Australian Immigration Daily News

Purpose

4. The purpose of the instrument is to update the approved form, place and manner ('the arrangements') requirements for making an application for a Visitor (Class FA) visa (Class FA visa). The Subclass 600 (Visitor) visa (subclass 600) is the only subclass for the Class FA visa and has five streams: the Tourist stream, the Sponsored Family stream, the Business Visitor stream, the Approved Destination Status stream and the Frequent Traveller stream. The instrument specifies the arrangements for making a visa application for each stream.

5. Item 1236 of Schedule 1 to the Regulations prescribes the requirements that an applicant for a Class FA visa must meet to make a valid visa application. Some of these requirements need to be specified in a legislative instrument, relevantly:

- the approved form, place and manner for making an application in each stream, as specified in an instrument made under subregulation 2.07(5) of the Regulations (see subitems 1236(1), 1236(3), 1236(4), 1236(5), 1236(6) and 1236(6A));

- the travel agents that organise tours that applicants for the Approved Destination Status stream must be intending to travel to Australia as a member of (see item 3 of the table in subitem 1236(6) of Schedule 1);

- the place applicants for the Frequent Traveller stream must be located when they make a visa application (see paragraph 2(b) of the table in subitem 1236(6A) of Schedule 1 to the Regulations); and

- the kind of passport applicants for the Frequent Traveller stream must hold when they make a visa application (see item 3 of the table in subitem 1236(6A) of Schedule 1 to the Regulations).

6. The instrument provides that applications for all streams must be made using an internet form and as an internet application through ImmiAccount. This is part of the Department’s and the whole-ofgovernment strategic transition to online processes. An application through ImmiAccount for a visa in any stream must indicate what stream is being applied for. Applications for the Tourist, Sponsored Family, Business Visitor and Frequent Traveller streams will indicate which stream is being applied for within form 1419 (Internet) in ImmiAccount. Applications for the Approved Destination Status stream will indicate that stream is being applied for by using form 48G (Internet) in ImmiAccount.

7. As applications must identify what visa stream is being applied for when making an application through ImmiAccount, an application is taken only to be made for the stream they have identified. Similarly, for applications made outside of ImmiAccount applicants must use the specified form for the stream. An application will only be assessed against the criteria for the stream an applicant has indicated they have applied for through ImmiAccount or based on the non-internet form used.

8. The instrument provides alternative arrangements for making an application in the Tourist stream (outside Australia) and Business Visitor stream. An applicant who has received a written notice from the Department may make an application using a different form and manner. Applicants for Tourist stream (in Australia) are also able to make an application using a non-internet form outside of ImmiAccount.

9. The instrument removes differentiations in LIN 20/046 for how to make an application based on the passport an applicant holds for the Tourist, Sponsored Family and Business Visitor streams. This is because the arrangements have been streamlined and simplified.

10. The instrument also removes the arrangements in place under LIN 20/046 for former subclass 600 visa holders whose travel to Australia was affected by COVID-19. The arrangements were in place for former subclass 600 visa holders whose visas were cancelled due to COVID-19 and must have been made within 3 months of the visa cancellation. Given that timeframe has elapsed there are no former subclass 600 visa holders who would benefit from the arrangements.

Source: LIN21056.pdf and LIN21056-Explanatory-Statement.pdf

The following email has been received from the Office of the MARA:

Please see the below information regarding an upcoming outage today that will impact the payment functionality within ImmiAccount. 

ImmiAccount payment functionality unavailable:

The following email was received from the South Australian government today.

To manage South Australia’s COVID recovery response, an additional 70 occupations will be open to applicants currently residing offshore from Tuesday 28 September 2021.

The minimum requirements for state nomination include at least 8 years work experience in the occupation or closely related occupation and a proficient plus English level. Full requirements for each occupation will be shown on South Australia’s Skilled Occupation List from 10am, ACST, Tuesday 28 September 2021.

For South Australian state nomination, prospective applicants must meet the Department of Home Affairs requirements, state-specific occupation requirements and have skills in an occupation that is available on our Skilled Occupation List. Offshore applicants meeting the minimum published requirements can lodge a Registration of Interest (RoI) from 10am, ACST, Tuesday 28 September 2021.

Full details of South Australia’s state nomination requirements can be viewed here.

Please note that state nomination is a competitive process.  There is no guarantee of receiving an invitation to apply for state nomination after lodging an RoI, even if the minimum requirements are satisfied. South Australia cannot indicate the likelihood of invitation or answer enquiries on this matter.

Thank you for your continued interest in South Australia’s Skilled Migration Program and please ensure you are subscribed to the NEWS section of our website to keep up to date with new announcements.

The updated Form 956 is now live

https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/form-listing/forms/956.pdf

https://www.abf.gov.au/form-listing/forms/956.pdf

The Migration (Specified courses and exams for registration as a migration agent (Capstone provider) Amendment Instrument (LIN 21/044) 2021 (the Instrument) is made under subregulation 5(4) of the Migration Agents Regulations 1998 (the Regulations).

The instrument amends Migration (IMMI 18/003: Specified courses and exams for registration as a migration agent) Instrument 2018 (IMMI 18/003), to update the exams an applicant can take to register as a migration agent. IMMI 18/003 specifies courses and exams for registration as a migration agent for the purposes of the Regulations. This includes specifying a provider for the Capstone Assessment (Capstone).

The instrument provides that beginning 1 January 2021, the new and sole provider of the Capstone is Legal Training Australia, as determined by the procurement process undertaken by the Office of the Migration Agents Registration Authority (the OMARA).

The Department undertook a procurement process to determine the Capstone provider, which involved publishing an open Request for Proposal on the AusTender website for anyone in the market to apply for. The Office of Best Practice Regulation was also consulted and considered that the instrument dealt with matters of a ‘minor nature’ and that ‘no regulatory impact statement was required’.

Whilst The College of Law Limited ceased being the Capstone provider on 31 December 2020, applicants will continue to be able to rely on the assessment delivered by The College of Law for registration as a migration agent until 31 December 2021. This will ensure that applicants who passed the exam before 1 January 2021 are still able to use their exam results to register with the OMARA, as the exam results are valid for 12 months as per subsection 9(1) of the IMMI 18/003. Consequently, there will be no adverse impact on applicants who have previously received an assessment delivered by The College of Law.

The instrument also amends IMMI 18/003 to remove references to the common assessment items (the CAIs) as the CAIs were specified to be a prescribed examination only if passed before 1 January 2018. CAIs were only valid for 12 months, and as such, are no longer current. The CAIs were assessment items that formed part of the Graduate Certificate in Australian Migration Law and Practice. Recommendation 16 of the 2014 Independent Review of the Office of the Migration Agents Registration Authority (the Kendall Review) recommended a stand-alone Capstone de-linked from the prescribed university courses or any of the universities offering it. The Government supported this recommendation, and the Capstone became the prescribed examination in 2018.

Source: LIN21044.pdf and LIN21044-Explanatory-Statement.pdf