Educational Testing Service (ETS), creator of the TOEFL iBT® test, welcomes the revised English-language registration standards announced by the Australian Health Practitioner Registration Agency (AHPRA).

From 1 July 2015, regulated health practitioners in Australia will be able to use their TOEFL® test scores to demonstrate English-language proficiency required for initial registration.

The professions covered by AHPRA under the revised English language requirements are:

The following message has been sent to Migration Alliance by the MRT-RRT for immediate publication:

The Migration Review Tribunal and Refugee Review Tribunal amalgamate with the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) from 1 July 2015, becoming the Migration and Refugee Division of the AAT.

Due to planned maintenance and required systems changes, access to both our website and the online lodgement facility will be unavailable from 11.00pm on 30 June to 8.00am on 1 July 2015 (AEST).

This is to inform you that the Department of Immigration and Border Protection (DIBP) will launch a new website on 1 July. The new site will be located athttp://www.border.gov.au and replaces current sites immi.gov.au and customs.gov.au.

At the same time the Department’s email domain will change, from 1 July emails from DIBP staff will be sent from the @border.gov.au domain.

On or after 1 July, please update any affected hyperlinks on your website. Please also update your contact details for the Department, noting the new website address and email domain. 

Skills assessment for 10 occupations including Electricians, will not be required for sc457 applicants from China under the FTA, a letter from Australian Trade Minister Andrew Robb to his Chinese counterpart has revealed.

Under the arrangements Chinese workers will only have to show evidence of their skills and training as proof of their skill.

The letter from Mr Robb stated, “Australia will remove the requirement for mandatory skills assessment for the following 10 occupations on the date of entry into force of the Agreement:

Automotive Electrician [321111]

Cabinetmaker [3941111]

The Full Court of the Federal Court of Australia has ruled that there is no requirement under the Migration Act for two people to live together prior to lodging an application for a Partner Visa on the basis of a de facto relationship. The Court thus rejected an appeal by the Minister against a decision of the Migration Review Tribunal that reached the same conclusion. 

The Court’s decision in this case – SZOXP v Minister for Immigration and Border Protection, (2015) FCAFC 69 (11 June 2015) – is of obvious significance for all RMAs who are advising de facto partners in relation to Partner Visa applications. The case removes an obstacle to these types of applications, as it apparently has been the case that the Department has been refusing applications for Partner Visas in circumstances where the applicant and sponsor did not produce evidence that they had lived together before the application was lodged.

The background of this case was interesting in itself, as the applicant and his sponsor had chosen not to live together for religious reasons. The applicant was a citizen of China. He filed an application for a Partner Visa on the basis of his claimed de facto relationship with his sponsor in October 2012. The couple was married about a month after the visa application was lodged with the Department.