Australian Immigration Daily News

Professional Indemnity (PI) insurance is no doubt one of the most vital forms of cover for Migration Agents. If things don’t quite go to plan it can provide much needed financial assistance for legal and compensation costs in the event of action taken against you in the course of your business.   

Like all insurance policies however, there are several important conditions and obligations under PI policies that Migration Agents need to be aware of to ensure your policy provides the cover you’re expecting, so that you won’t be left high and dry when you come face-to-face with the unexpected.

PI insurance contracts are issued on a ‘claims made and notified’ basis, which means the policy responds to claims first made against the insured during the policy period, and notified to the insurer during the policy period. In short, for a claim to be covered your policy must have been in place at the time the allegation was made against you, and when the claim is lodged.

So you are heading to the land down under, Australia! As an International Student, Skilled Worker or a Visa applicant there are loads of decisions you need to make to get setup before you even leave.

This can be a bit of a stressful time researching different products and services, trying to understand who is the best and who can you trust.

With all this in mind, more and more students and international workers are choosing Vasco Pay. That’s because we designed our products and services just for you. We know setting up a bank account can be a slow and daunting process, so we have made life easy for you. You can sign up online to join Vasco Pay in under 3 minutes to register your account.

For people who could not make the Department of Immigration and Border Protection's (DIBP) 'hot issues' road show in Sydney on the 8 June, the topics covered were 457 visas and Citizenship.

The Office of the Migration Agents Registration Authority has provided the following presentations via its website:

457 PRESENTATION

Administrative Appeals Tribunal - Migration & Refugee Division fee increase from 1 July 2017 for review of a migration or refugee decision

From 1 July 2017, the fee will increase to $1,731 for all new applications for a review of a migration or refugee decision by the Migration & Refugee Division where a fee is payable.

The fee payable after an unfavourable review decision is made by the Migration & Refugee Division in relation to a protection visa will also be $1,731.

At AusSkill, we are committed in assisting you and your clients to fulfil the training benchmark requirements.

With the new changes being made to the 457 visa, we can anticipate a much stricter criteria and requirements.

As such, we strongly advise migration agents and lawyers to draw attention to their clients to fulfil their Training Benchmark requirements in anticipation of the upcoming changes.