2023 – updated EOI’s will not be considered. The detailed criteria for all pathways for the 2023 – 24 program has been updated on Migration Queensland website including: To know more about Migration Queensland, click here.
Migration (COVID-19 Pandemic event for Temporary Activity (Subclass 408) visa) Amendment Instrument (LIN 23/061) 2023 dated 31 August 2023 amends the Migration (COVID-19 Pandemic event for Temporary Activity (Subclass 408) visa) Instrument (LIN 22/046) for the closure of COVID-19 pandemic event 408 visa for new applicants from 2 September 2023. For the grant of subclass 408 visa, an applicant must satisfy the primary criteria which requires the applicant to be a person to whom a clause in subdivision 408.2 of Schedule 2 to the Migration Regulations. Clause 408.229 will apply to an applicant if that applicant seeks to enter or remain in Australia to undertake work directly associated with the ‘Australian Government endorsed event’ (AGEE). Migration (COVID-19 Pandemic event for Temporary Activity (Subclass 408) visa) Instrument (LIN 22/046) specified the event known as the COVID-19 pandemic as an ‘Australian Government endorsed event’ (AGEE) and classes of persons in relation to the event who may be eligible for a Subclass 408 (Temporary Activity) visa. This visa was introduced in April 2020 to enable temporary migrants to lawfully remain in Australia while the border was closed. It also addressed labour shortages in critical sectors in the local economy. Now that Australia’s borders are open and temporary visa holder numbers in Australia have returned to pre-COVID-19 levels, the Pandemic event visa is no longer required. Therefore, the Migration (COVID-19 Pandemic event for Temporary Activity (Subclass 408) visa) Amendment Instrument (LIN 23/061) 2023 gradually closes the COVID-19 pandemic event 408 visa to new applicants from 2 September 2023. Although, the existing COVID-19 Pandemic event visa holders are still eligible for a COVID-19 Pandemic event visa till 31 January 2024 and from 2 September 2023, new applications will receive a six-month visa and a Visa Application Charge of $405 AUD must be paid. The COVID-19 Pandemic event visa will close to all applications on 1 February 2024. The closure of the Pandemic event visa will encourage individuals to apply for a more appropriate visa to meet their individual circumstances. The instrument is registered on the Federal Register of Legislation on 1 September 2023 and commenced on 2 September 2023. To access the instrument, click here.
On 26 August 2023, the Australian Government announced that the amount of savings international students will need in order to get a student visa will increase from AUD21,041 to AUD24,505 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) will be 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 is increasing 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 consider 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 will be 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. To know more, click here.
The Commonwealth Government has made a significant reduction in the visa nomination allocations for South Australia’s General Skilled Migration (GSM) 2023–24 program and has allocated a total of 2,300 nomination places for the 2023-24 GSM program. The nomination places for South Australia’s General Skilled Migration (GSM) 2023-24 have been substantially reduced as compared to 8,800 nomination places allocated in the program year 2022-23. The Government will continue to support South Australia’s priority industries with the limited places available and is focussed on attracting overseas skilled migrants in critical sectors such as Health and Defence. The Commonwealth Government has not provided South Australia with any nomination places for the Business Innovation and Investment Program in 2023–24 and GSM applications from the 2022–23 financial year will be finalised soon. Business or investor migrants holding a provisional visa (subclass 188) can apply for nomination for the extension stream or permanent (subclass 888) visa in 2023–24 as these are not subject to a cap. To know more, click here.