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Australian Immigration Daily News

Breaking Australian immigration news brought to you by Migration Alliance and associated bloggers. Please email help@migrationalliance.com.au

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Posted by on in General

More than 207,900 migrants settled permanently in Australia in 2013–14 according to latest statistics from the department of immigration. Indian migrants to Australia have surged to record numbers with Indian citizens now beating the once-dominant British expats.

The substantial growth in overseas-born residents is changing Australia’s ethnic composition. In the past 17 years the number of China-born Australian residents has more than tripled to 427,590 people. This rate of growth was surpassed by India-born residents, which increased more than four-fold to 369,680 people over the same period while Australian residents born in the United Kingdom increased by only 5.0 per cent.

Australia’s Migration Trends 2013–14 report released last week indicated that India remained the main source country for migrants with almost 40,000 Indian nationals migrating to Australia in 2013–14.

India, the People’s Republic of China and the United Kingdom were the top three source countries under the Migration Programme. Together, they comprised 46.9 per cent of the total Migration Programme in 2013–14.

Almost 40,000 India citizens migrated to Australia, while China had 26,776 migrants and the United Kingdom 23,220. These were followed by 10,379 from the Philippines and 6,275 from Pakistan. 

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Posted by on in General

One might observe rather flippantly that compiling a record of minor driving offences is a “rite of passage” for Australians! Or perhaps that “getting caught” for relatively minor offences is something that happens to most people who drive a car, sooner or later. 

Whatever the case, a decision that was handed down earlier this week by the Administrative Appeals Tribunal – Bhownik and Minister for Immigration and Border Protection  (2015) AATA 426 (17 June 2015) – demonstrates that relatively minor driving offences are not enough to prevent a person from gaining Australian citizenship if they are otherwise a person of good character.

On the other hand, a second decision, delivered by the AAT just last week, Brown and Minister for Immigration and Border Protection (2015) AATA 414 (12 June 2015), shows that having a really horrible driving record combined with a history of other serious criminal offences may well pose difficulties – even when the applicant for citizenship has lived in Australia since early childhood.

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China and Australia have signed a Free Trade Agreement (CHAFTA) this week which mainly aims to increase market access to China for Australian resources, beef and wine exporters as well as services providers while boosting access of Chinese carmakers and electronics producers to the Australian market.

Prime minister, Tony Abbott told the media that the agreement would give each nation unprecedented access to each other’s markets: “It means duty-free entry for 99.9% of our resources, energy and manufacturing exports within four years...Australian services providers, financial, education, health and aged care will have new access to China’s services sector…Australian consumers will pay less for cars, for clothes, for electronics and other goods imported from China,” said Mr Abbot.

The CHAFTA is also set to allow more Chinese workers including tradespeople to work in Australia on temporary skilled migration visas.

According to an ABC report, in the fine print of the agreement the entry and temporary stay for up to four years with the possibility of staying longer will be granted to "contractual service suppliers" from China.

The agreement defines such suppliers as a Chinese person "who has trade, technical or professional skills and experience and who is assessed as having the necessary qualifications, skills and work experience accepted as meeting Australia's standards".

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Two recent decisions of the Federal Circuit Court have once again confirmed that regulations which specify the time when a test to demonstrate English language proficiency must be taken can be strictly enforced.

In each of these cases, Mundi v Minister for Immigration & Anor (2015) FCCA 1412 (26 May 2015) and Singh v Minister for Immigration & Anor (2015) FCCA 1533 (5 June 2015), the Court held that it did not amount to “jurisdictional error” for the Migration Review Tribunal to affirm Departmental refusals of visa applications even in circumstances where the applicant is able to produce test results at the time of the hearing before the MRT to demonstrate that she/he has, as a matter of fact, the level of English language proficiency that is required by the relevant regulations.

It may appear at first blush that these decisions are "unfair" and elevate “form over substance” and that a person who can show that she/he has the necessary level of competency in English at the time that a visa application is determined by the MRT should be able to qualify for the visa. 

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It's time to review post study work arrangements in Australia as the US Senate considers a proposal to extend post-study work rights in the US to up to six years for science-based international students. If the Senate approves the proposal, then Australia’s ability to attract quality students could be devastated, according to a report in The Australian.

International student numbers are at a high in Australia with the low Australian dollar and the streamlined visa processing system. But post study work arrangements for students remain limited and could become a key difference to students shopping for an overseas education.

If approved, the US plans would allow students with science, technology, engineering and maths degrees to stay in the US for three years if they hold a bachelors degree and another three years if they have a postgraduate qualification.

“If this policy takes off, it will seriously hinder and even undermine Australia’s capacity to recruit good quality student,” Phil Honeywood, executive director of the International Education Association of Australia told The Australian.

“Every time Australia thinks it’s hit the sweet spot on international education enrolments something unexpected seems to happen. No one would have thought the sleeping giant of the (US) market would have awakened so quickly to its potential.”

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