Australia's Working Holiday Maker visa program which grew by close to 16% last year with the grant of over 258,000 visas, is set to grow more in the coming years with the addition of several new countries over the last year.

Portugal has now become the latest signatory to Australia’s Work and Holiday visa program. On 25 September 2014, Australia and Portugal announced that a new Work and Holiday arrangement for youth mobility was signed, establishing a reciprocal Work and Holiday visa (subclass 462) arrangement between our two countries.

This arrangement, when brought into effect, will allow up to 200 young adults from Portugal and up to 200 young adults from Australia to enjoy a holiday in each other's country, during which they may undertake short term work and study.

DIBP’s states says that in the coming months, Australia and Portugal will work closely together to implement the necessary legal and administrative processes to bring this visa into effect. The work and holiday arrangement will not commence until a start date has been agreed by both countries.

When a commencement date has been announced, eligible young adults from Portugal and Australia will be able to apply for this visa.

The Immigration Minister Scott Morrison has introduced a new type of visa to parliament today named the “Safe Haven Enterprise Visa” which will be a visa of a temporary nature will offer similar support as that offered by the Temporary Protection Visas which will be reintroduced six years after they were abolished by the Rudd Government This Bill will also create the Immigration Assessment Authority which would have the purpose of fast tracking and processing the backlog of over 30, 000 current asylum seeker applications leftover from the previous Government.

Titled the Migration and Maritimes Powers Legislation Amendment (resolving the asylum legacy caseload) Bill 2014, the Bill itself amends the Migration Act 1958, the Migration Regulations 1994, the Maritime Powers Act 2013, the Immigration (Guardianship of Children) Act 1946 and the Administrative Decisions (Judicial Review) Act 1977 with the goal being in  order to support and implement the current Government’s strategies for combatting people smuggling as well as implementing policies which will greatly assist in managing asylum seekers both onshore and offshore.

The Bill introduces some key changes to the current approach adopted by Australia in regards to people smuggling and the managing of claims for asylum, namely;

The Federal Court recently ruled that the Administrative Appeals Tribunal failed to observe procedural fairness “by relying on other materials in its decision without giving notice of those materials to the appellant”.

Accordingly the the court allowed the appeal and ordered that the matter be remitted back to the AAT. In the matter a man who was convicted of manslaughter had his visa cancelled by DIBP on character grounds with the AAT subsequently confirming DIBPs decision.

In considering the appeal, the Court rejected an argument by DIBP that it was futile to remit the matter to the AAT because it was likely that the tribunal would arrive at the same decision.

Fijian national Amitesh Jagroop, 32, killed his wife, Nileshni Singh, on the night of her 19th birthday in June 2006 following a heated argument during which he pushed her causing her to fall and hit her head. Jagroop then chose not to call for help, but instead dragged her down an embankment where he left her to die.

Jagroop pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the Supreme Court and was jailed for 10 years but reduced on appeal. He was released on parole in 2011 and his visa was cancelled last year. But he has been fighting for more than 18 months to appeal the decision. This week a full bench of the Federal Court ordered the matter return to the Administrative Appeal Tribunal for rehearing.

Migration Alliance this week held its fifth SIV Masterclass in partnership with NAB in Perth, where along with Deloitte, Bruno Delfante, Manager Business Migration Centre, was keynote speaker.

Delfante shared with the audience of around twenty local migration agents, that they had relaxed their view in relation to the SIV Complying investment portfolios. The requirement that 75% must at the outset have direct economic benefit to WA has been restrictive, and their focus is much more on the long term view of how the applicant intends to contribute to the WA economy over the term of the temporary VISA and beyond. Essentially the WA government is interested in understanding the applicant’s broader financial position and future plans for investment, including business opportunities and buying a home in WA.

Of the 53 WA nominated state applications so far, 17 have been granted visa approval. Initial applications listed state government bonds as the preference, however by approval stage with time to appreciate Australia’s investment environment, most have implemented managed funds and other investments.  All have made additional investments outside SIV with the lowest overall amount in excess of $12.5 million.

The following is the official press release from the Office of the Senator Sarah Hanson-Young, which has been sent to Migration Alliance:

The successful passage of a Greens’ disallowance motion has overturned the government’s attempts to scrap a range of essential, affordable family and carer visas.

“The Senate has voted to keep families living together and looking after each other in Australia,” the Greens’ immigration spokesperson, Senator Sarah Hanson-Young said.