Australian Immigration Daily News

Eight people have been charged and 61kg of illicit substances seized after a joint agency investigation targeting the importation of border‐controlled drugs by airline passengers and air freight cargo.

On 25 November 2018, a 37‐year‐old American woman was charged after allegedly attempting to import 13 kilograms of methylamphetamine into Sydney Airport, concealed in boxes of children’s toys.

She was targeted for a baggage examination by Australian Border Force (ABF) officers after arriving on a flight from San Francisco and charged by Australian Federal Police (AFP) officers.

For the first time since 2011, South Australia’s international student enrolments have exceeded the national growth rate, 11.4 per cent to 11.1 per cent, with the state attracting nearly 30,400 enrolments in the first three months of 2019*.

A breakdown of enrolments saw 63 per cent in the higher education sector, and just over 16 per cent in the Vocational Education and Training (VET) sector. South Australia’s school sector is also on the rise, growing by 1.5 per cent, while at the national level, the school sector’s enrolments declined by 2.1 per cent, giving the state’s school sector a bigger share (11 per cent) of total international school student enrolments in Australia.

Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment, David Ridgway said this trend was fantastic news for the State, bringing with it economic benefits as well as an increase in cultural vibrancy to the city.

2019 Orana Mining, Energy & Transport (MET) Industry Forum

ONLY 8 days until the MET Industry Forum & post networking State of the Region Dinner

Thursday, 13 June 2019

The following information has been sent to Migration Alliance by Megan Dixon from Orana in NSW:

We are pleased to announce we have create a special deal for our upcoming MET Industry Forum DAMA Session with the Department of Home Affairs and post networking State of the Region Dinner with keynote speaker Jonathan Pain. 

With over 340 jobs advertised in the Orana Region in the past month alone, skilled and semi-skilled migration is an essential element of tackling our workforce shortage and one of the many reasons why the DAMA will be a significant advantage to businesses in the region. 

Annual Federal Courts and Tribunals Fee Increases from 1 July 2019

https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/C2019G00482

From 1 July 2019:

1. Application fees in the Migration and Refugee Division increase to $1,787.

A huge number of emails and calls have been received regarding the Migration Agents Capstone exam.

This article about the difficulties associated with the Capstone went live on 27 March 2019, and now has 2,710 hits:

https://migrationalliance.com.au/immigration-daily-news/entry/2019-03-the-capstone-complaint-letter-sent-to-the-minister-and-others.html