Australian Immigration Daily News

Overview of the Disallowable Legislative Instrument

New Zealand citizens who wish to live and work in Australia generally do so on a Subclass 444 (Special Category) visa which allows them to work without restriction and live in Australia indefinitely. However, as it is a temporary visa, it does not provide all of the benefits of permanent residence. The New Zealand stream of the Subclass 189 (Skilled – Independent) visa provides a permanent residence option for New Zealand citizens who have demonstrated commitment to Australia, through long term residence, and who have made and can continue to make, a strong economic contribution to Australia's future.

The Migration Amendment (Subclass 189 visas – New Zealand Stream) Regulations 2022 (the Regulations) amend the Migration Regulations 1994 (the Migration Regulations) to:

- provide significant concessions to the existing visa criteria for on-hand applications for the Subclass 189 (Skilled – Independent) visa in the New Zealand stream; and

- pause new applications for this stream from the commencement of the Amendment Regulations (10 December 2022) until 1 July 2023 to provide time for the Government to consider future arrangements for New Zealand citizens.

In particular, the amendments made by the Amendment Regulations provide that for Subclass 189 (Skilled – Independent) visa applications made in the New Zealand stream by primary applicants, before commencement of these amendments (on-hand applications), those applicants are not required to satisfy the New Zealand stream specific criteria relating to a period of residence in Australia, minimum taxable income and health. In addition, family members of primary applicants who made a Subclass 189 (Skilled – Independent) visa application in the New Zealand stream prior to the commencement of the Amendment Regulations are also not required to satisfy the health criteria. Instead, the only criteria to be met by primary applicants (and their family members) with on-hand applications are the existing common criteria for the Subclass 189 (Skilled – Independent) visa which relate to public interest criteria such as character, security, and certain other matters. 

The purpose of the amendments is to support faster visa processing of these on-hand applications for this cohort of New Zealand citizens (and their family members) who have been living in Australia generally for a significant period of time and continued to work in Australia during the COVID-19 pandemic. The effect of the Amendment Regulations is that the criteria for Subclass 189 (Skilled – Independent) visa applications made in the New Zealand stream will revert to the previous (pre-10 December 2022) settings for new applications made on or after 1 July 2023 unless the Government decides to provide new beneficial arrangements for New Zealand citizens beforehand.

Source: Migration-Amendment-sc189-visas-NZ-stream-Regs-2022.pdf and

Purpose and Operation

Subsection 53A(1) of the Act provides that a registered higher education provider must not confer a regulated higher education award on an individual unless the individual has been assigned a student identifier.

Subsection 53A(3) of the Act provides that the Education Minister may, by legislative instrument, provide exemptions to the requirement in subsection 53A(1).

The Student Identifiers (Higher Education Exemptions) Amendment (Education Minister Exemptions) 2022 (the Instrument) specifies that the requirement in subsection 53A(1) does not apply in relation to certain types of individuals.

The extension of the student identifiers scheme to higher education is intended to provide the ability to track a student through the higher education and vocational education and training systems to provide insight into the pathways individuals take throughout their education and, ultimately, to employment.

Student identifiers have replaced the Commonwealth Higher Education Support Student Number for administering Commonwealth assistance, including the Higher Education Loan Program to which international offshore students are not entitled. These students are required to be exempted from applying for a student identifier under this Instrument as it is currently not possible to provide non-Australian citizens residing outside of Australia with a student identifier, as non-citizens are required to provide an Australian visa as proof of identity.

Source: Student-Identifiers-Higher-Education-Exemptions-Amendment-Education-Minister-Exemptions-2022.pdf 

Today, Liana Allan was in attendance at the Department of Home Affairs Industry Summit on behalf of Migration Alliance.  Our esteemed colleagues Peter Vymys and Bronwyn Markey from the MIA, and David Prince from the NSW Law Society were also in attendance.

The following was presented today.

Overview

On 2 September 2022, the Minister for Home Affairs, the Hon. Clare O’Neil MP, announced a comprehensive review of Australia’s migration system to ensure it better meets existing challenges and sets a clear direction for the coming decades.

The Minister has appointed three eminent persons to guide a review of Australia’s migration system. This review will inform a Strategy: A Migration System for Australia’s Future (the Strategy).

• Dr Martin Parkinson AC PSM

• Dr Joanna Howe

• Mr John Azarias

The Strategy will ensure the migration system serves Australia’s national interests and complements the skills and capabilities of Australian workers.

It will establish the core principles on which Australia’s migration system will rest, and guide future reform. The strategy will focus on enhancing Australia’s productivity.

The eminent persons are scheduled to report to Government in early 2023.

The review is now accepting written submissions (see below). Submission will close on 15 December 2022.

Overview 

The Migration Amendment (New Skilled Regional Visas) Regulations 2019 created the Skilled Work Regional (Provisional) (Subclass 491) and the Skilled Employer Sponsored Regional (Provisional) (Subclass 494) visas which commenced on 16 November 2019.

These two visas provide a period of stay in designated regional areas of Australia of up to five years. The Permanent Residence (Skilled Regional) (Subclass 191) visa was also created at this time. The Subclass 191 visa has two streams - the Regional Provisional stream and the Hong Kong stream.

The Regional Provisional stream of the Subclass 191 visa commences on 16 November 2022 and is the permanent pathway for Skilled Regional Provisional (Subclass 491 and 494) visa holders.

Migration Queensland (MQ) business program suspended as of today 8 November 2022

Migration Queensland’s business nomination program (BIIP) will be temporarily suspended from 8 November 2022, as MQ has fulfilled our interim allocation for business nominations. 

Currently, we are only internally processing nomination applications that have been submitted. 

MQ is now waiting for further clarification from Home Affairs regarding the Queensland BIIP allocation. 

Further updates on any additional allocation will be posted on the Migration Queensland website. 

Please note: the Migration Queensland skilled program remains open.

MQ also has new business accounts for both LinkedIn and Facebook. If you could please ask members to join for the most up-to-date information regarding the MQ business and skilled program, events, investment and settlement information, that would be fantastic.