Australian Immigration Daily News

The Immigration (Education) Amendment (Expanding Access to English Tuition) Bill 2020 (the Bill) amends the Immigration (Education) Act 1971 (the IE Act) to expand eligibility for migrants to access English tuition.

The changes made by the Bill will send a strong message regarding the support provided by the Government for migrants to learn Australia¡¦s national language, and the importance of English proficiency for social cohesion. The Bill will enable the Government to further incentivise English language learning, and provide greater flexibility for migrants in the way they undertake English studies. It will provide English tuition to bridge the gap for migrants who are currently ineligible for the program, or who have exhausted their available tuition hours without reaching the level of vocational English.

Specifically, the Bill amends the IE Act to:

• remove the 510 hour statutory limit on an eligible person¡¦s entitlement to English tuition, in order to support and incentivise English proficiency;
• amend the upper limit for eligibility to access English tuition to a new level of vocational English, which will enable eligible persons to continue their language learning to a higher level of English proficiency;
• remove the statutory time limits for registering for, commencing and completing English tuition for certain people who held a visa and were in Australia on or before 1 October 2020; and
• allow for the provision of English tuition to certain visa holders or visa applicants outside Australia, to support their English language learning in preparation for their migration to Australia.

Source: IE-Amendment-2020.pdf and IE-Amendment-2020-Explanatory-Memorandum.pdf

Migration Alliance has received a number of enquires regarding the 491 State Nominated Visas.  Below is a summary of 491 State Nominated Visas across each State.

New South Wales

NSW is currently not accepting or issuing new nominations for 491 via. In line with Home Affairs direction, NSW will commence invite applicants currently in selected health, ICT and engineering occupations, and who currently reside in NSW.

Business & Skilled Migration Queensland (BSMQ) have confirmed that the Business Program and the Skilled Migration program will remain suspended until further notice.

In the latest press release: https://migration.qld.gov.au/  BSMQ advised that it recognises that there are a number of applicants impacted by this situation and will endeavour to re-open the program in December 2021.

BSMQ State Nomination Program

The results for the September 2020 invitation rounds are now published. No invitations were issued for pro-rata occupations. Occupation ceilings are also updated as per latest invitation round results. You can view the updated occupation ceilings here: https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/visas/working-in-australia/skillselect/occupation-ceilings 

The instrument repeals Migration (LIN 18/022: Determination of Daily Maintenance Amounts for Persons in Detention) Instrument 2018 (LIN 18/022) (F2018L01196) made under subsection 262(2) of the Act in accordance with subsection 33(3) of the Acts Interpretation Act 1901 (the AIA). Subsection 33(3) of the AIA states that where an Act confers a power to make, grant or issue any instrument of a legislative or administrative character, the power shall be construed as including a power exercisable in the like manner and subject to the like conditions (if any) to repeal, rescind, revoke, amend, or vary any such instrument.

The instrument operates to determine the daily amount applicable to a person for the cost of keeping and maintaining the person in immigration detention at a specified place for a specified period. Subsection 262(3) of the Act requires the amount to be no more than the cost to the Commonwealth of detaining a person at that place for that period.

The purpose of the instrument is to update the information contained in the previous instrument LIN 18/022, with the daily maintenance amount being specified as $456.23 for the period from the commencement date of the instrument to 30 June 2022 inclusive. The decrease in the daily maintenance amount is $32.88.

Source: LIN20037.pdf and LIN20037-Explanatory-Statement.pdf