Australian Immigration Daily News

Many migrants feel there is little government support for them in the first year of their settlement; and, they feel they are not made aware of the challenges of finding work in Australia before their arrival, the study found.

Titled ‘The Experience of Skilled Professional Migrants’ and compiled by migrant and refugee settlement agency AMES Australia, the study surveyed more than 150 skilled migrants on their experiences of coming to Australia.

It found a perception among the group that there are too few orientation programs and little support in the first twelve months of settlement.

Source: Getting-skilled-migrants-into-work.pdf

From November 16, 2019 we will see an introduction of two new regional provisional visas.   Both are intended to lead to permanent residency.

1. Skilled Work Regional 491 Visa

To be rolled out on 16 November, the Subclass 491 Skilled Work Regional (Provisional) visa (Subclass 491), is a new and enhanced points-tested visa to assist regional Australia, for applicants nominated by a state or territory government agency or sponsored by an eligible family member residing in a designated regional area.  This visa will be valid for five years.

The instrument operates to specify all visas that are both substantive and temporary (a substantive temporary visa) as a class of substantive visa.

The purpose of the instrument is to remove the reference to special purpose visas granted to a person on the grounds that they are a member of the crew on a non-military ship, or a spouse, de-facto partner or dependant of a member of the crew.

This reference has been removed as it is now redundant.

If you ever deal with or advise on Protection visas, you should be aware of a decision that was handed down by the Full Court yesterday, Minister for Immigration and Border Protection v CTW17 (2019) FCAFC 156 (5 September 2019).

The issue that was addressed in this case involved whether it is possible to make a valid application from onshore for a Protection visa if a previous application has been refused.

Readers may recall that in 2013, an earlier decision of the Full Court in SZGIZ had effectively opened the door for renewed applications made on complementary protection grounds even if a previous application made on "refugee" grounds had been refused.  

The Department of Home Affairs has announced transitional arrangements for replacing the Subclass 489 with Subclass 491.

10th September 2019 - The last day to issues invitations on the submitted EOIs by any State and Territory Authority.

15th November 2019 - The last day for any invited applicant to lodge their visa. After 15th September 11:59 PM, Subclass 489 will ceases and no further lodgements can be made via the Immi Portal.