Australian Immigration Daily News

We’ve all read and thought (fleetingly) about them, but few of us have actually assisted with one; Labour Agreements. 

What are these things anyway? 

Put simply, Labour Agreements allow concessions to normal requirements for business sponsors, most commonly for off-list (or non-existent in ANZSCO) occupations, but sometimes for English, skills, salary, and potentially other requirements. 

The purpose of the instrument is to specify an additional approved form, place and manner for Distinguished Talent (Migrant) (Class AL) visa and Distinguished Talent (Residence) (Class BX) visa (Distinguished Talent visa) applicants.

A Distinguished Talent visa applicant may make their application using Form 47DT (Internet) as an internet application.

This is in addition to the ability of Distinguished Talent visa applicants to make their application using Form 47SV by post, courier or using the Global Talent contact form available at the following address: https://immi.homeaffairs.com.au/global-talent-contact-form. Distinguished Talent visa applicants will therefore have more options in which to lodge an application for a visa, providing an additional benefit to these applicants.

In the interest of test takers and in support of public health initiatives related to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), ETS and the Chinese National Education Examinations Authority (NEEA) have cancelled all TOEFL® tests in Mainland China through the end of March. Students whose tests were cancelled will have their fee refunded, and they will be able to select a new test date without paying a reschedule fee.

ETS will continue to provide all affected test takers with a free, full-length TOEFL® Practice Online (TPO) test. Test takers who were scheduled in March have received a voucher code in their test registration account, which can be redeemed on the TPO website.

Test administrations in Hong Kong are scheduled to resume on February 29, 2020. Test administrations in all other locations are taking place as scheduled.

Under these changes, WHMs will be able to be count paid or volunteer work on bushfire recovery efforts in a declared disaster area as 'specified work' towards eligibility for a second or third WHM visa.

This will include recovery work currently being undertaken by WHMs in these areas. The Department’s website will be updated with further details when the changes are in place.

In addition, Working Holiday Makers (subclass 417 and subclass 462 visa holders) assisting bushfire recovery efforts can now do paid or unpaid work for up to 12 months with the same employer or organisation without requesting permission from the Department.

Time; it’s something we could all do with a little bit more of, especially when you run your own migration business. One of the biggest skills you gain as a small business owner is the ability to wear many hats at once.

One minute you are using your expertise as a Registered Migration Agent to secure your clients a visa, the next you might be creating a marketing strategy for your business, handling payroll, balancing your books or even coaching your employees.

And as a registered Migration agent there’s no room for error. Clients depend on you to help them with major life events and decisions, and its up to you to deliver. So, it makes sense to use apps and programs that will help you stay organized, keep track of tasks, and reduce the possibility of error across your business. Apps can streamline the process of booking client appointments and taking payments. They allow you to share and store documents across your business, create to-do lists, delegate tasks, communicate with employees and clients, and more.