As expected, the government has announced that it will raise revenue by increasing visa and citizenship charges in the new financial year on the argument that applicants should meet the full cost of the service.

An estimated AU$440 million is expected to be raised over the next four years by increasing visa application charges from 1 July 2015 and citizenship charges are expected to see a sharp rise from January 2016.

Aside from this, foreign property investors in Australia are set for greater scrutiny and charges. Foreign investors wanting to buy real estate in Australia will be charged an application fee of between $5,000 and $10,000, depending on the value of the property, raising $650 million for the budget over four years. Mr Hockey said stricter penalties will also apply to foreign investors who break the rules.

Working holiday visa holders are in for a shock as they will be required to pay about a third of their earnings in taxes. From July 2016, those on a working holiday in Australia will no longer enjoy a tax free threshold of up to $18,200, and will instead be forced to pay 32.5 per cent tax from their first dollar earned. That measure will save the budget $540 million over four years.

There will also be efficiencies made in visa, refugee, humanitarian processing and by simplifying skilled migration and temporary visa programs to the tune of $168.1 million over four years.

If your clients are taking the TOEFL iBT® test to meet the English-language requirements for their skilled migration or other visa, registration is easy!

Test takers just need to go to www.toeflgoanywhere.org and click the “Register Now” link. They will be able to create a TOEFL iBT account, select their test date and location, and submit payment.

It’s very important for test takers to check the identification requirements before they register. Only certain forms of ID are accepted, and the ID information listed in their account needs to exactly match the ID that they present at the test centre on test day. Test takers can be turned away at the test centre if the information (especially their name) does not match EXACTLY.

The following information has been sent to CPD providers in the Migration Advice Profession by the Office of the MARA:

Dear Continuing Professional Development Provider,
 
On Friday the Assistant Minister for Immigration and Border Protection made an announcement regarding the 2014 Independent Review of the OMARA.

In June 2014, the Assistant Minister for Immigration and Border Protection, Senator the Hon Michaelia Cash, appointed Dr Christopher N Kendall to conduct an independent review of the Office of the Migration Agents Registration Authority (OMARA). 

The Review

The review examined the performance of the OMARA as the industry regulator, its organisational capability and challenges, and the quality and effectiveness of its internal controls and governance.

Consistent with the government’s commitment to de-regulation, the review examined the most appropriate organisational structure for regulating the migration advice sector in order to protect consumers.

It also examined the regulatory framework and powers of the OMARA to assess if they are still appropriate and identify opportunities to reduce regulatory burden.

The review received 32 submissions from 24 individuals and groups. Dr Kendall also conducted interviews and teleconferences with a variety of stakeholders, including registered migration agents, legal services commissions and university providers.

Dr Kendall made 24 recommendations.  The Government supports the majority of the review’s recommendations.

Implementation of the review’s key recommendations will commence later in 2015.  The Department will consult with stakeholders on the implementation of these significant reforms, some of which will require legislative changes.

The final report, entitled 2014 Independent Review of the Office of the Migration Agents Registration Authority (OMARA), is available at:

In the upcoming budget, the federal government is expected to allocate an extra AU$400 million to the department of immigration with staffing levels expected to hit a record 6000 officers within the next few years. Hundreds of people are currently being interviewed for jobs.

Labelled as the ‘once in a generation overhaul’ the department is the only one, other than Defence, to receive a funding boost. The new funds are to support the major reorganisation for bigger flows of people and goods in and out of Australia under a more ‘rigorous enforcement regime’ according to a report in The Sydney Morning Herald.

Part of the funds will go toward arming of officers; taking over Australia's immigration detention network; and taking up positions on the frontline at airports, shipping terminals and at sea to gather intelligence and detain offenders.

A new website, Border.gov.au, will also be launched to replace the websites for the formerly separate Immigration and Customs departments.

In a major speech on the future of the merged agencies in April, Immigration Department secretary Michael Pezzullo said the focus of the new department would be to "manage a system of border processes by which we will oversee the flow of people, and goods, to and from our nation".

RMAs are set to face-off directly with lawyers in the migration advisory business with the Coalition government planning to remove the present requirement of OMARA registration for lawyers who hold a law practising certificate.

Dual-registration for lawyers was implemented in 1992 as it was held that the various state and territories legal profession authorities did not deal with complaints against lawyers “with adequate timeliness or vigour”.  Submissions by the Law Council of Australia however argued that with the formation of the Legal Services Commissioner, that concern has been irrelevant for a long time and lawyers should no longer be subject to dual-registration and dual-monitoring by two authorities.

As at 30 June 2014 there were 1673 migration agents with legal practicing certificates in Australia. This equates to approximately 32 per cent of all practicing migration agents. When the review’s recommendation is implemented, the estimated 60,000 lawyers registered with the state and territories legal practitioner’s authorities will be able to provide migration advice under those licenses with no obligation to, or scrutiny by the OMARA.

The recommendation goes against 2007-2008 Hodges Review on the issue which recommended that lawyers remain subject to OMARA registration in order to provide consumers clarity and consistency of service standards.

The report has rejected calls to set up an independent commissioner comparable to that in the legal profession. It said that given the relatively small size of the migration advice profession, the creation of an independent statutory body to perform the role of the OMARA would be unsustainable. It added that in addition, the size of the sector will be reduced significantly with the removal of lawyers from the scheme.