Australian Immigration Daily News

Alarming new statistics relating to processing times for Subclass 189 – Skilled Independent Visas which were recently published by Home Affairs state that 90% of cases take 22 months to finalise (no, this is not a typo).

Migration Alliance received a number of emails expressing concerns over these processing times.  For those who may not be aware, Skill Select process was introduced on 1 July 2012 and was largely a product of prior failed GSM system where due to the large volume of applications lodged with the Department, it became impossible to process these applications. 

Anyone remembers the infamous email sent to GSM applicants asking if they would like to withdraw their GSM application?

The NSW State Government updated its Subclass 190 Priority Skilled occupations list yesterday:

Demand ranges from Limited, Low and Medium:

https://www.industry.nsw.gov.au/live-and-work-in-nsw/visas-and-immigration/nsw-skilled-occupations-list/nsw-190-priority-skilled-occupation-list

Have you ever had occasion to have a case involving visa cancellation on character grounds?

This might seem to be a "niche" aspect of Australian migration practice - after all, isn't the preparation of visa applications of various kinds the "bread and butter" of most RMAs' day-to-day work?

But if you have a look on Austlii at the decisions coming our of the AAT and the Federal Courts, you will see that visa cancellations on character grounds are quite common place, and that while RMAs have been busy working on visa applications, the Department and the Minister have their own "cottage industry" involving visa cancellations.

Source: https://benchmarkinc.com.au/web/