There are now some 60,000 Australian’s anxiously awaiting the immigration department’s approval to bring their spouses in to the country. The wait on average is between 12 and 15 months.

Added to this the government recently increased the visa application charges for spouse visas to almost $7000 with no assurance that it intends to shorten the wait. Instead, Assistant Immigration Minister Michaelia Cash said the fee ¬increases were needed to “repair the budget and fund whole-of-government policy priorities”.

Why target the partner visa? The Australian reports that migration agents it interviewed recently warned that the new government fees are unfair and discriminatory.

The report states that one of the country’s leading demographers says the family migration system is in urgent need of review, with up to 60,000 Australians waiting for departmental approval to bring spouses in to the country. The average length of time for ¬approval is now between 12 and 15 months.

From January 1, the cost for someone wanting to migrate to Australia to marry their partner rose to $4627, up 50 per cent from last year’s fee of $3085.The cost for onshore permanent partner visas has risen from $4575 to $6865. The price increases announced in December’s mid-year budget review will reap $373.6 million for the government’s budget repair mission over the next four years.

A new pilot program for online lodgement of subclass 600 visas for Indian business and tourism visitors is in the process of being rolled out through selected travel agents in India, according to a media release from the office of the Minister for Trade and Investment.

The department of immigration itself has made no announcement on the matter but it is expected that the trial will follow that of the one recently rolled out in China. According to Senator Michaelia Cash, the China trial was “limited to low risk cohorts to ensure programme integrity is maintained”.

DIBP currently has agreements to accept applications for certain classes of visa from overseas agents who are not registered with the Migration Agents Registration Authority.It is unfortunate that registered migration agents actually cannot use these online facilities unless they are part of those agreements.

Indian outbound traveler numbers surge

Although India is said to be one of the world’s fastest growing outbound travel markets, the total tourist arrivals from India to Australia rank 10 compared to arrivals from other countries according to a publication by Tourism Australia . New Zealand, China and the UK take the top three spots.

Proprietors of a Launceston restaurant who setup an elaborate and unconscionable system to defraud the immigration department and underpay a chef over a period of four years have been fined $100,000 by the Federal Court for underpaying wages and creating false wage records.

According to a report on the ABC, the Fair Work Ombudsman had found David and Priscilla Lam, who own Dave's Noodles in Launceston, created false records to pay a staff member for a 38-hour week when he worked 60. It resulted in the Chinese chef being underpaid $86,000 over a four-year period.

The couple convinced the chef, who they sponsored on a 457 working visa, he had to sign the false time and wage sheets for immigration purposes.

The Federal Court fined the pair $100,000 and ordered them to repay the employee.

The couple are also the franchisors of the Dave's Noodles restaurants in Hobart, Burnie, Kingston, Moonah and Mowbray.

When clients based offshore receive an invoice from their migration agent in Australian Dollars, they are often faced with the task of wondering what the most effective way to pay for it is.

Many will use their bank and incur a $50 bank fee for the privilege, others will us their credit card and receive a less than favourable exchange rate, making the invoice more expensive than it has to be.

An ever increasingly popular method is clients using a foreign currency exchange payment specialist to assist with the transaction ensuring;

Graduate engineers from around the world may well have their last chance to apply for a temporary visa to work in Australia this year if the department of immigration proceeds with plans to drop the Skilled Recognised Graduate (sub-class 476) visa from next year.

The visa which allows recent graduates from recognised universities to work in Australia for up to 18 months in order to gain work experience was introduced in 2007 with the aim of easing engineering shortages. It is available to applicants aged below 31 years, with competent English language ability and who have graduated within two years from the date of application from recognised foreign institutions.  

DIBP is expected to scrap this visa as early as next year, according to an internal proposal paper of the department, which was obtained by The Australian Financial Review.

The number of applicants for the visa almost doubled last year to 1100 but DIBP’s paper states that it does not see “an adverse outcome arising” from the possible repeal of the visa.

“The cohort for this visa is very small, with approximately 600 visas granted in 2012-13 and approximately 1100 visas granted in 2013-14,” says the department’s proposal paper.