Australian Immigration Daily News

The Working Holiday Maker (WHM) Program is one of the many visa options available for the Horticulture Sector.

The Australian Government continues to increase annual caps to a number of countries. AUSVEG will continue to update this list, as announcements are made.

Working Holiday Maker (WHM) Program – consists of 2 streams –
1. Working Holiday Visa (subclass 417)
2. Work and Holiday Visa (subclass 462)

The difference between the two visa streams is that the 462 visa has education requirements, while the 417 visa does not.

A 462 visa requires a letter of support from your government of origin (unless you are from the US), while 417 visa does not.

The AAT Bulletin for 2 September is below, and makes excellent reading:

AAT-Bulletin-2-September-2019.pdf

Migration Newsletter 737 by Lewis & Bollard is now available and makes very interesting reading:

Migration_Newsletter_737.01.pdf

Migration Alliance has permission including written permission to republish this newsletter.  There has been some discussion on the MIA forum about whether we have permission.  MIA members are always welcome to email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and we can let you all know the answers to questions you might have, whether you are or are not a member of MA.  There are so many joint members that we are used to fielding questions like this.

The new charges are as follows:

• Standard Competency Demonstration Report: $874.50 (AUD)
• Australian Engineering Qualification Assessment: $291.50 (AUD)
• Washington/Sydney/Dublin Accord Qualification Assessment: $470.80 (AUD)

Other administrative fees:

• Informal Review: $313.50 (AUD)
• Formal Appeal: $594.00 (AUD)
• Standard Administration Fee: $121.00 (AUD)
• Fast Track Fee: $335.50 (AUD)

Source: https://www.engineersaustralia.org.au/For-Migrants/Migration-Skills-Assessment/Migration-Fees

The process of sponsoring an employee on a TSS (482) visa should be viewed beyond transactional aspect of obtaining a TSS visa.  As an approved business sponsor, there are a number of Sponsorship Obligations which the sponsoring entity must meet as part of holding their sponsorship status.  In broad terms, the following Sponsorship Obligations apply to all standard and accredited business sponsors:

Notify the Department of Home Affairs when the following occurs:

• the visa holder’s employment ends or is expected to end
• there are changes to the work duties carried out by the sponsored visa holder
• the sponsor pays or has paid the return travel costs of a sponsored visa holder or any of their family members in accordance with the obligation to pay return travel costs
• the sponsor becomes insolvent within the meaning of subsections 5 (2) and (3) of the Bankruptcy Act 1966 and section 95A of the Corporations Act 2001
• the business ceases to exist as a legal entity

These are just some of the examples of sponsorship obligations.  The remainder of which can be found on Home Affairs website: https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/visas/employing-and-sponsoring-someone/existing-sponsors/standard-business-accredited-obligations