Breaking Australian immigration news brought to you by Migration Alliance and associated bloggers.
Liana Allan is probably Australia's best known migration agent. Liana is the owner of Legal Training Australia Pty Ltd which is a professional development firm training Australian migration agents and owner of Visacorp Pty Ltd migration agency. Liana's main passion is serving the needs of the migration agent community and providing migrants with information that can truly assist them as they seek to create a new life in Australia. Liana plays netball twice a week and enjoys great food and the occasional glass of Shiraz. Liana lives in Sydney, Australia and has two children. Liana is married.
An RMA lodged a complaint on the Global Feedback section of www.immi.gov.au. The RMA left feedback on the DIBP website as follows:
The search engine on www.immi.gov.au is sh1t. It simply does not work. For example type in 'fees and charges' and see what you get.
Fix it.
The picture above is my son hugging the screen of his grandad, Des Ross.
Captain Des Ross migrated to Australia from Ireland on the SS Orsova in 1961 as a young child. Des Ross has become an international face in the media over recent years, providing expert commentary on the disappearance of aircraft such as the MH370.
Media organisations reporting on the MH370 have not necessarily been after quality reporting or information. They just want someone to fill in the story. Some media organisations aren't willing to pay to interview professionals and would prefer to find an armchair aviator who can make something sound half way correct.
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I have sent the following email in to the DIBP's head of policy and Manager for 457 visas in Sydney:
Thanks kindly.
Liana Allan
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I have just called the 131 881 DIBP number three times and asked the same question three times. Given the number of times the DIBP have wasted my time with pointless requests since 2001 (when I became an agent), I believe that I am perfectly entitled to ring the 131881 DIBP number and ask a question to test their knowledge and service. This was my question:
I am married but me and my husband have been separated for 2 years. I have been living with my new British partner for 12 months. He is on a 457. Can I lodge a spouse visa now?
131881 staff member 1: No you need to be divorced first.
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THE DIBP have updated their policy as a result of the MRT finding that their policy did not meet the purpose of the legislative requirement. To quote the decision as follows
"The Tribunal is persuaded by the applicant’s submission that the new policy adopted on 15 May 2013 goes beyond the scope of the relevant Regulations. The Tribunal notes the applicant’s submission that the purpose of policy is to annotate the relevant legislation, and as aforementioned, the Tribunal has exercised care in applying PAM such that it is not raised to the level of a legislative requirement."
A full copy of the decision which influenced this policy change is here.
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