By Liana Allan (MARN 0104178) and Kristie Morgan (MARN 1068715)

Regional employers are crying out for workers in regional areas.  Regional Victoria is experiencing a lack of local talent in the following areas:

1. Hospitality - chefs and cooks

The department of immigration's (DIBP's) website states that the processing period for the non-contributory parent visa is now 30 years. The previous indication was 13 years. Has the quota dropped for this parent visa category or have more people desperately joined the queue in light the of the shock from the government’s attempt to repeal the visa class?

Thirty or 13 years, the wait is too long. Unless families can contribute some $100,000 and get on the contributory parent visa class which has a processing period of under 2 years, family reunions involving parents look virtually impossible.

This issue together with the difficulties faced by migrants in obtaining permanent residency were among the reasons cited for the fall in Australia’s score in the latest assessment of Australia’s performance in resettling migrants according to a report by the global ranking index, MIPEX.

The Migrant Integration Policy Index (MIPEX) is a unique tool which measures policies to integrate migrants in all EU Member States, Australia, Canada, Iceland, Japan, South Korea, New Zealand, Norway, Switzerland, Turkey and the USA.

Developers of the index, use 167 policy indicators to “create a rich, multi-dimensional picture of migrants’ opportunities to participate in society. The index is a tool to evaluate and compare what governments are doing to promote the integration of migrants in all the countries analysed.

The operator of a number of restaurants and cafes in Darwin has been ordered to pay civil penalties of $175,400 for committing multiple breaches of its obligations under the 457 program. These fines were imposed  by Justice Mansfield of the Federal Court of Australia in the case of Minister for Immigration and Border Protection v Choong Enterprises Pty Ltd (2015) FCA 390 (27 April 2015).  

Although it does not appear that it is at all common for the Department to take enforcement proceedings against a 457 sponsor (in fact, my review of the Austlii database did not reveal any other cases where such action has been taken!) the Choong  case should nonetheless serve as a reminder to sponsors concerning the importance of complying with their sponsorship obligations.  The case also illustrates the serious financial consequences that can result if a sponsor does not comply.

Further, the result in this case demonstrates that RMAs can very meaningfully assist sponsoring employers by making sure that they are aware of the duties that are imposed on them  under the migration legislation: an RMA’s work is not necessarily completed once a 457 visa has been granted!

Jeff Harvie (MARN 0959797) runs Down Under Visa in Manila, Philippines. They do nothing but partner visas and tourist visas for Australian Filipino couples, and have got very good at it over the years.

Jeff wife Mila is Filipina, and they went through the migration process themselves many years ago. Down Under Visa is run as a family business, with Jeff’s son Jeremy as their office manager too. They have lived and worked full time in Manila for the last 5 years, which means they are always there to tend to the needs of the local applicants in the emotion-charged world of partner visas. This is a vocation for them, and they really care about the well-being and final outcome for their many clients.

Despite having a team of 7, every visa application is personally supervised by Jeff. No fly-in, fly-out RMA service here. No local staff making decisions or giving advice. And support is given online through a personal client portal providing support 24/7, backed up by fast email support, so no one is ever too far from their office. Their website is full of video and written testimonials from happy clients which back all of this up.

The following information has been received from the DIBP:

Dear agent

Further to the email you received on 3 July 2015, the following new instruments: IMMI 15/108, Migration Regulations 1994 - Specification of Occupations, a Person or Body, a Country or Countries 2015, and IMMI 15/109, Migration Regulations 1994 - Specification of Class of Persons 2015 have been issued and are in effect as of 1 July 2015.