Nurses’ unions are complaining that thousands of nursing graduates are unable to find work in Australian hospitals. They say that each year about 8,000 Australian students graduate with a nursing qualification, but that there are around 3,000 nurses who cannot find work. In contrast, between 2011 and 2012, 3,095 foreign nurses were granted working visas in Australia, according to a report in the ABC.

"It can't be a coincidence that at the same time as thousands of new nurse graduates across the country are unable to get jobs, the same amount of people are getting jobs, coming in as temporary skilled migrants on 457 visas," Annie Butler, acting federal secretary of the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation, said speaking to the ABC.

However, Michael Roff, chief executive of the Australian Hospitals Association, says that overseas nurses are essential for filling more highly specialised jobs, ones that fresh graduate cannot perform.

"From the private hospital perspective, 457 visas are principally used to fill vacancies that require experienced nurses with an advanced level of skill, particularly in areas like intensive care, coronary care and operating theatres," he said.

The 457 visa skilled migration program is currently under review and the nurses’ union fears that restrictions on foreign nurses will be watered down, but Mr Roff argues that there is actually to much red tape in the visa program.

"In fact its harder for a hospital to employ someone on a 457 visa because nursing is one of two professions that have to be market tested," he said.

From November, the Test of English Language as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) internet-based test and the Pearson Test of English Academia (PTE-A) will also be accepted by the DIBP for the purposes of immigration.  Will the new tests make a difference? Have your say.

One thing that comes to mind on this matter is why hasn’t Australia developed its own English Language testing standard that is acceptable to DIBP and the Universities? After all, Australia is the world’s most popular destination for an education in English and even immigration.

Alternative tests of English have been available for some years now, but only for student visas. The Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL), the Pearson Test of English Academic (Pearson) and the Cambridge English: Advanced (CAE) from Cambridge ESOL (Cambridge) have been accepted tests for Student visa application purposes since 2011.

However, the takeup rate of the alternative tests in students visas have been low indicating that the IELTs stranglehold may continue for a while yet. A DIBP report on the matter states that whilst, the introduction of alternative English language tests has delivered more choice to Student visa applicants who need to prove language proficiency, the take-up rate of alternative English language tests has been relatively modest with alternative English language tested Student visa applicants representing 3 per cent of all Student visa applicants who submitted an English language test during the first 12 months of operation.

In light of the recently reported bungle by a Virgin airlines employee who prevented a valid visa holder from boarding a flight out of Australia, the question must be asked: Do the airline check-in staff who have the power to decide whether a passenger gets on board have any decent training on visa rules?

Should airline check-in staff be required to have at least a basic certificate issued by an independent immigration training organisation before they are allowed to work at the airline check-in counter? They are after all playing judge, jury and executioner to unwary travellers dream holidays and travel plans.

These questions must certainly be on the on minds of Indonesian tourists Betty and her mother Lam-In

According to a report in The Daily Telegraph today, Betty and Lam-In have a 12-month multiple-entry visas that allow stays of up to three months at a time in Australia. Last month they planned to fly Virgin to Fiji with friends for a long weekend then return to Sydney. It would be fun and keep their visas intact.

But at Sydney Airport, a Virgin employee refused to check them in. Perhaps she misread the DIBP instructions on the computer. Perhaps she misunderstood it or was clueless. But she chose to rule the visas were no good as her interpretation was that “the date of return was more than three months after they last entered Australia”. Betty’s pleas to speak to a supervisor were ignored with the explanation that the supervisors would say the same thing and were too busy anyway.

Potentially, it is a multi-million dollar market for the migration advisory industry. With interest from overseas investors in the Significant Investor Visa programme (SIV) gathering pace the reality however may be that only RMAs working together with consultants experienced with business, investment and tax advice are likely to corner the market. Migration Alliance has worked closely with the likes of PwC, NAB, Ord Minnett, and several other consultants and companies to create a streamlined solution for SIV prospects which RMAs can easily access in order to start tapping into this potentially lucrative market.

The Coalition government’s concerted effort to remove obstacles in the SIV programme, has now had rich investors looking at it as a genuine pathway into Australia. “At $1 billion worth of investment so far and rising fast, Australia’s “significant investor” program is demonstrating its appeal – especially to wealthy Chinese. The general idea is to use the lure of residency visas in exchange for $5 million worth of approved investment in Australia. “ reports the Australian Financial Review.

Under the Coalition government some 190 applications have been approved under the SIV programme with a further 550 under consideration. The Coalition is now reviewing the programme in order to improve it further by removing cumbersome aspects of the application and expanding investment options. “The government continues to work closely with the financial services industry and other stakeholders to offer greater flexibility and investment choices for the future investment migrants,” said Senator Michaelia Cash, the Assistant Minister for Immigration and Border Protection.

Unlike many of the other visas RMAs deal with, the SIV poses some unusual challenges: given the large amount of money required from applicants on the one hand and the fact that applicants, on the other hand, need confidence that their migration advisory consultants will properly help provide direction on how they can manage their money and the process successfully.

Toward this, the Migration Alliance together with its partners have setup the SIV portal to help both RMAs and prospective applicants understand some of the key issues in the process. The portal is a good starting point for RMAs wanting to know more about how to assist prospective applicants. Some of the issues addressed include the following:

Application fraud, fake documents, false information, and visa conditions breach are increasingly being targeted in a “risk-based approach to support the integrity of Australia’s border, immigration, detention and citizenship programs” according to DIBPs Annual report 2012-2013.

The Risk Fraud and Integrity Division (RFID) boasts that it works with local and international agencies to filter out visa fraud at all levels. Comprising of several units focusing on various aspects of the systems integrity, the division in particular administers and enforces Public Interest Criteria 4020 (PIC 4020).

Also known as the "application integrity criteria', PIC 4020 has quietly taken a life of its own over the last few years and has recently survived a court challenge where an applicant's visa refusal, inspite of corrected information, was upheld by the court because the original information provided was false and thus caught by PIC 4020.

Beside visa refusal and cancellation one of the most severe consequences of PIC 4020 is a ten year ban for applicants on making further applications.

Some of the work of the various units of the RFID are set out in DIBP's reports as follows: