Australian Immigration Daily News

Greetings from Canberra

Closure of Occupations: Unit Group 2231 HUMAN RESOURCE PROFESSIONALS

Effective tomorrow, 10 September 2016, the following occupations will close as the demand for these occupations has been met:

Is a failure to comply with Schedule 3 criteria necessarily “fatal” to a visa application? 

What about in circumstances where there is no possibility of getting Schedule 3 waived? 

For instance, what about in the case of a “New Zealand Citizen Family Relationship” visa (Subclass 461)? 

On the TOEFL iBT® test, the Speaking and Writing questions are often regarded by test takers as the most challenging questions.

Agents can learn more about how their clients will be tested on these two important skills at a free TOEFL Propell workshop on 20 September from 2:00-4:30 pm in Melbourne (CBD).

The workshop will be led by ETS Global consultant and TOEFL expert Cath Moore. The workshop includes:

Imagine that you are contacted by a potential client who is in immigration detention and asks if you are able to help him. 

Imagine further that the client tells you the following information about his situation: 

He was the holder of a 457 visa.  When he went to the international airport in Sydney to take a flight overseas, he filled in an “outgoing passenger card”.  He responded to a question on the card that asked whether he was taking more than $10,000 out of Australia by answering “No”.  However, a routine search of his baggage by officers of the Australian Border Force revealed that he was in fact carrying more than $24,000. 

Suppose you have a client who has posted material on her/his Facebook page that appears to contradict or be inconsistent with a claim made in the client’s visa application. 

Suppose further that the Tribunal makes a decision in which it relies on what is said in the Facebook page as the reason, or part of the reason, for affirming the refusal of the visa application. 

Does the Tribunal in this circumstance have a “procedural fairness” obligation under either sections 424A and 424AA of the Migration Act (in the case of applications for Protection visas) or otherwise under sections 359A and 359AA in the case of other kinds of visa applications to give the applicant clear particulars of any information on the Facebook page, invite the applicant to comment or respond, and notify the applicant that she/he may seek additional time to do so?