Australian Immigration Daily News

As our readers may be aware, the Department of Home Affairs announced an additional step for TSS nominations, requiring employers to utilise an additional platform “jobactive” to satisfy Labour Market Testing component of the nomination application.  Whilst the introduction of this additional requirement was not applied retrospectively, the requirement is applicable to all nominations lodged on or after 1 October 2020.

What is jobactive?

According the to the website (https://jobsearch.gov.au/), the platform allows employers as well as job seekers to digitally connect.  Employers are able to browse through eligible candidates and job seekers are able to view available jobs.  The service is free to both employers as well as job seekers.

Source: Benchmark

Migration Agents should probably be made aware that any organisation producing breaking news in this profession subscribes to the same news-monitoring services as Migration Alliance.  Migration Alliance subscribes to Capital Monitoring by LexisNexis which sends us emails each time a Bill, Amendment or other sort of immigration matter is coming out of Canberra.

It lands in our email inboxes, we copy the information, we save the attachments and we publish it as news on the website.  There is nothing particularly groundbreaking about that.  The only thing it takes is payment for the subscription service, which is a little bit expensive.

Before you pay any organisation a subscription fee for a news service, please keep in mind that all the relevant news is actually available on this website for FREE!  If it is not on this website then it is probably not worth bothering to read, as it is usually going to be extra news for 'news sake'.

The purpose of the instrument is to update the arrangements for making an application for a Protection (Class XA) visa, a Temporary Protection (Class XD) visa or a Safe Haven Enterprise (Class XE) visa.

Specifically, the instrument makes changes so that an application for one of these visas must be made using the internet form specified for that visa, as an internet application (internet application). If an applicant is unable to make an internet application, the instrument specifies that an application may be made using the relevant paper form specified for the visa and by posting it to the Department.

Source: LIN20169.pdf and LIN20169-Explanatory-Statement.pdf

This Bill will amend the Migration Act 1958 to require the Minister to replace the current Maritime Crew Visa with two new categories of Maritime Crew Visas under Schedule 2 of the Migration Regulations 1994.

The two new categories of Maritime Crew Visas will include:

- an International Seafarers Transit Visa for entering Australia on a continuing international voyage only (the purpose of the current Maritime Crew Visa); and
- an International Seafarers Work Visa, which would permit international seafarers to be engaged on ships authorised under a Temporary License to undertake coastal voyages made under the Coastal Trading (Revitalising Australian Shipping) Act 2012.

This Bill requires that foreign maritime crew on 'Flag of Convenience' vessels are subject to appropriate security screening and background checking to a similar standard that is applied to Australians subject to a Maritime Security Identification Card (MSIC).

Source: Maritime-Crew-Visas-Bill-2020.pdf and Maritime-Crew-Visas-Bill-2020-Explanatory.pdf