Australian Immigration Daily News

Overview of the Disallowable Legislative Instrument

The purpose of the Migration Amendment (Visa Application Charges) Regulations 2022 (the Regulations) is to amend the Migration Regulations 1994 (the Migration Regulations) to make changes to VACs for certain visas to implement the Government’s policy of indexing VACs.

The Regulations amend the Migration Regulations to increase VACs for a number of visas by the forecast consumer price index (CPI). From 2017-18, annual indexation of the VACs has been in accordance with the forecast CPI published annually in the Budget papers.

In effect, this means that the affected VACs are increased from their 2021-22 baseline amounts by the 2022-23 forecast CPI of 3.00 per cent, which is published in the 2022-23 Budget Paper No.1. The indexed amount of VAC is also rounded to the nearest $5. It is intended that these indexation amendments will continue to be made on an annual basis.

Source: Migration-Amendment-Visa-Application-Charges-Regulations-2022.pdf and

Migration-Amendment-Visa-Application-Charges-Regulations-2022-EXPLANATORY-STATEMENT.pdf

Overview

The Legislative Instrument removes redundant provisions from the Australian Citizenship Regulation 2016 (the Regulation) for the payment of citizenship application fees in foreign countries and in foreign currencies.

This aligns the Regulation with the current practice, which is that applications for citizenship are made online or by post and paid for in Australian dollars (AUD) using credit cards or other electronic payment systems. The amendment also removes the need to update the Regulation every six months to reflect foreign currency fluctuations and acceptable foreign currencies.

Source: Home-Affairs-Legislation-Amendment--2022-measures-No-1-Regulations-2022.pdf

The Amendment Regulations amend the Migration Regulations to help fill critical labour and skills gaps by temporarily removing certain requirements for applicants for the Subclass 485 visa in the Graduate Work stream.

Presently, applicants for the Graduate Work stream need to:

- nominate an occupation on the Medium and Long-term Strategic Skills List;

- have a degree, diploma or trade qualification closely related to that occupation; and

- be assessed by a relevant assessing authority as having skills suitable for that occupation.

Removing these requirements will encourage more international vocational education and training (VET) graduates to stay and work in Australia for a longer period. It will also open up the visa stream to a broader range of graduates with diploma and trade qualifications that are not closely related to occupations on the skilled occupation list.

These requirements will be removed for all applications lodged during the 2022-23 financial year. The duration of the concession may however be extended, by legislative instrument, should current labour shortages not be ameliorated after this period.

Source: Migration-Amendment-Occupation-Nomination-and-Skills-Assessment-for-Sc-485-visas-Regs-2022.pdf

and 

The Australian Border Force (ABF) confirms a male detainee has passed away at Yongah Hill Immigration Detention Centre, Western Australia. We express our condolences to the man's family and friends.

The ABF's priority is the health and safety of all detainees and staff. The matter has been referred for investigation to the appropriate agencies. As this matter will be subject to ongoing investigation, it would not be appropriate to comment further.

Source: Death-of-detainee-at-Yongah-Hill-Immigration-Detention-Centre.pdf

The instrument repeals Migration (Payment of visa application charges and fees in foreign currencies) Instrument (LIN 22/001) 2022 (LIN 22/001) (F2022L01829) in accordance with subsection 33(3) of the Acts Interpretation Act 1901 (the Acts Interpretation Act).

That subsection provides that a power to make a legislative instrument includes a power to amend or repeal that instrument in the same manner, and subject to the same conditions, as the power to make the instrument.

LIN22003.pdf and LIN22003-Explanatory-Statement.pdf