On 16.11.2019, two new visa options will be introduced - leading to a reorientation of the Australian immigration and visa programme:
1. the Skilled Work Regional (Provisional) Visa (subclass 491)
- which will require sponsorship by one of the Australian States/Territories or by a family member living in the region and a points test, and
2. the Skilled Employer Sponsored Regional (Provisional) Visa (subclass 494)
- which will require a job offer.
Applicants for both visa categories should be younger than 45 years and should have adequate English language proficiency as well as a successful skills assessment in a profession on the relevant, extensive, occupation list.
Both visas initially grant a five-year work and residence permit throughout Australia, with the exception of the metropolitan areas of Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, Brisbane and Gold Coast.
After three years, the Permanent Residence (Skilled Regional) visa (subclass 191) can be applied for, ultimately allowing free choice of residence throughout Australia (including the metropolitan areas of Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, Brisbane and Gold Coast).
The currently existing visa options subclass 489 (temporary) and subclass 187 (permanent) will expire on 16.11.2019.
For comprehensive advice on these and all currently available visa categories contact us
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"Creating Liberty to Move" has been our mission since our founder laid the cornerstone with the first office in Australia. Through the years, we've made immigration easy for thousands of people and we feel fortunate to work with so many different people and numerous businesses, both in scale and sector.
Moving forward, we will be known as Migration International Group.
We think this change has long been overdue.
We will continue to operate in our current structure, and your contacts and services will remain unchanged. We will also maintain our logo and business name for some time.
In addition, we welcome you to our new online home Ask-An-Agent.com.au It is designed to bring a breath of fresh air to the visa and immigration industry.
It represents our shift to providing immigration solutions and inspiring a better way for our individual clients to get things done at the same time. We believe it will be the start of a complete change to your immigration experience.
With over 70 Licensed Immigration Advisors, Registered Migration Agents and Immigration Lawyers, Ask-An-Agent operates an online marketplace connecting consumers and businesses with migration agents and immigration lawyers.
Consumers and businesses can create free accounts to join the community. As members they can ask questions, compare fees and hire their preferred agent for their visa matter. All members have 24/7 online access to comprehensive, high quality immigration services for all sorts of visa applications for Australia - at a fraction of the usual costs.
We invite you to take in a tour of this new website. We are as committed as ever to delivering the best possible visa and immigration services to our clients.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us:
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A new sponsored parent visa (the ‘subclass 870 visa option) has been introduced. It will allow parents to stay in Australia for either three or, if they wish, 5 years, with a maximum period of stay in Australia of 10 years.
The parent must be the biological, adoptive, or step-parent of the sponsor, who must be an Australian citizen, Australian permanent resident, or eligible New Zealand citizen.
This visa option may be most interesting for parents who do not meet the ‘Balance of Family test’. However, the visa, once approved will not provide work rights. The applicants will need to have health insurance and must provide evidence of access to funds.
The Department announced that up to 15,000 visas per year will be granted.
Applications for sponsorship are being accepted from 17 April 2019 and visa applications will open from 1 July 2019.
Sponsorship application charge is $420 with a visa application charge of $5,000 for 3-years duration and $10,000 for five-years duration.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us:
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Following the success of the Northern Territory DAMA, South Australia and Western Australia have entered into five-year Designated Area Migration Agreements (DAMA) with the Australian Government to attract skilled migrants to regions where Australian workers are not available, helping to fill critical employment gaps:
Up to 750 persons per year in 114 occupations (including the agriculture, forestry, hospitality, tourism, health and construction sectors among others) will be able to be sponsored over the five-year agreement.
Up to 300 persons per year will be able to be sponsored covering 60 occupations including the agriculture, forestry, hospitality, tourism, health and construction.
This agreement covers 73 occupations and will enable up to 500 people per year to be sponsored over the five-year agreement in the following sectors: mining, engineering, constructions, childcare and health.
DAMA’s are supposed to provide a springboard for businesses to attract the skilled workers and professionals they need to meet their specific workforce requirements and to boost the population of regional areas, creating more local jobs and a thriving economy.
The new DAMAs are also allowing visa applicants to progress to Permanent Residency usually after 3 years.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us:
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Under the new Population Plan and as part of an Australian Government initiative, a new way for visa applicants has been introduced to permanently move to Australia under the Designated Area Migration Agreement (DAMA). The initiative allows employers in the Australian regions to sponsor workers on Temporary Skill Shortages (sc 482) or Employer Nomination Scheme (sc 186) visas. Applicants are expected to commit to live in the DAMA region for at least three to four years.
DAMA’s have been designed to allow Australian states / territories and regions to face labor and labor shortages with great flexibility, attracting higher and lower-skilled foreign workers to close employment gaps in regional areas.
To start with, DAMA's have been introduced for the entire Northern Territory and also to the Great South Coast region of Victoria, reducing the skill, language and income criteria for potential visa holders.
The Northern Territory DAMA, for example, offers applicants who are younger than 50 years of age and with adequate English proficiency (e.g. IELTS test with an overall score of 5.0 and at least 4.5 in speaking and listening), the ability to work in the Northern Territory, to change employers, positions and also the occupation.
A large number of other regions throughout Australia are currently considering the introduction of DAMAs.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us:
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The Australian Government announced the introduction of a new temporary visa option for parents and grandparents of Australian citizens and permanent residents.
This new Temporary Sponsored Parent visa is supposed to allow a stay in Australia for a continuous period of up to five years (28.11.2018).
The Australian citizen or permanent resident will be required to formally act as a sponsor and financial guarantor to the parent/grandparent. Meanwhile the sponsor will need to accept responsibility for meeting the prescribed medical, hospital, aged care or other health or medical emergency related expenses incurred by the (current or former) temporary sponsored parent visa holder whilst in Australia.
The new sponsorship requirement will lead to a two-step application process. First step would be the assessment of the child/grandchild (sponsor). Following approval of the sponsorship application, the temporary parent visa application can be lodged.
Minister for Immigration, Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs David Coleman said “This new visa will ensure family reunions are possible for many migrant families across Australia, while protecting taxpayers with strict guidelines to ensure all public health debts including hospital and aged care fees are recovered by the Australian Government,” Mr Coleman said.
The new visa is supposed to come into effect in the first half of 2019.
As always, if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us:
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Last financial year (07/2017 to 06/2018), in Australia a total of 162,417 permanent visas was granted, incl. 111,099 under the Skill Stream and 51,085 under the Family Stream. 80,562 permanent residents have been conferred Australian citizenship in the same time.
According to the numbers provided by the Department of Home Affairs (DHA) as well as numbers from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) the majority of migrants arriving use to settle down in Australia’s two largest cities Sydney and Melbourne. Sydney’s population hit 5.1 million at June 2017 (with a growth rate of 2%), while Melbourne recorded 4.9 million (with a growth rate of 2.7%). Together, Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane accounted for over 70 per cent of Australia’s population growth in 2016-17. On the other hand, Darwin, Adelaide and Perth showed growth rates of up to 1 %.
As a result of current population growth rates, Australia is adding a city the size of Canberra approx. every year and a city the size of Adelaide every 3.5 years mainly driven by net overseas migration (approx. 60% of population growth over the last decade). The remaining growth accounted to more children being born and people living longer.
Over the last years, non-regional skilled migration visa grants (e.g. subclasses 189/190) have risen continuously while visa grants dedicated to the Australian regions (subclass 489) dropped from a high of 20,510 in 2012-13 to 10,198 in 2016-17.
Migration planning levels for the current financial year 07/2018 – 06/2019 have been set at 190,000 permanent visas.
Currently, apart from the sc489 visas there are several other visas available to migrants and employers to fill much needed positions and skills shortages in regional as well as rural Australia.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison now confirmed the Australian Government is planning a demand driven, new temporary visa for regional workers to support Australian regional areas.
As per the Governments’ new population plan these skilled migrants would be required to spend five years outside the major cities. Under the proposal, states would however be required to first demonstrate they have the required infrastructure and services to support more migrants.
We have provided a comprehensive overview online:
As always, if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us:
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With another year behind us we are proud that once again, for the second year, we have received the Immigration Choice Award 2018 for the Best Migration Agency.
The Migration Agent and Immigration Lawyer Association (AMAILA) host the prestigious Immigration Choice Awards each year.
The Immigration Choice Awards have been the benchmark for recognising those migration agents and immigration lawyers who continue to push the boundaries and shape the future of the migration industry.
We are truly humbled and we want to thank all of our amazing clients and our migration agents and immigration lawyers.
With over 50 Registered Migration Agents and Immigration Lawyers, we provide comprehensive, high quality immigration services for all sorts of visa applications for Australia - at a fraction of the usual costs.
Sydney Migration International and its migration agents are honoured to have been recognised as a winner of the 2018 Index: Best Migration Agency 2018
We will continue to make 2019 another amazing year for you!
As always, if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us:
On 5th November 2018, the Hon David Coleman (Minister for Immigration, Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs) has announced changes to the Working Holiday Maker (WHM) visa programs to support regional and rural communities. These changes will apply to the 417 visa 462 visa.
When in effect the changes to the WHM visa program will include:
Number of regional areas where subclass 462-visa holders can work in agriculture (plant and animal cultivation) to qualify for a second year of stay in Australia are expanded. Previously only visa holders working in Northern Australia were eligible. Now, also regional areas in New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria and Western Australia, and all of Northern Territory, South Australia, and Tasmania, will be eligible. (Specific postcodes to be published on the Department’s website shortly.)
Increasing the period in which subclass 417 and 462 visa holders can stay with the same agricultural (plant and animal cultivation) employer, from 6 to 12 months.
Plant and animal cultivation includes most agricultural work, such as:
the harvesting and/or packing of fruit and vegetable crops
pruning and trimming vines and trees
general maintenance crop work
cultivating or propagating plants, fungi or their products or parts
immediate processing of plant products
maintaining animals for the purpose of selling them or their bodily produce
immediate processing of animal products including shearing, butchery, packing and tanning
manufacturing dairy produce from raw material.
The option of a 3rd year for subclass 417/462 visa holders who will work for at least 6 months (during their second visa year) in a specified regional area, from July 2019. [Participation in the second-year program is voluntary. Subclass 462 visa holders will need to complete three-months (88 calendar days) of specified work to be eligible to apply for a 2nd visa.]
Increasing the annual caps to a number of countries that participate in the subclass 462 visa program.
It is further planned to offer an increase in the eligible age for subclass 417 visa applicants from Canada and Ireland to 35 year.
We have provided a comprehensive overview of soem Australian visa online:
As always, if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us:
Skilling Australians Funds (SAF) levy: Regulations have now come into effect on 12th August 2018. Ammendmens were also introduced to:
Every nomination application made by certain categories of sponsors must be accompanied by the ‘Nomination Training Contribution Charge’.
The obligation to provide training has been repealed.
The nomination training contribution charges to be paid are as follows:
| 482 visa period: | Businesses with an annual turnover: | |
|
< A$ 10 million |
> A$ 10 million |
|
|
1 year |
A$ 1200.00 |
A$ 1800.00 |
|
2 years |
A$ 2400.00 |
A$ 3600.00 |
|
3 years |
A$ 3600.00 |
A$ 5400.00 |
|
4 years |
A$ 4800.00 |
A$ 7200.00 |
|
Businesses with an annual turnover: |
|
|
> A$ 10 million |
> A$ 10 million |
|
A$ 3000.00 |
A$ 5000.00 |
Labour Market Testing (LMT) requirements and alterations in effect from 12th August 2018 include:
Find out more about:
Sponsoring Employees TSS visa (482 visa)
Standard Business SponsorshipHow to become an approved sponsor?
Contact us for a business proposal. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Review migration case studies and business solutions from other small and medium business.Case Studies
From 01.07.2018 the pool and pass mark for the following three visa subclasses have been increased to 65 points (previously 60 points):
This applies to applications for the above visa subclasses where an application is made on or after 01.07.2018 based on an invitation to apply received on or after 1 July 2018.
Transitional provisions have been put in place for visa applications made before, on or after 1 July 2018 in response to an invitation given prior to 1 July the pool and pass mark remains at 60.
In summary, the points required depends on the date the invitation to apply has been received:
Invitation to apply received
We have provided a comprehensive overview of the ENS visa and RSMS visa online:
As always, if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us:
In March 2018 the Australian Government announced the Global Talent Scheme (GTS) targeting talent and innovation in Australia.
GTS will run under the TSS visa program from 01.07.2018, initially for 12 months. It aims to benefit Australia and Australian workers by providing Australian businesses (established businesses and also StartUps) the opportunity to hire highly-skilled, experienced and globally mobile staff for positions in their business.
Key Innovations by the GTS include for instance:
Employers in turn will be required to demonstrate how these positions create opportunities for Australian workers and Australia.
There are two streams under the GTS.
Employers
The Employee to be nominated
Employers
The employee to be nominated
Find out more about:
Standard Business SponsorshipHow to become an approved sponsor?
Contact us for a business proposal. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Review migration case studies and business solutions from other small and medium business.Case Studies
The Skilling Australians Fund came into effect on 22 May 2018. The Skilling Australian Fund levy (SAF Levy) replaces the training benchmarks scheme. There are now several visa classes affected by the Skilling Australians Fund (SAF Levy). It has been confirmed that for the financial year commencing 1 July 2017, the SAF Levy must not exceed:
Stay informed and find out what your business needs to know:
The Australian Migration Agent and Immigration Lawyer Association (AMAILA) host the prestigious Immigration Choice Awards each year. AMAILA is a membership organization of registered migration agents, licensed immigration advisers and immigration lawyers.
As noted by the board of the Migration Agent Association: “The visa regime in Australia is in a state of continual change. In a time of great confusion and ongoing changes to the migration regulations some migration agents ‘talk’, and some migration agents ‘do‘. The Immigration Choice Awards have been the benchmark for separating these, and for recognising those who continue to push the boundaries and shape the future of the migration industry.”.
Sydney Migration International and its migration agents are honoured to have been recognised as a winner of the 2017 Index: Best Migration Agency 2017
We could not have achieved this recognition without the support of all of our clients. Thank you for your continued support.
Sydney Migration International also congratulates all other finalists and winners who are nominated in the Index and wishes them all the best.
Read more:
The key changes to the 186 visa (ENS visa) and 187 visa (RSMS visa) are summarized briefly below. Please note that this list is not an exhaustive list of all changes but contains the major changes in bite size form which we consider would be of importance to our clients:
We have provided a comprehensive overview of the ENS visa and RSMS visa online:
As always, if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us:
We have previously provided various updates relating to the Skill Shortage Visa (subclass 482) visa (TSS Visa) and the abolition of the Temporary Work (Skilled) (Subclass 457) visa. As you may be aware, this scheme (amongst other schemes) is in a state of transition.
On 18 March 2018, the Migration Legislation Amendment (Temporary Skill Shortage Visa and Complementary Reforms) Regulations 2018 (TSS Regulations) came into effect and amended the current Migration Regulations 1994. The stated purposes of the TSS Regulations are to:
The 457 visa has now been repealed, and the TSS Visa has been formally introduced into legislation and is now in effect.
We have provided a comprehensive overview of the new TSS visa (482 visa) online:
The key additional details relating to the 482 visa which have now been released from our perspective and which we consider to be of particular importance to the majority of our clients are summarised below. We anticipate issuing further information relating to each of the below in subsequent newsletters:
As always, if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us:
As you may be aware, the 482 visa (TSS visa) has replaced the subclass 457 visa effective 18 March 2018.
One of the new requirements for applicants who wish to apply for a 482 Visa is that they must have “worked in the nominated occupation or a related field for at least 2 years”. This criteria must be satisfied at the time of decision, which means that it may be possible to apply for the 482 Visa before the applicant has acquired 2 years of experience.
The stated purpose of this criteria is to ensure that the applicant has the skills to do the job and contribute to Australia’s economy. We expect, based on comments made by Government in relation to the criteria, that relevant work experience will be considered by reference to the tasks and functions of the nominated occupation, and that experience in related roles and flexible working arrangements may be recognized as being relevant work experience.
Additional information about sponsoring employees and the 482 visa:
Contact us and stay informed: Migration Agent
We have previously provided various updates relating to the abolition of the subclass 457 visa and its replacement by the TSS visa (482 visa). As you may be aware, this scheme (amongst other schemes) is in a state of transition.
Yesterday evening, 15 March 2018, the Migration Legislation Amendment (Temporary Skill Shortage Visa and Complementary Reforms) Regulations 2018 (TSS Regulations) were registered.
Importantly for now, the TSS Regulations will commence on 18 March 2018. Therefore, if you wish to be processed under the 457 regime you will need to lodge both your nomination and visa applications (decision ready i.e. with all of your evidence) prior to 18 March 2018. Otherwise, your applications will be processed under the TSS regime (and additional charges may apply).
Rread more about the new TSS visa
Stay informed and read more on how to Sponsoring Employees
Contact us and stay informed: Migration Agent
Two occupations were removed from the lists, but are still available for Sc. 187:
Hair of beauty salon manager (ANZSCO 142114)
Building associate (ANZSCO 312112)
Three occupations were added to the STSOL:
Psychotherapist (ANZSCO 272314)
Property Manager (ANZSCO 612112)
Two occupations that were previously on the STSOL are now on the MLTSSL:
Real estate representative (ANZSCO 612115)
Horse breeder (ANZSCO 121316)
Management consultant (ANZSCO 224711)
Furthermore, caveats for some occupations have changed.
Contact us and stay informed: Migration Agent
It had issued a warning that a lot of visas of this category were lodged too early so that they were at risk to be refused.
The Department now clarified that this warning only concerned applications for the Investor and Significant Investor (SIV) streams of Subclass 888.
The relevant date to determine how long you must have held your provisional visa is 1 July 2015. If you applied for your provisional visa before this date, you need to hold it for 3 years and 11 months or more while you need to hold it for at least 4 years if you applied for it after this date.
Contact us and stay informed: Migration Agent
04. October 2019
28. December 2019
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