Last week, AMVL agents travelled to Melbourne to attend the Annual Migration Institute of Australia (MIA) Conference to listen to the Department, Ministers and industry professionals to give their account of upcoming changes and insights on the Migration program. Please note some of the information below is only an indication of changes and is not ‘official’ until provided by the Department in writing.
Skilled Visas
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Occupation lists will be revised in January 2018, based on a review conducted by the Department of Employment.
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Prior to the update to the skilled lists, a system known as ‘Traffic light bulletins’ will indicate the likelihood of movement of each occupation between, on, or off the lists. We will know more shortly.
Employer Sponsored Visas
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If a SC457 visa was held or had been applied for on or before 18 April 2017, grandfathering provisions of age limits (up to 50yrs), occupation requirements (list changes do not apply) and work experience (still only 2 years work on 457 visa) apply to the Temporary Residence Transition Stream.
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Labour market testing requirements will be clearly defined in Legislation, indicating the type of acceptable testing and length of testing periods.
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The Skilling Australia Fund will be introduced in March 2018, and it is intended that will cut off existing Standard Business Sponsorship training obligations (we are waiting on formal legislation). This would mean that existing SBS holders would no longer have to show expenditure equivalent to 1% of payroll put into training staff, or 2% of the payroll paid to a training fund. This change does not negate the prior obligations for each complete year of the SBS.
State Sponsorship
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In NSW, 50% of people who apply for an invitation receive one. The selection is based mainly on the occupation and the applicant’s points score, though applicants are also ranked on English language skills and work experience.
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Victoria has suspended invitations for Engineering occupations until 12 Jan 2018.
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Victoria will only accept ICT applications if they invite them to apply for sponsorships (so no upfront applications).
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Tasmania will sponsor 489 visas for people wanting to open a small business in Tasmania.
Partner Visas
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Paper applications will no longer be accepted after 18 November 2017.
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From 18 November, any application that is submitted and not substantially complete may be refused without a request for additional documents.
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After 18 November, if the lodged Partner visa application is complete, it may be ‘rewarded’ with faster processing times.
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Remits of Partner visas from the AAT will be centralised to ensure timely processing.
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The Department will no longer send reminders to applicants who are due to apply for their Second Stage Partner visa. It is therefore up to the visa holder to keep a track of their eligibility date.
Parent Visas
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The Department received 9 tonnes of Parent Visa applications (as these are still lodged by paper) in a space of 3 months. This has resulted in a significant blow-out to processing times.
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The Temporary Parent Visa has still not passed through Parliament and is likely to be delayed until next year.
Other changes
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From 18 November, PIC 4020 will be amended allow the Department to refuse a visa on the basis of bogus or fraudulent documents submitted in relation to a current visa application, previous visa applications, or any visas granted, in the previous 10 years (currently only the previous 12 months). This includes any withdrawn visa applications.
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Resident Return Visas will not be available for an applicant whose last visa was cancelled or is under consideration for cancellation.
If you have any questions about these changes and proposed changes, please feel free to contact us.
