Australian Immigration Daily News

COVID 19 halted Australian migration, making it impossible for some temporary visa holders to travel to and from Australia.  As the restrictions around the country continue to ease, below is a summary of restrictions that remain in force.

Travel - International

International travel ban remains in force for ALL individuals, this includes temporary and permanent visa holders.  Temporary visa holders who are currently overseas will need to seek exemption in order to return to Australia.  The form can be completed using the online link: https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/help-support/departmental-forms/online-forms/covid19-enquiry-form

Subclass 491 Provisional Regional Visa was introduced on November 16, 2019 as part of several reforms to regional skilled migration.

There are two streams available under this program

1. State Nominated Stream
2. Family Sponsored Stream

Whilst each State and Territory appear to cover the requisite State/Territory Specific requirements, the Regulations regarding Family Sponsored Stream appear to be broad and open to interpretation.

Latest data on the Department of Home Affairs website shows the minimum points cut off for 189 General Skilled Migration and 491 (Family Sponsored Migration) stands at 95 points with a total of just 100 invitations issued for both programmes.

Certain occupations are attracting higher points in order to score an invitation including

Accountants – 100 points

Today, Legal Training Australia hosted a seminar with NSW Government discussing the State Nomination Programme for 2020/2021.

As we are all aware, State Nomination is competitive process, with criteria changing based on the economic needs as well as ensuring that Australian Citizens and PR holders are offerded jobs in the first instance.

The following update was provided by Zane Rebrojna in relation to NSW State Migration hosted together with Ross Ahmadzai from Legal Training Australia.

As the COVID-19 restrictions ease, the question arises at to when it will be possible for international travellers to come to Australia.  Whilst international travel in general still some time away, recent announcement by the Prime Minister Scott Morrison suggests that international students may be able to travel to Australia as early as July. 

Roadmap to a Covid Safe Australia (https://www.pm.gov.au/sites/default/files/files/covid-safe-australia-roadmap.pdf) reveals that trans- Tasman, Pacific and international student travel should be included as part of the last stage of lifting Australia out of the lockdown. However, the implementation is to take place as early as July this year.

Australia has long been one of the top ranking countries in the world when it comes to the lucrative education sector, where learners come to study and stay temporarily to achieve an internationally recognised qualification.