The visa application for Sponsored Parent (Temporary) visa (Subclass 870) for parents can now be lodged onshore as per the provisions made in the online application form for this visa due to leniency shown by the Department during the COVID-19 pandemic. With this visa, a parent of an Australian citizen, Australian permanent resident or eligible New Zealand citizen can visit Australia for up to 3 or 5 years per visa. In order to be eligible to apply for the parent visa onshore, the visa holder must not have Conditions 8503 or 8543 for ‘No Further Stay’ attached to the current onshore visa. However, if the visa has an attached condition, you may request the Department for a waiver on account of major change in the situation caused by COVID-19 which is out of your control.
The Department of Home Affairs has specified arrangements for bridging visa applications vide the Migration (LIN 20/068: Arrangements for Bridging Visa Applications) Instrument 2020 [“the Instrument”] dated 21 May 2020. The Instrument re-approves Form 1008 (Internet) for making a valid Bridging E (Class WE) visa application which was removed by a drafting error in the erstwhile instrument, i.e., the Migration (LIN 19/186: Arrangements for Applications for Bridging Visas) Instrument 2019 dated 25 June 2019. The Instrument is registered on the Federal Register of Legislation on 25 May 2020 and according to Clause 2 of the Instrument it “commences the day after registration on the Federal Register of Legislation”. Thus, the Instrument is currently in force, commencing 26 May 2020 and accordingly, Form 1008 (Internet) can now be used for making a valid Bridging Visa E (BVE) application.
The Migration Amendment (Regulation of Migration Agents) Bill 2019 [“the Regulation Bill”] and the Migration Agents Registration Application Charge Amendment (Rates of Charge) Bill 2019 [“the Registration Bill”] are laid on the table of the Senate for second reading debate on 12 June 2020. The Regulation Bill, popularly known as the ‘Deregulation Bill’, proposes amendment to the Migration Act 1958 (Cth), interalia, to remove unrestricted legal practitioners from the regulatory scheme that governs migration agents. Further, the Registration Bill proposes amendment to the Migration Agents Registration Application Charge Act 1997 (Cth) for payment of adjusted charge for providing non-commercial immigration assistance. Both the Bills were first introduced in the Senate on 13 Feb 2020. Track the progress of the Regulation Bill, click here.
Invitation Date: 21 May 2020 ACT 190 Nomination – Invitations Issued: 485 All Matrix submitted: 150 to 70 points 65 point Matrix submitted on or before 31 December 2019 ACT 491 Nomination – No invitations issued as there are sufficient 491 applications in the queue to meet the May 2020 monthly allocation of 491 nomination places. All matrix expire 6 months after submission date if an invitation is not issued.
Skilled Work Regional (Provisional) 491 visa is a temporary visa to live and work in regional Australia and requires sponsorship by either an eligible relative living in a designated area of Australia or by a State / Territory Government. For sponsorship by an eligible relative, it is required that the sponsor is 18 years old or above, usually resident in a designated area and is an Australian citizen or permanent resident, or an eligible New Zealand citizen. In this regard, it is clarified that there is no requirement in the Migration Regulations 1994 (Cth) or the Department’s policy that the family sponsor must live in the same designated regional area as the applicant he wishes to nominate. Thus, the sponsor and the applicant may be living in a different States or Territories and yet satisfying the sponsorship requirement for Subclass 491, along with other requirements.
According to the Department of Home Affairs (DoHA), the Commissioner of ABF (Australian Border Force) has granted travel exemption to 2937 of the total 4002 requests for outbound travel from Australia for the period 25 March 2020 to 06 May 2020. For overseas travel by Australian citizens and permanent residents, travel exemption from the Commissioner of ABF is required: To respond to the COVID-19 outbreak; To conduct critical industries and business; To receive urgent medical treatment (not available in Australia); To attend urgent and unavoidable personal business; To serve the national interest; For compassionate or humanitarian grounds. For inward travel exemption, the Commissioner of ABF has granted travel exemption to 6872 of the total 7134 requests for the period 02 February 2020 to 06 May 2020 for various categories such as business leaders, compassionate grounds, critical skill requirement, diplomatic travel, medevac patients, students, Protection Visa holders and transit through Australia.
The Regional Trade Agreements Division of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade has announced the commencement of the Indonesia-Australia Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (“the IA-CEPA”) from 05 July 2020. According to the Preamble of the IA-CEPA, the countries recognise that “open, transparent and competitive markets are key drivers of economic growth, poverty reduction, job creation, innovation, expansion of productive capacity and human development”. International Trade obligations are relevant in migration context as labour market testing is not required. In this regard, the Migration (LIN 20/029: Determination of International Trade Obligations Relating to Labour Market Testing) Instrument 2020 dated 28 January 2020 provides a list of 14 agreements, including the IA-CEPA, that determines international trade obligations of Australia regarding labour market testing. To see list of all international trade obligations, click here. To read full text of the IA-CEPA, click here.
The Migration Amendment (Regulation of Migration Agents) Bill 2019 [“the Regulation Bill”] was first introduced in the House of Representatives along with Migration Agents Registration Application Charge Amendment (Rates of Charge) Bill 2019 [“the Registration Bill”] on 27 Nov 2019. The Regulation Bill, popularly known as the ‘Deregulation Bill’, proposes amendment to the Migration Act 1958 (Cth), interalia, to remove unrestricted legal practitioners from the regulatory scheme that governs migration agents. Further, the Registration Bill proposes amendment to the Migration Agents Registration Application Charge Act 1997 (Cth) for payment of adjusted charge for providing non-commercial immigration assistance. Both the Bills were first introduced in the Senate on 13 Feb 2020 and were to be laid on the table of the Senate for discussion in May 2020 but that hasn’t happened yet. Track the progress of the Regulation Bill, click here.
Invitation Date: 12 May 2020 ACT 190 Nomination – Invitations Issued: 210 All Matrix submitted: 110 to 70 points 65 point Matrix submitted between 12 November 2019 and 08 December 2019 (both dates inclusive) ACT 491 Nomination – No invitations issued as there are sufficient 491 applications in the queue to meet the May 2020 monthly allocation of 491 nomination places. All matrix expire 6 months after submission date if an invitation is not issued. The next invitation round is scheduled to be held by 27 May 2020.
State Nominated Migration Program (SNMP) Invitation Date: 30 April 2020 Visa Subclass General Stream Graduate Stream Higher Education Graduates Vocational Education And Training Graduates Skilled Nominated visa (Subclass 190) 6 162 31 Skilled Regional (Provisional) visa (Subclass 491) 10 39 42 In 2019-2020, a total of 2969 invitations have been issued as on 05 May 2020: Visa Subclass General Stream Graduate Stream Higher Education Graduates Vocational Education And Training Graduates Skilled Nominated visa (Subclass 190) 47 1738 262 Skilled Regional (Provisional) visa (Subclass 491) / Subclass 489 75 530 317 Total 2969