As Australia marches closer to the required 80% fully vaccinated rates there is the overwhelming prospect that International Borders will begin to reopen. With regards to leaving or returning to Australia the Prime Minister has made the following announcement: Leaving  Australia Only Fully vaccinated Australians will be eligible for international travel without seeking an exemption first. All Australian citizens or permanent …

Immigration Minister Alan Trudge announced the 2019-20 Migration Program Outcome in a media release today (16 September 2020). From this, we can see how COVID 19 has affected the migration and processing of visas. The key figures are: The permanent migration intake was 140,366 in 2019-20. Seventy per cent of the visas were granted through the skilled stream (95,843 in …

To meet the shortage of skill in critical sectors and to assist the economic growth of Australia from COVID-19, the Australian government released a PMSOL which identifies 17 critical skilled occupation lists. This list was formulated based on the consultancy and advice of the National Skills Commission and with Commonwealth departments. A new list of priority skills and strengthened labour …

Has your temporary visa been effected by the COVID-19 Pandemic? Are you being let go by your employer? Here are some useful facts. Read Now!

  In these trying times, many employers have expressed concerns regarding what to do when the businesses are forced to stand down staff who are on 457 or 482 visas. The Commonwealth Government has been contacted, and more information will be forthcoming shortly regarding this issue, but at the moment the general rules are as follows: Leave Without Pay As …

The state nomination authorities have provided the following changes to their occupations list;   SA Occupation list Changes in the status of occupation availability Special Conditions Apply 121313 Dairy Cattle Farmer 132511 Research and Development Manager 249214 Music Teacher (Private Tuition) 121221 Vegetable Grower 254412 Registered Nurse (Aged Care)  Low Availability 133411 Manufacturer 241111 Early Childhood (Pre-primary School)   WA …

The Department of Home Affairs has provided an update on the visa processing times. This may be vastly improved to providing a complete application with supporting evidence. A registered migration agent can help you with this. Here are the times for some of the more popular visas:   Visa 75% processed 90% processed 100 – Partner (Migrant) visa (subclass 100) …

Following further consultations, the Department of Employment, Skills, Small and Family Business currently have the following recommendations to consider. If these are carried out this will directly affect whether or not applicants may or may not be eligible for permanent or provisional residence, or if sponsored by an employer whether or not a caveat will be imposed. What it does …

Yesterday the Australian Government agreed to introduce new travel restrictions, update the travel advice and implement new screening measures as part of the Government’s coordinated measures to protect Australians from COVID-19. Republic of Korea Based on the volume of cases the Republic of Korea, and the scale of travel to Australia from the Republic of Korea means that there is …

On February 1 the Commonwealth government banned foreign nationals arriving in Australia from China. As classes are due to begin that has leftover 105,800 Chinese student visa holders stranded, and universities and TAFEs have been scrambling to respond. “There are 189,000 Chinese students right across our tertiary education sector” said Education Minister Dan Tehan, “Forty-four per cent of those students …