In my most recent article last week, I made some observations about how frustrating, even heartbreaking, it can be when the Department and the Tribunal assess a partner visa application with a skeptical, perhaps “cynical” eye.  

It would be hard to imagine anything much worse, in the context of migration law, than for people who genuinely love each other and want to spend their lives together in Australia, to have their partner visa refused because the Department does not accept that a relationship is genuinely genuine.  As RMAs, a big part of our job is to help people’s dreams come true. So how disappointing and devastating must it be when a legitimate partner visa application gets “knocked back”? 

At the same time, we all recognize that the Department does have a legitimate task to do in relation to partner visas.  Unfortunately, not every partner visa application is the product of a genuine relationship. And it surely can’t be argued that the Department has a perfectly proper role to play in “separating the wheat from the chaff” by screening out partner visa applications where the relationship is not genuine. 

New visa classes aimed at attracting talented and highly educated people are set to be introduced in Australia next year, according to a statement from the office of the minister for immigration.

The first is the entrepreneur visa. As part of a larger AU$1 billion innovation agenda of Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, the new entrepreneur visa (together with tax breaks for start-ups) is seeking to unleash an ‘ideas boom’ and wean the economy away from its dependence on the mining sector. The second new visa subclass is expected to be one that aims at retaining 'high-achieving' students in Australia after the completion of their studies.

“This is all about unleashing the ideas boom. Unlike a mining boom, it is a boom that can continue forever, it is limited only by our imagination… The more high-quality, effective, productive enterprising entrepreneurs we can attract, the better. Because they drive jobs.” Australian Prime Minister, Malcolm Turnbull.

The new Entrepreneur Visa will be available for emerging entrepreneurs with innovative ideas and financial backing to develop their ideas in Australia noted the minister’s statement. It said that Australia’s overseas networks will be leveraged to actively encourage entrepreneurial and innovative talent to come to Australia.

Turnbull said there would be no cap placed on the number of new entrepreneur visas designed to attract innovative talent. He also indicated that changes are being considered to retain high achieving foreign students.

Melbourne and Sydney have been ranked among top 10 cities preferred by students while Canberra and Brisbane moved up the ranks to be counted among the be worlds best 20 ahead of the likes of New York, Madrid, and Beijing.

The best place to get a degree in Australia, is Melbourne according to QS Annual Survey of the best cities in the world to be a student in 2016.

While Melbourne scored full marks for job prospects, a diverse mix of students and good quality of life, it was edged out for the top spot by Paris due to the greater variety the European city offered.

Melbourne, scored highly on the “student mix” part of the list’s criteria, which is calculated based on the relative size and diversity of each city’s student population while also taking into account the levels of social inclusion and tolerance.

Sydney ranked fourth, with students pointing to the quality of life and sunshine as key reasons for their choice. Australia’s biggest city is becoming a hub of sorts for fashion students and the – it’s the only city on the list to boast an annual duck fashion show.

In its final night for the year, Parliament passed legislation that will strip Australian citizenship from dual citizens who are involved in terrorist conduct overseas or convicted of terrorism activity.

The bill provides for dual citizens to lose their citizenship in two new ways: by engaging in conduct deemed to amount to a renunciation of citizenship, or by being convicted of a prescribed offence.

A statement from the office of the minister of immigration noted that the Australian Citizenship Amendment (Allegiance to Australia) Bill 2015 aims to ensure terrorists who are dual nationals are prevented from returning to Australia and dual nationals who engage in terrorism within Australia can be removed where possible.

“The changes to the existing legislation were necessary to reflect the current threat that Australia and the rest of the world faces” notes the statement adding that, “Australia's current threat level is now at 'probable' – meaning that there is credible intelligence assessed by our security agencies that indicates individuals or groups have developed both the intent and capability to conduct a terrorist attack in Australia.

Is it possible that there is anything that could be more frustrating in the “universe” of migration practice than for the Department to “doubt” the “genuineness” of a genuinely genuine relationship, and to refuse an offshore partner visa application that is genuinely meritorious? 

Bad, bad enough that the Department has seen fit to raise the application fees to a point where they cost an arm and a leg and another arm and another leg! 

And worse, worse yet that the Department’s processing times for these applications make “a snail’s pace” seem like “warp speed” – what on earth is it that makes review so beeping beeping slow??