The Minister for Home Affairs has announced changes and concessions relating to Skilled visa holders to allow them to stay in Australia and continue working in businesses facing critical shortages, particularly in health, hospitality, and the regions. The Minister also announced concessions for visitor visas holders and concessions for Temporary Graduate visa holders to ensure Australia remains a priority destination for international students. Skilled Visa Holders Extension of Skilled Regional (provisional) visa (subclass 489, 491 and 494) Improved permanent residency pathway for existing SC 482 visa holders in the short term stream and legacy SC 457 holders who can no longer meet the age requirement Skilled Regional Provisional visa holders overseas can enter Australia from 1 December 2021 and will be eligible for a visa extension. Visitor Visas Nil VAC for a further six months, for new visitor visa applicants offshore where their visa expired or will expire between 1 Jan 2022 and 30 June 2022. Temporary Graduate Visas Temporary Graduate subclass 485 visa holders who have been unable to travel to Australia as a result of COVID-19 international border restrictions will be able to apply for a replacement visa. Increase in the length of stay for subclass 485 visa holders in Masters by Coursework and Vocation Educational and Training (VET) streams. Extension of existing measure for recognition of time spent offshore by students and temporary graduates studying online to be counted towards the requirement of qualifying for a Temporary Graduate subclass 482 visa. To know more, click here.
The Minister for Home Affairs Alex Hawke has announced that from 1 January 2022 Switzerland will be the 45th partner country for Australia’s Working Holiday Maker Program and also the Australians can travel to Switzerland without a visa. This announcement will make a significant contribution to the Australian economy by offering young people aged between 18-30 years to apply one of the two visas- Working Holiday Subclass 417 visa or Work and Holiday Subclass 462 visa, and to support themselves during their stay with short-term employment supporting Australia’s key industries and regional communities,. To know more, click here.
Migration (VAC refunds for certain Prospective Marriage visas) Amendment Instrument (LIN 21/071) 2021 specifies two new conditions under subsection 5(4A) and subsection 5(7) in which the first installment of a VAC for a Prospective Marriage visa may be refunded: If the visa was in effect on 10 September 2021 and the visa holder entered Australia during that time but was unable to marry their sponsor before the visa ceased because of restrictions imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic and a request for refund has been made, on or before 31 December 2022, after the visa has ceased to be in effect. If the visa was in effect on 15 September 2021, the visa holder was outside Australia on 15 September 2021 and did not enter Australia after 15 September 2021 as a holder of that visa and a refund is requested on or before 31 December 2022, after the visa ceased to be in effect because the visa holder had requested the Minister to cancel the visa in accordance with paragraph 2.43(1)(g) or (h) of the Regulations. The Compilation is registered on the Federal Register of Legislation on 29 November 2021 and commenced on 29 October 2021. It is currently in force. To access the Compilation, click here.
Invitation Round: 29 November 2021 Matrix nominating Small Business Owners: 02 invitations ACT 190 nominations: 02 invitations 190 minimum Matrix score:85 ACT 491 nominations: 0 invitations 491 minimum Matrix score: 457 visa / 482 visa holders: 01 invitations ACT 190 nomination: 01 invitations ACT 491 nomination: 0 invitations Matrix nominating Critical Skill occupations: 105 invitations ACT 190 nomination: 49invitations 190 minimum Matrix score: 100 (Accountants: 110) ACT 491 nomination: 56 invitations 491 minimum Matrix score: 65 (Accountants: 95) 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 8 December 2021.
The fourth revision of ANZSCO updates the classification structure of occupations relating to agriculture, forestry, and fisheries, cyber security, naval shipbuilding, and the emerging occupations identified by the National Skills Commission. The Australian Bureau of Statistics has introduced these updates for the Australian labour market only, and not for the New Zealand labour market. In addition to updating this classification, this revision contains a summarised classification and concordances to the previous revision. To know more, click here.
Migration (Priority consideration for certain Visitor (Class FA) visa applications) Instrument (LIN 21/074) 2021, dated 22 November 2021, specifies the requirements to be met by an applicant to make a request of priority consideration of a valid application for a Subclass 600 (Visitor) visa in the Tourist stream or the Business Visitor stream to the Minister. The following requirements must be met for a priority consideration request by an applicant of Visitor (Class FA) visa to the Minister: The applicant must have applied for Subclass 600 (Visitor) visa in the Tourist stream or the Business Visitor stream The applicant must be the holder of one of the valid passports (passports issued by the People’s Republic of China, Republic of India, or the United Arab Emirates) The applicant must be located in the country that issued the passport when the visa application and request for priority consideration are made The applicant must make the request using form 1419 (Internet) as an internet application through ImmiAccount. The Instrument is registered on the Federal Register of Legislation on 25 November 2021 and commenced on 26 November 2021. It is currently in force. To access the Instrument, click here.
Migration Amendment (Protecting Migrant Workers) Bill 2021 amends the Migration Act 1958 to introduce new offenses and related civil penalty provisions for unscrupulous employers, labour hire intermediaries, and other persons who exploit migrant workers in a number of ways, including through wage underpayment, pressure to work beyond visa restrictions and withholding of passports. The purpose of the bill is to combat migrant worker exploitation by supporting visa program integrity and ensuring that the migrant workers in Australia are properly protected and empowered to address unlawful conduct in the workplace. It has inserted new sections 245AAA and 245AAB to establish new criminal offenses and related civil penalty provisions that apply where a person who is an employer, labour hire intermediary and any other person in the employment chain coerce, or exert undue influence or undue pressure on, a non-citizen to accept or agree to a work arrangement: involving a breach of a work-related condition applying to the non-citizen; or to satisfy a work-related visa requirement; or to avoid an adverse effect on the non-citizen’s immigration status. The Bill is registered on the Federal Register of Legislation on 24 November 2021 and commences on the day after the act receives royal assent. To know more, click here.
Visa Refusal Grounds Migration Amendment (Strengthening the Character Test) Bill 2021 amends the Migration Act 1958, to strengthen the character test in section 501, by providing specific and new ground of visa refusal and cancellation for the non-citizens who are convicted of serious offenses such as murder, sexual assault, or aggravated burglary. The Amendments ensure that non-citizens who are convicted of certain serious offenses and pose a risk to the safety of the Australian community, do not pass the character test in section 501 and maybe appropriately be considered for visa refusal or cancellation. It also sets out the elements of “designated offense”, which is a new ground to fail the character test. A designated offense is an offense punishable with at least a maximum term of not less than two years imprisonment and involves: Violence or threat of violence against a person includes an act constituting an offense of murder, manslaughter, kidnapping, aggravated burglary, robbery or assault, or an equivalent offense or Non-consensual conduct of a sexual nature, or Breaching an order made by a court or tribunal for the personal protection of another person, or Using or possessing a weapon, or Procuring, or assisting in any way with one of this designated crime It also provides that the offense involving violence against a person will not be considered as a designated offense unless it results in or considerably contributes to physical or mental harm, either temporarily or permanently to another person. The Bill is registered on the Federal Register of Legislation on 24 November 2021 and commences on the day after the Act receives royal assent. To know more, click here.
Invitation Round: 22 November 2021 Matrix nominating Small Business Owners: 02 invitations ACT 190 nominations: 02 invitations 190 minimum Matrix score: ACT 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: 51 invitations ACT 190 nomination: 04 invitations 190 minimum Matrix score: 115 ACT 491 nomination: 47 invitations 491 minimum Matrix score: 65 (Accountants: 95) 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 1 December 2021.
Migration Queensland has updated the requirement regarding Expression of Interests for invitations for skilled and business visa applicants. For skilled visa applicants, a new EOI must be submitted from Tuesday 26 October 2021 for nomination For business visa applicants EOI submitted from 1 July 2021 are still acceptable.