Australian Immigration Daily News

Suppose you have a client who is seeking a 457 visa (yes it is still possible!)

Suppose also that the client was not able to satisfy the English language proficiency requirement of sub-regulation 457.223(4)(eb)(v),  which specifies that the applicant must have “achieved within the period specified by the Minister in (a) legislative instrument, in a single attempt at the test,  the score specified by the Minister in the instrument”.

(For readers having difficulty finding this sub-regulation, I will be happy to loan you my electron microscope for a small fee!!)

Are things always as difficult/impossible as they seem?

Assume, for example, that you were asked for advice about the following circumstances in relation to a Partner visa application:

1. That during the period when an applicant and his sponsor claimed to be living together in a de facto relationship, the sponsor had been granted a “parenting payment single” by Centrelink, accompanied by a letter from Centrelink which stated that the sponsor was “not partnered”;

There has been another extremely important decision from the Full Court on the issue of visa cancellation on character grounds.

This decision was handed down by the Full Court yesterday, 13 June 2017, and just appeared on Austlii this morning: BCR16 v Minister for Immigration and Border Protection (2017) FCAFC 96 (13 June 2017).

The case defines a new possible basis for challenging a decision made personally by the Minister or Assistant Minister to refuse to revoke the mandatory cancellation of a visa on character grounds.

In case you may have missed it, we are providing links to some news stories that appeared over the Queen's Birthday long weekend in the Australian media concerning further proposed changes to Australia's citizenship that are likely to be introduced into Parliament in the near future.

Here's a link to a story describing the changes, and here is another link to an article that provides some critical comments on the proposal.

These changes go beyond  the proposed changes to the Australian Citizenship Act that were announced by the government in late April. Those changes would increase the required period that an applicant for citizenship must be a permanent resident of Australia from the current 12 months to 4 years; would require applicants to demonstrate a "competent" level of proficiency in English; would change or, in the government's words, "strengthen" the citizenship test to require applicants to demonstrate understanding and acceptance of "Australian values"; and would require applicants to provide evidence that they have become "integrated" into the Australian community.

Migration Alliance has been contacted by Associate Professor Rebekah Doley of Bond University for assistance in notifying RMAS about a very important study that she is undertaking to assess the stresses that RMAs may experience when working with trauma-affected client populations.

Professor Doley describes the purpose of the study as follows:

"Of the approximately 6021 Migration Agents (RMAs) registered nationally, many will have worked at some time with trauma-exposed clients. I am looking for your support to understand how to build resilience in RMAs working in these difficult settings.