Australian Immigration Daily News

Is it risky to rely on facsimile transmissions as a means of communicating with the AAT? 

You better believe it is! 

Or as my good friend from America, Sarah Palin, former vice presidential candidate and reality TV star, would put it emphatically: “You betcha!!!” 

Is the character test always fatal to a visa application? 

For example, suppose that you have a client who has a “substantial criminal record” within the meaning of section 501(6) of the Migration Act, as a result of having been convicted of an offence and having been sentenced to imprisonment for a period of 12 months, with the sentence suspended for 2 years? 

What if the offence was described as “assault occasioning bodily harm”? 

If your clients are taking the TOEFL iBT^® test for skilled migration or other visas, they need to know what to expect on the test, especially the Writing section. 

What is the Writing section like?

The total time for the Writing section is 50 minutes. Test takers are asked to write responses to 2 writing tasks: the Integrated Writing task and the Independent Writing task.

Can you become an Australian citizen without living in Australia? 

The question is not as “silly” as it sounds! 

Section 21(2) of the Australian Citizenship Act 2007 specifies that persons who are seeking to become Australian citizens “by conferral” must satisfy the “general residence requirement” of section 22. 

A hung Parliament means that it is unlikely that Carer visas and the Aged Parent visa will be culled for the time being.

It is also unlikely that the Labor drive to crush the 457 visa will have any momentum.

The downside will be that urgent reform and simplification of the statutory scheme will likely be stalled.