Iscah Migration NewsLetter

Transcription

1 Iscah Migration NewsLetter (Copyright 2008) MONDAY 20TH OCTOBER 2008 ISSUE 124 Hiya Everyone Hope you have had a good month and you have not been burnt by the stockmarket in recent weeks. Has been quiet for the purple army (us Fremantle Dockers supporters) as we plan to see what young players we can recruit for next years task of.. getting out of the bottom four. Has been a fairly quiet period for immigration changes also, so I will see what I can dig up. This newsletter is sent free to around 3000 subscribers each month. If you wish to receive backcopies or unsubscribe pls drop a line to me at newsletter@iscah.com Ok on to the latest visa news.. Contents 1) $100,000 Investment Debacle 2) Migration not helping skills shortage 3) Professional year for Engineering Students 4) Migrant intake cut Flagged 5) New 485 visa applicants now need IELTS 6) Price Rise for Australian Federal Police Clearance 7) Processing time estimate for Contributory Parent visas 8) Skilled Migration Process times (ASPC/BSPC) 1) The $100,000 investment debacle The NAB court case has now been finalised and the minister s representatives have sat down with several affected groups in the last two weeks to discuss possible solutions. Our understanding has been that this NAB courtcase was holding up a resolution. It seems the minister would like to waive the $100,000 investment but is quite complicated. Options may include reopening the investment option, with additional options for those who cannot take advantage of this. Solution now just weeks away (rather than months). Note again that this is not official DIAC advice. The latest information to the public is available here (Source: Clients and British Expat Forum)

2 Page 2 OCTOBER ) Migration not helping skills shortage The Immigration Department has admitted tertiary enrolments are failing to meet state and territory demands for graduates in mining, construction and nursing, despite an overhaul of the skilled migration system to meet the labour shortage. The surge in vocational education and training and intensive English-language courses for overseas students was in areas 'which appear to be outside those demanded', senior Immigration official Peter Speldewinde told a Brisbane conference. The skilled immigration category was revamped last year to give greater emphasis to speaking English and developing skills among the tens of thousands of overseas students who now go on to form a key plank of the permanent skilled migration program every year. Registered nurses, dentists, engineers, radiographers, urban planners, occupational therapists, electricians, bakers, bricklayers, mechanics, carpenters and chefs are among the top 20 occupational shortage areas identified by the states and territories. But Immigration Department data shows overseas students under the skilled immigration category are flocking instead into hospitality management, welfare studies, hairdressing, accounting, cookery and computing. There were almost 11,000 course commencements in hospitality, almost 2000 in welfare studies and almost 1500 in hairdressing, all winning valuable points towards permanent residency. Mr Speldewinde said the system was under review to conform with Immigration Minister Chris Evans's aim of ensuring the selection of high-quality skilled migrants who will more directly address labour market shortages. 'The focus is on quality, not quantity,' he said. Dr Birrell told The Australian 'the surge in skilled migration program is not delivering the skills needed in mining and construction industries, and that's the Government's main concern'. 'More than half the skilled immigrants are settling in Sydney and Melbourne,' not in Queensland and Western Australia where they are needed, he said. (Source: The Australian newspaper)

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4 Page 3 OCTOBER ) Professional year now available for Graduate Engineering Australian graduates in an engineering discipline who need extra points to meet the skilled passmarks, can now gain 10 points by undertaking a professional year in Australia. This will commence from 27 th October 2008 and details will be available shortly on the Institute of Engineers website (Source: DIAC) 4) Migrant intake cut flagged Kevin Rudd has raised the possibility of slashing Australia's record high intake of migrants should the global financial crisis plunge the economy into a sustained downturn. The Prime Minister said Australia's overall migrant intake, which is set annually in the lead-up to the May budget, would be determined according to the financial conditions that prevailed at the time. 'It's been this way since time immemorial and will be this way into the future as well,' Mr Rudd said yesterday, when asked if it was time to think about cutting the migration rate. 'We adjust it according to economic circumstances.' He made the comments after the latest official figures showed a rise in Australia's jobless rate last month - up from 4.1 per cent to 4.3 per cent in seasonally adjusted terms. Unemployment increased by 21,700 last month, outstripping the 2200 new jobs created. In May, the Rudd Government added 31,000 skilled migrants to this year's migration program. Australia's overall migration program will now be 190,300 for this year, and 133,500 of those places will be allocated for permanent skilled migrants. (Source: Australian newspaper)

5 Page 4 OCTOBER ) New 485 visa applicants now need IELTS From 27 th October DIAC have introduced changed to the requirements for the 485 visa that means to apply for this visa from that date onwards, a visa applicant MUST have already met the competent level of english Existing visa applicants who applied for the 485 before that date can continue to try and pass the test before DIAC make a decision on the application. If they fail they are eligible to apply for a review to the MRT. There is some concern of a recent MRT case where it was not Big business will be able to speed up controversial 457 visas to FREE Visa Assessmentimport foreign workers after employers complained We also provide: of significant processing All DIAC forms, delays. update on changes to Visa rules and Free We provide quality assessments on Under the new Settlement measures, Packs for firms each your prospects of obtaining one of with a good track state record and Territory will in Australia Australia s 151 visa categories. have 457 visa applications expedited by Just drop us an the to Immigration Department after a migration@iscah.com report found 37% Open of Monday applications to Friday from by 'low risk' employers 7.30am Or visit our website at took longer ( than eight weeks. With details of your skills, background and what you want to Special obtain centres will also be set up in Melbourne, Sydney and Perth to Or call us on process for an 457 visa applications from appointment with one of our registered migration agents. possible to upgrade IELTS results prior to the MRT decision. Although it is hoped this is not the new consistent approach from that organisation as other tribunal members have ruled New IELTS results are allowed. (Source: DIAC) 6) Price Rise for Australian Federal Police Clearance This document is required often for permanent visa applicants and some temporary visa applicants. It has risen in price from $32.73 (huh?) to $43 if a person applies by themselves for it. If you apply through a commercial entity (ie a migration agent) then it costs $49 (Source: AFP) 7) Processing time estimate for Contributory Parent visas This is a visa where someone has at least half of their children permanent in Australia or more children in Australia than any other country. This is the parent visa version where each visa applicant makes a substantial contribution to the Australian medical system, usually around $31,000.

6 Page 5 OCTOBER 2008 Processing times can be quite long so the following can information may assist : As at 30 September 2008, 3190 CPVs had been granted and there were a further 9000 CPV applicants in the processing pipeline. These applicants are at various stages of processing, with some applicants queued and others not yet allocated to a case officer. There are almost enough CPV applicants in the processing pipeline to fill the remaining places in the and the Migration Program years (assuming the government provides the same number of CPV places in ). POPC (Perth Processing Centre) is currently focussed on granting the remaining Contributory Parent category visas allocated for as soon as possible. Applicants that will be considered for visa grant in will be contacted by POPC to complete any outstanding requirements. Once the visa grants for have been exhausted, POPC will then focus on processing CPV applications to queue stage, ready for visa grant in the Migration Program year. Currently the time between lodgement and allocation to a case officer for offshore applications is about 15 months (Parent) and 12 months (CPV). The Department is committed to meeting the planning levels set by the Government, so allocation to a case officer should not affect when an applicant will be considered for visa grant. Assuming the Migration Program size remains the same for the coming years, the following estimates will apply for a CPV applicant: Where applicants have a offshore CPV application currently being processed that was lodged with POPC before 1 October 2007 then it is highly likely their visa will be granted during the Migration Program year (assuming all requirements are met for the grant of the visa). Where applicants have a offshore CPV application that was lodged with POPC during the period 1 October 2007 and 30 September 2008, then their application will be assessed and given a queue date as the first processing step. It is then highly likely that following further processing at a later date their visa will be granted during the Migration Program year (assuming all requirements are met for the grant of the visa). Note that the above advice is current as at 1 October 2008 and it is not possible to be absolutely definitive about how long applicants will have to wait until a visa can be granted where queuing operates. It depends on a number of factors including the level of demand for places compared to the number of places made available under successive annual migration programs (as discussed above) and the date an application was queued." (Source: Migration Institute of Australia)

7 Page 6 OCTOBER ) Skilled Migration Process times (ASPC/BSPC) Here is the latest available information from the Adelaide/Brisbane Processing Centres on the general info, time they are taking to receipt, allocate the case and process skilled applications ASPC PROCESSING INFORMATION - For the week of 13 October 2008 Applications lodged on or before the dates shown below have been allocated to case officers for further processing. Student/Graduate applications - Class DD and DE visas Subclass 880: 31 August 2007 (paper), 31 August 2007 (e-lodged) Subclass 881: 31 August 2007 (paper), 31 August 2007 (e-lodged) Subclass 882: 31 August 2007 (paper), 31 August 2007 (e-lodged) Skilled Migration visas - All paper based applications for Class BN, BQ, BR, UX and UZ visas Subclasses 134, 136, 137, 138, 139, 495 and 496: 16 July 2007 Subclass: 175 E-lodged: 07 December 2007 Paper lodged: 15 October 2007 Subclass: 176 E-lodged: 11 December 2007 Paper lodged: 20 November 2007 Subclasses: 475, and 476 E-lodged: 30 November 2007 Paper lodged: 27 September 2007 Subclasses: 885, 886, and 887 E-lodged: Now processed by the Brisbane Skilled Processing Centre. All cases processed in Adelaide have been allocated. Paper lodged: 18 March 2008 General Skilled Migration visas: Class VC subclass 487 only E-lodged: Now processed by the Brisbane Skilled Processing Centre. All cases processed in Adelaide have been allocated. Paper lodged: 18 March 2008 General Skilled Migration visas: Class VC subclass 485 only E-lodged: 1 February 2008 (applications lodged before 1 July 2008 only)

8 Page 7 OCTOBER 2008 THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION IS ABOUT BRISBANE SKILLED PROCESSING CENTRE From 1 July 2008 certain General Skilled Migration applications are now being processed in Brisbane. Subclass 885, 886 and 487 applications lodged on or after 1 December 2007 Subclass 485 applications lodged on or after 1 March 2008 Subclass 887 applications lodged on or after 1 July 2008 General Skilled Migration (GSM) visas processed by Brisbane for the week of 22 September 2008 Subclasses: 885, 886 and 487 E-lodged: 31 December 2007 (note if paper documents have been sent in allocation to a case officer may be delayed due to file administration procedures). Subclasses: 887 and 485 These subclasses are yet to be allocated. (Source: DIAC) Okay folks that is it for another month. I will be on the Goldcoast from 1st to the 8th November if anyone wants to catch up (steven@iscah.com) Hope my golf improves before the next newsletter on Monday 17 th November. Getting scary, will be just 3 days then until my (cough, cough) 40th!! Take care Steven O Neil Iscah Migration Iscah Migration Suite 22 (Kewdale Business Park) 133 Kewdale Road, Kewdale Perth Western Australia, 6105 PO Box 75 Welshpool BC 6986 Phone: Fax: newsletter@iscah.com Website: Registered Migration Agent