Australian Immigration Daily News

As States are continuing to administer migration programs despite the impact of COVID-19.  The State of Tasmania has confirmed that a degree of flexibility will be applied to applicants genuinely affected by COVID-19 employment stand-downs before or after meeting the mandatory 6 month full-time employment.

This means that each application will be considered on its merits and also the industry sector, depending on whether the sector is critical to the needs of Tasmania.

Tasmania will consider the main factors when issuing nomination:

The Department of Home Affairs updated their website in relation regarding travellers transiting through Australia.  As readers will be well aware, Australia is currently under international lockdown.

It has been confirmed that individuals who are transiting through Australia do not need to apply for a travel exemption in order to board their ongoing flight. An exemption to this rule applies if you are planning to leave the airport. https://covid19.homeaffairs.gov.au/transiting-australia

Individuals who are not listed in the table below will need to apply for a transit visa subclass 771 in order to board their connecting flight:

Business Skilled Migration Queensland (BSMQ) in partnership with Legal Training Australia hosted a webinar for immigration professionals to discuss the outlook of business as well as skilled migration for the new financial year.

Migration Alliance brings you the following exclusive summary of the seminar for those who were unable to attend:

• Allocations for the 190 State Nominated permanent visas are exhausted for the current financial year
• Provisional subclass 491 visa remains upon
• BSMQ may open skilled migration in the new year however the quota is yet to be confirmed as the final numbers have not yet been given the approval
• It is likely that the FYI 20/21 program will commence in October 2020.  There are a number of factors causing this delay, the main one being the COVID19 which has directly impact State Migration across most states
• Both occupation lists (190 and 491) are being reviewed, no further comments can be provided at this point in time

Particular points to note on the 491 Visa

Today the State of Victoria provided an update on Skilled, Regional as well as Business Skilled Migration in partnership with Legal Training Australia.

For those that were unable to attend, below is a summary of the updates on the current immigration climate in Victoria as well as well as what we can expect in the new financial year.

Subclass 190 Visa

Some (or perhaps many) have heard the term “section 48 barred”.  However, the workings of Section 48 can be complex to understand.

Broadly speaking, Section 48 of the Migration Act prevents visa applicants from lodging another substantive visa application whilst in Austalia (unless exemptions apply), if the visa applicant had their visa refused or the visa was cancelled during their stay.

This mechanism ensures the integrity of the programme and prevents excessive lodgement of vexations applications.