Migrants entering Australia on the new entrepreneur visa could be granted permanent residence if their ventures are commercially successful, says immigration minister, Peter Dutton.

Australian diplomatic staff in some 60 countries are on the lookout for entrepreneurial talent and encouraging them to ready themselves for the new entrepreneur visa which is expected to be introduced next year, according to a report in The Sydney Morning Herald.

Readying themselves will mean getting financial backing to kick-start their business venture in Australia. Currently, startups in Australia have great difficulty attracting funding, so the newcomers will have to find their own backers and show they can get their enterprise up and running on arriving in Australia.

"Australia has been this wonderful place to live but not a great place for startups,” said Murray Hurps, the general manager of Australia's largest startup hub Fishburners noting that there is not enough local funding for startups particularly to get them through the early stages of business development.

Speaking to a group of young entrepreneurs in Sydney, Mr Dutton said that ideas, funding and actual success will be needed to achieve permanent residence in Australia – “the key then to becoming an Australian citizen is whether or not it goes on to success," said Mr Dutton.

OK everyone, can we have a show of hands please? 

How many of you have a client, or a friend or acquaintance, who has been granted permanent residency and hasn’t bothered to get Australian citizenship? 

Speaking for myself, I can say: I do! The husband of my wife’s closest friend migrated to Australia from England as a child and has lived and worked here for decades, and he hasn’t gotten his Australian citizenship. 

There are weaknesses in ‘almost all aspects of the immigration department’s arrangements for managing visa holders’ compliance with their visa conditions, an independent performance audit has found.

These weaknesses undermine the department’s capacity to effectively manage the risk of visa holders not complying with their visa conditions—from simple overstaying through illegal working to committing serious crimes, notes the report from the Australian National Audit Office.

Over 7.5 million Australian visas were granted in 2014–15. However, while the department of immigration had some idea of how many people overstayed, it did not have ‘comprehensive information about the nature and extent of visa holders’ non-compliance with their visa conditions’, states the report.

It is estimated that about 15,550 people were overstaying their visas by between five and 15 years and 17,370 were overstaying by 15 years or more, out of a total of 61,980 over stayers in 2015. The report noted there were over 27.000 calls to the department of immigration’s Dob-In-Line but almost 30% were abandoned before being answered. The ANAO recommended improvements in the service level standards.

The objective of the audit was to assess the effectiveness of the Department of Immigration and Border Protection’s management of compliance with visa conditions.

I do not want to earn a reputation as “The Grinch That Stole Christmas”! 

And I do not want to cast a shadow over the upcoming festive season (for which I wish my devoted readers: “All the best”!!!!!) by this series of articles about partner visa applications that “did not work out”. 

It just so happens that some interesting cases in this area are showing up right now through the reports on Austlii. So, much as I would like to be in control of the docket of the Federal courts (wouldn’t all of you like to have another migrant-friendly judge on the Federal bench (vote for me!!)), the subject matter of the decisions that have been coming down is really not my fault – don’t blame me! 

New Zealanders held in immigration detention centres pending deportation from Australia are being asked to sign forms that give away their guaranteed right to an appeal when they choose to return home, according to a report on Radio New Zealand (RNZ).

The form these Kiwis are given to sign states, “If I have outstanding visa applications, requests or legal proceedings, I understand that if I choose not to withdraw them, consideration of my claims by the department or relevant review bodies (including the courts) may be discontinued once I am removed from Australia.”

Greg Barns of the Australian Lawyers' Alliance said the document left New Zealanders at the mercy of Australia's Immigration Department.