Australian Immigration Daily News

• Macro Business and Hello Care report on the Australian government’s proposal to offer ‘boutique’ visas to the country’s regions to boost skills shortages.
• The Daily Mail reports Australia has moved up one position in the 2018 Henley Passport Index to rank on the sixth tier of the world's best passports.

No relevant coverage today.

Rising immigration and greater amounts of overseas travel have transformed the food and beverage industry over the past two decades, sparking strong growth in the variety of dining options available in Australia.

These factors have resulted in a higher prevalence of Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) migrant workers employed within the industry. Over 36% of workers employed in the food and beverage services industry were born outside of Australia, compared with 30.4% of employees generally. Of those born overseas, a large proportion were born in Southern Asia - 6.2% compared with 4.3% for employment
as a whole.

Due to cultural and language barriers, migrant workers often fall into the vulnerable worker category. This is particularly the case in the food and beverage industry, where in the 2016-17 financial year FWO has seen 31.6% of completed disputes from visa holders; notably higher than the 18% for all FWO completed disputes in same year.

• ·         SBS’s Marija Zivic reports Australian regions with niche skills shortages are being earmarked for ‘boutique’ visa deals offered by the Turnbull government. Minister for Citizenship Alan Tudge said he wants to do deals based on geographical location. Northern Queensland and the Goldfields in Western Australia’s southeast are two regions most likely to benefit.
• ·         The Australian’s Simon Buckingham-Jones reports Canadian alt-right activist Lauren Southern has been granted a visa to visit Australia ahead of her speaking tour later this month. A spokeswoman for the Department of Home Affairs previously said people with controversial views are vetted.
• ·         Starts at 60 reports Australian entrepreneur Dick Smith has slammed the Australian Government’s immigration policies as the country approaches a population of 25 million. Speaking on 2GB yesterday morning, Smith said the last thing the country needs is more people.

Exclusive: Special visas offered to regions with skill shortages

Processing times for subclass 457 as well as its successor, the TSS (482) visa continue to rise.  The average processing time for subclass 457 visa is 5 to 9 months whereas subclass 482 visas are taking 2 to 4 months.  The average wait time to speak with member of staff at the Department of Immigration is 1 hour.  This is clearly a result of the ever-changing legislative criteria, complex visa assessment process, less resource availability to process the visas and collective case management system whereby it is not possible for an applicant to contact the case officer in relation to a specific application. The only method of communication that remains available is via the generic drop box covering entire sponsored visa programme.  The Department has an ongoing policy to avoid providing updates in relation to cases which are within the standard processing times for obvious reasons.  However, this policy appears to impact cases where there is a genuine need to contact the Department, for example, in situations where a request for further information is issued erroneously and must therefore be dealt with swiftly. 

Whilst there appears to be no immediate solution to the lengthy processing times for subclass 457/482 visas, employers wishing to sponsor expatriate employees may wish to consider becoming an accredited sponsor and gain access to a number of assessment concessions as well as significantly reduced processing times. The sponsorship accreditation criteria expended, meaning that more businesses can access the accreditation framework.  

There are currently four categories of accreditation framework available:

• The Australian’s Sam Buckingham-Jones reports alt-right Canadian activist Lauren Southern, whose visa was rejected ahead of a planned speaking tour in Australia, applied for the wrong visa and is now waiting on approval for the correct one. A spokeswoman for the Department of Home Affairs today said her application being refused had nothing to do with her views.
• Seedstock Central reports dairy businesses are losing up to $364 million each year in employee turnover, with advocacy group Australian Dairy Farmers warning the problem will get worse unless the Federal Government acts. Australian Dairy Farmers, in a submission to the Department of Jobs and Small Business review of the Skilled Migration Occupation Lists, called on the federal Government to overhaul its skilled migration program to reflect workforce needs.

Lauren Southern applied for wrong visa, immigration officials say