Australian Immigration Daily News

The swooping changes to employer sponsored programmes including the abolition of the 457 visa and introduction of TSS visa as well as tightening of the ENS requirements is forcing employers to look for further options to bring or retain international talent. 

As same would be aware, companies are able to enter into a labour agreement with the government which is a formal arrangement negotiated between an Australian employer and the Australian Government. Applying for a visa under a labour agreement is the only migration pathway for employers seeking to recruit overseas workers for semi-skilled positions, or skilled positions where concessions to mainstream visa requirements are sought.

This includes positions which are currently not listed on Short Term Skilled Occupation List (STSOL) or Medium and Long-term Strategic Skills List (MLTSSL).  Where standard immigration pathways are an option, they should be used in preference to a labour agreement – this includes the standard TSS Framework as well as the Employer Nomination Scheme, or the Regional Sponsored Migration Scheme.

Designated Area Migration Agreements – The Future of Immigration?

Last year no doubt has been challenging both for Migration Agents as well as businesses trying to fill in skills shortage.  The introduction of subclass 482 visa has seen a decline of 28%  of sponsored visas granted, leaving businesses with severe skills shortage.

The government’s response is to enter into a Designated Area Agreement (DAMA).  By way of background, the Designated Area Migration Agreement (DAMA) programme has been developed to supplement the workforce strategies of states, territories and regions, to support economic performance and help them adjust to changing economic conditions.

From time to time expected or unexpected events do happen.  This is particularly something that a foreign national need to be aware of considering that it may impact the status of their visa.

Here are some of the common scenarios where action needs to be taken if you are in Australia on a visa.

1. 1.      Your passport details have changed

Home Affairs can easily update your passport details. The easiest way to update your passport details is by logging into your ImmiAccount and completing an online form.  The process is instant which means that your visa details will automatically be transferred to your new passport. Please note that not all details can be updated online in ImmiAccount such as changes to date of birth or gender.

Earlier today, Home Affairs released their final skilled newsletter for 2018 summarising current and upcoming changes to Australia’s skilled visa programme. Migration Alliance brings you a summary of the main changes to watch in coming months.

1.       Legacy Cases 457 cases and TSS Review Rights

Subclass 457 and TSS visas are reviewable by the Administrative Tribunal.  This is assuming that the visa applicant was onshore at the time of application and the approved nomination has not yet ceased.  Alternatively, there must be a sponsorship or nomination currently being reviewed by the AAT.  The AAT has published a very useful FAQ sheet for applicants who had their nominations refused and this document can be found here:

  http://www.aat.gov.au/AAT/media/AAT/Files/MRD%20documents/Factsheets/FS08-Nomination-Refusals.pdf

For those of us who are familiar with the subclass 189/489 visa programme, 11^th day of each month marks a significant milestone as invitations are sent to potential applicants, giving an opportunity to lodge an application for a subclass 189/489 visa.

Contrary to popular beliefs, invitations are auto-generated with no manual intervention (a hint lies in the fact that invitations are generally received during odd hours of the night!).  To those who received their invitation earlier this week, a big congratulations and all the best with your visa application.  To those who are yet to receive an invitation, let’s look at what we can do to improve your chances of receiving an invitation on the 11th of January.

When exploring independent skilled migration, I use the method called the “control test”.  This means, looking at your points and categories where these points are placed then subsequently determining whether the category is something that you can or cannot control.  To give you a clearer example, our age is something that we cannot control therefore our points will naturally go up or down depending on where we are placed in the biological timeline.  Once we eliminate the categories that cannot control, we can start focusing on categories which are within our control.