Australian Immigration Daily News

The following newsletter for November 2018 has been released by Lewis and Bollard, and makes excellent reading. 

Migration_Newsletter_702.01.pdf

From 17 November 2018 the Department of Home Affairs, will offer current Subclass 405 (Investor Retirement) as well as Subclass 410 (Retirement) visa holders ability to transition to permanent residence.

Briefly, subclass 405/410 visas are aimed at self-funded retirees who have no dependents and want to live in Australia during their retirement years.  These visas enable the applicants who are 55 years or older or with a set income of AUD$65,000 per year (or AUD$50,000 per year to live in a regional area) or a set investment to reside in Australia on a temporary basis.  However, both visa categories are now closed to new applicants.  The new Regulations target retirees who, at the time this change was announced in the Federal Budget on 8 May 2018, held a Subclass 405 (Investor Retirement) visa or a Subclass 410 (Retirement) visa, or who did not hold a substantive visa on that date and the last substantive visa held was one of those visas. In addition, the retiree must not have held a substantive visa, other than one of those visas, since 8 May 2018.

The new legislative instrument establishes a pathway to permanently regularise the status of ageing and increasingly vulnerable long-term temporary residents, holders of Retirement (subclass 410) and Investor Retirement (subclass 405) visas (Retirees), by providing them with a pathway to obtain a permanent visa.  By way of background, the Retirement visa was introduced more than 35 years ago to encourage self-supporting Retirees to bring overseas funds into the Australian economy and spend time in Australia as temporary residents at no cost to Australia’s social and welfare system.

The Australian Border Force (ABF) has shut down an elaborate contrived marriages syndicate operating out of Sydney.

A 32-year-old Indian national faced court on 30 October over his alleged role as the main facilitator.

A further four Australian citizens have also been charged for allegedly convincing individuals to fraudulently marry non-citizens seeking to obtain permanent residency.

Subregulation 2.07(5) - Migration Regulations 1994

The purpose of the instrument is to increase the eligible age range for Canadian and Irish applicants for the Subclass 417 (Working Holiday) visa, from an upper age limit of 30 to 35.

Source:

Subsection 140GBA(2) - Migration Act 1958

The purpose of the instrument is to give domestic effect to Australia’s obligations under international trade agreements, to which it is a party, for the purposes of labour market testing.

The instrument differs from the previous instrument IMMI 17/109 as it includes the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP-11).