Australian Immigration Daily News

As the COVID-19 restrictions ease, the question arises at to when it will be possible for international travellers to come to Australia.  Whilst international travel in general still some time away, recent announcement by the Prime Minister Scott Morrison suggests that international students may be able to travel to Australia as early as July. 

Roadmap to a Covid Safe Australia (https://www.pm.gov.au/sites/default/files/files/covid-safe-australia-roadmap.pdf) reveals that trans- Tasman, Pacific and international student travel should be included as part of the last stage of lifting Australia out of the lockdown. However, the implementation is to take place as early as July this year.

Australia has long been one of the top ranking countries in the world when it comes to the lucrative education sector, where learners come to study and stay temporarily to achieve an internationally recognised qualification.

With COVID-19 pandemic still sweeping much for the world, options for individuals to remain in Australia became more limited (yes, even more limited than they were prior to the pandemic).

With 90 visa subclasses to choose from, one would think that there is a solution to every scenario.  The reality however is quite contrary.  Take example of a student visa applicant, if they want to lodge another student visa in Australia and this is their second onshore application, they will be faced with an additional levy known as STAC or Secondary Temporary Application Charge.  Using the same example, an individual wanting to apply for a student visa whilst holding a Bridging Visa, cannot do so whilst in Australia unless they meet Schedule III criteria (in simple words, they are not a holder of a substantive visa and therefore they cannot lodge another student visa in Australia unless compelling or compassionate grounds exist).

We then move on the secondary issue which are the conditions that many temporary visa holders will have attached to their visa.  This means that there are certain things that they can and cannot do as a holder of that visa.

The Federal Court, through senior officers of the Court, became aware in late March 2020 that the names of some litigants who had commenced protection visa proceedings in the Federal Court and the Federal Circuit Court could be accessed on the Commonwealth Courts Portal through Federal Law Search. Those web-based services are managed under the Federal Court of Australia Act 1976.

The access that could be obtained to the names of some litigants was or could be, if obtained, publication contrary to the Migration Act s 91X. That provision provides that a federal court must not publish (in electronic form or otherwise) the name of a person in a proceeding relating either to their application for a protection visa or related bridging visa, or to the cancellation of such a visa. This state of affairs is referred to in these terms of reference as a ‘data breach’ or ‘the data breach’.

Source: S91X.pdf

Source: https://benchmarkinc.com.au/web/

It was inevitable that COVID-19 would have a rippling effect on Australian Immigration.  With most of the workforce moving to a digital age (or working from home), or worse, being stood down or terminated, this leaves a question as to whether there is any room for Skilled Migration amidst the crisis.

Claims from various sources predict that migration numbers will fall sharply over the coming 12 months and that migration to Australia would have a bleak outlook.  Whilst there are certain merits to such claims (for example, the fact that the migration intake is being reduced) majority of States and Territories are still open for business. 

Why?