Australian Immigration Daily News

LIN 21/043 is being made to accompany changes to applications for the WHM visas made to the Regulations by the Home Affairs Legislation Amendment (2021 Measures No. 1) Regulation 2021 (the Amendment Regulations). 6

The Amendment Regulations insert new regulation 1.15P. The purpose of regulation 1.15P is to describe the visas that are COVID-19 affected visas.

A WHM visa is a COVID-19 affected visa if all of the following requirements are met under subregulation 1.15P(1):

 the visa was in force during the travel restrictions resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. This is defined as meaning that the visa was granted before 20 March 2020 and ceased to be in effect on or after that day (paragraphs 1.15P(1)(a) and (b)); and

 the visa expired, or was cancelled at the request of the visa holder, by 31 December 2021, at a time when the visa holder was outside Australia; or the visa, if still in effect, will expire by 31 December 2021 (paragraphs 1.15P(1)(e) and (f)); and

 the holder or former holder of the visa is outside Australia and applies for another WHM visa, between 1 July 2021 and 31 December 2022 (paragraphs 1.15P(1)(c) and (d)).

New subregulation 1.15P(2) provides that the Minister may, by legislative instrument, specify kinds of WHM visas for the purposes of the definition of COVID-19 affected visa in regulation 1.03, which was also a new definition inserted by the Amendment Regulations. 

The Amendment Regulations also relevantly insert new subparagraphs 1224A(2)(a)(i) and 1225(2)(a)(i). The purpose of this instrument is to specify under subparagraphs 1224A(2)(a)(i) and 1225(2)(a)(i) that a nil visa application charge (VAC) will apply to a class of persons who hold or held a WHM visa, as described in subregulation 1.15P(1).

Source: LIN21043.pdf and LIN21043-Explanatory-Statement.pdf