10 point Migration CPD blitz in London Sunday on the 15th June 2014

AUD$198.00 for Migration Alliance Members
The Down Under Centre
48 Haven Green, Ealing Broadway, London, W5 2NX

9:30AM - 11:00AM
Temporary Business Sponsorship - SM2

11:15AM - 12:45AM
Employer Nomination Scheme - SM1

1:00PM - 2:30PM
Partner Visas - SM3

2:30PM - 3:00PM
Lunch break

3:00PM - 4:30PM
Skill Select and the Business Innovation Visa - SM31

4:30PM - 6:00PM
Skill Select and the EOI - SM32

Guest Speaker:  Phil Smith from the Australian Government Approved RTO, Australian Construction Training Services (ACTS).

Other guest speakers TBC.

SECOND 5 MIGRATION CPD:
The final 5 subjects are done online at LTA through online learning (private study).  Online CPD are usually priced at $55.00 per point but for agents booking into this event, the 5 online CPD are free.  These are not transferrable and not redeemable under any other offer.

Please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for instructions as soon as you have registered to attend the event.

With expensive university fees and a loss of interest in VET colleges since the removal of the likes of hairdressers and cooks from the skills occupation list, students are starting to turn to cheaper ELICOS colleges as a stepping stone into Australia. Perhaps, the high English language threshold required for immigration into Australia is also fuelling the rise of the ELICOS student visa.

Last year, there were 147,828 students in Australia studying English Language Intensive Courses for Overseas Students or ELICOS, according to a report by Australian Education International (AEI), which is based on survey findings of peak body English Australia (EA).

The EA survey showed that overall ELICOS enrolments in 2013 grew by 19% to 147,828 students from 124,603 in 2012. The figures show that there has been trend over the last three years for  ELICOS students to move away from tourist visas and into student visas. According to EA, last year, some 62 per cent were on student visas, 19 per cent on tourist visas and 15 per cent on working holiday visas.

Victoria is the preferred place for ELICOS students. In 2013, all states showed growth in ELICOS students. Victoria had the strongest growth with 38% followed by Queensland (27%) and Western Australia (21%). South Australia grew by 7% and NSW by 6%.

The ELICOS sector continues to draw its largest numbers of students from the Asia Pacific (64%, a slight increase from 63% in 2012). Students from China were the largest cohort and accounted for 17% of all ELICOS students in 2013. The remaining top ten student nationalities in order were: Japan, South Korea, Brazil, Thailand, Colombia, Taiwan, Vietnam, Italy and Saudi Arabia. All of the top ten countries showed growth in 2013.

I will be spending a lot more of my time on the DIBP Facebook page now, mainly advising the public about the existence of the Office of the MARA and the use of Registered Migration Agents.  

The DIBP provide generic and quite frankly, very poor advice and assistance to the general public via the Facebook page.  I believe the public deserve to know about the existence of RMAs and also the existence of the Office of the MARA.  If the Office of the MARA aren't on there promoting themselves then MA will do it for them, which in turn benefits and promotes the great work we do.

The DIBP Facebook page is where a lot of the latest news and advice to the public is being released.  If Registered Migration Agents have not been to the DIBP Facebook page then I invite you to please go and have a look: https://www.facebook.com/DIBPAustralia

The Coalition Government is set to change regulations to allow pipe construction vessels to use workers on maritime crew visas - so companies will not need to staff a ship with Australians.

Assistant Immigration Minister Michaelia Cash has conceded today the coalition may not be able to repeal the Migration Amendment (Offshore Resources Activity) Act 2013 (or the 'ORA Act') which was pushed through in the dying days of the Labor government that demanded employers on offshore pipe-laying vessels seek to employ Australian workers first.

Instead, the government will try to change the regulations to allow the less onerous martime crew visa to be used for such work.

"I want to see visa service delivery that meets the needs of employers without overburdening them with red tape, while ensuring that migration delivers social and economic strength, prosperity and unity," said Senator Cash to the Western Australian newspaper.

In 2012, the Federal Court ruled that foreign workers on pipe-laying vessels working on the the multibillion-dollar Gorgon gas project were outside the migration zone and did not need Australian work visas. The decision angered the powerful Maritime Union of Australia and last year the Gillard government introduced laws to recognise that anyone taking part in an offshore resources activity needed a visa.

DIBP statistics reported in the Australian indicate that half of Australia’s migrant workers are recruited onshore, with one in every 20 backpackers last year receiving a 457 visa to stay working here for four more years. Unions say that unemployed Australians are being by-passed and have demanded for the expansion of labour market testing.

CFMEU national secretary Michael O’Connor said that employers should be forced to advertise all jobs on job-search websites or in newspapers before hiring migrant workers. “Backpackers are being engaged in the construction industry on semi-skilled labouring work where there would be many ideal candidates locally to do the work,’’ he said.

However, the Master Builders Association said companies preferred local workers, who were much easier to hire. “All labour market testing does is delay the process,’’ MBA spokesman Ben Carter said yesterday. “No building contractor has any incentive to employ foreign labour.’’

Figures released by Scott Morrison at the Transport and Tourism Forum in Canberra earlier this year indicate that on average, each Working Holiday Maker spends A$13,218 during their stay in Australia. Approximately 71 per cent of this expenditure occurs in the three interrelated areas of tourism, accommodation and transportation.

The Minister noted that Working Holiday Makers generally tend to spend more than they earn, making a small but important contribution to the creation of Australian jobs. For every 100 Working Holiday Makers who arrive in Australia there is a net gain to the Australian economy of 6.3 full time jobs. This means that the 258,000 Working Holiday arrivals in the last financial year generated more than 16,000 additional Australian jobs.