Iscah Migration NewsLetter

Transcription

1 Iscah Migration NewsLetter (Copyright 2010) MONDAY 21ST JUNE 2010 ISSUE 144 Contents Hiya everyone Welcome to our newsletter on all issues to do with Australian migration. First of all a big happy birthday wish to my little sister who had a big birthday last Saturday (how old sis? ha). She lives in the Big Apple and we visited her last year. Wow, what a place, especially Broadway. Hope you had a great night xx. The perennial bridesmaid, the Fremantle Dockers moved to their 9 th win of the season over the weekend and us supporters are starting to expect to win some of these tough away games now. May still all come tumbling down when the finals start in September, but for now we are enjoying the journey as a previous coach described it all. On to the newsletter and hope you enjoy it. If you have any suggestions, drop me a line to newsletter@iscah.com 1) New DIAC Fees 2) Time of Sponsorship requirement changes 3) Skills assessments for Computing Graduates 4) Cap and Axe visa applications 5) Other expected changes on 1 st July or shortly after 6) Retiree visas (subclass 405) to stop 7) 487 Visa holders applying for permanent residence 8) 20 per cent drop in net overseas migration 9) 457 Visa Application Median Processing Times 10) Employer Nomination changes being considered 1) New DIAC Fees As usual DIAC have raised their application fees from 1 st July Some of the more common visa charges will be Business Skills $4995 (from $4905) Skilled migration $2575 (from $2525) Onshore Family Migration $2575 (from $2525 Offshore Family Migration $1735 (from $1705) (Most) Temporary Visas $265 (from $260)

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3 Page 2 JUNE ) Time of Sponsorship requirement changes From the 1 st July DIAC will require sponsorship to be in place AT THE TIME OF APPLICATION for skilled migration. So if you are being sponsored by a relative or state government you will need that at time of lodgement (instead of at present requiring it not until time of decision). 3) Skills assessments for Computing Graduates Up until now an international student completing a computing qualification has been assessed by the Australian Computer Society (ACS) under the ASCO coding Computing Professional (nec). Now with DIAC moving to a whole set of new occupational titles and codings (now called ANZSCO) it will be important what code the ACS choose to put a computing graduate under. And whether that occupation is on the SOL or a state migration plan. At present it is expected that ICT Business Analyst will be on the SOL and WA migration plan Software and Applications Programmers nec will be on WA migration plan ICT Systems Test Engineer will be on WA migration plan ICT Support and Test Engineers nec will be on WA migration plan We believe that ACS will choose the correct occupation classification based on the content of a student s transcript (rather than have the same single coding for all graduates). (Source: DIAC, ACS) 4) Cap and Axe visa applications As mentioned in a flyer to all readers a few weeks ago, the minister for Immigration has introduced to parliament, legislation that will enable him to Axe existing visa applications (both skilled and unskilled visa categories) when he sees fit.

4 Page 3 JUNE ) Cap and Axe visa applications As mentioned in a flyer to all readers a few weeks ago, the minister for Immigration has introduced to parliament, legislation that will enable him to Axe existing visa applications (both skilled and unskilled visa categories) when he sees fit. If this legislation passes it will allow him to decide on a certain number of visas to be granted to applicants with certain characteristics (for example based on their nominated occupation) in a program year. Once that cap is reached, the rest will be axed and their visa application returned to them. We believe this is a totally unacceptable denial of fair and reasonable treatment to visa applicants who have made significant commitments to a life in Australia. At present this legislation has been referred to a senate committee and we believe a decision will be delayed until at least mid August ) Other expected changes on 1 st July or shortly after A new order of priority of processing for skilled applications is likely to be announced on 1 st July 2010 Visa applicants supported by a state government from a state migration plan can expect processing of around 6 months. Those people sponsored by state governments from before 1 st July 2010, but who s occupation is ALSO on the new state migration plans, will also benefit from this faster processing. New points test possibly by 1 st July, although more likely to be delayed slightly until the government tick the changes off. A review of the Employer Nomination scheme is underway that amongst other things may see simpler pathways for Australian graduates with a sponsoring employer (likely around November 2010). A review of the Business Skills program is likely to be finalised by November It is NOT expected that the points allocated to the occupations in the Skilled List will differ from the points those same occupations earned under the OLD Skilled List.

5 Page 4 JUNE ) Retiree visas (subclass 405) to stop As part of the review of the many visa subclasses to make them more simple to understand, DIAC have proposed the abolition of the temporary Investor Retiree Visa (subclass 405) for all new applicants. See notes on page 17 and 18 of this document 7) 487 Visa holders applying for permanent residence The holders of this visa (as well as 475s) normally have a target of the 887 permanent visa.. We just wish to clarify that as well as having to live 2 years in a regional area and find 1 year of fulltime work, you also need to hold this provisional visa (487 or 475) for at least 2 years before you can apply for the permanent 887. This is despite the fact that the bridging visa you are granted waiting for your 487 to be finalised can be used to met the 2 years of living regional and 1 year of work, there is an additional requirement that you ALSO still need to wait another two years even after your 487 is granted. 8) Reforms result in 20 per cent drop in net overseas migration Recent article about comments from the Immigration Minister Australia s net overseas migration (NOM) level is predicted to drop by 20 per cent by the end of the financial year in response to government reforms to temporary and permanent migration and economic conditions, the Minister for Immigration and Citizenship, Senator Chris Evans, said today. Launching the Department of Immigration and Citizenship s (DIAC) flagship publication, Population flows Immigration aspects , Senator Evans said the level of NOM which includes both permanent migrants and long-term temporary migrants peaked in and is on the way down.

6 Page 5 JUNE 2010 Latest figures from the ABS show that NOM peaked in the 12 months to 31 March 2009 at people. Based on recent visa applications and grants data, my department anticipates a fall of about 20 per cent compared to last year; a drop of at least people, Senator Evans said. By the end of , we expect the NOM to have fallen to between and Senator Evans said last year s peak was largely a result of rapid growth in temporary immigrants following decisions by the Howard government which opened up permanent entry pathways for temporary residents such as students. Net overseas migration is already falling as reforms to the 457 visa program help to ensure that temporary overseas workers complement and not compete with Australian workers, Senator Evans said. In addition, the government has recently introduced a new Skilled Occupation List. This list is designed to target occupations of longer term economic value and will deliver highly skilled migrants while breaking the nexus between permanent residency and low-value education courses. Senator Evans said the Rudd Government was committed to ongoing reform to ensure immigration levels are guided by Australia s needs and not by the desire of prospective migrants to come to Australia. In May last year, the government announced the development of a planning framework formulated on evidenced-based research to consider the long-term effects of immigration on our population and our environment, Senator Evans said. The framework will be a policy-guiding framework for more informed decisionmaking. It will not be a target-setting mechanism. It will ensure that future migration levels are driven by the genuine economic needs of the country and immigration levels will not be beyond our country s ability to accommodate them. 9) 457 Visa Application Median Processing Times Managers -16 days Professionals -21 days Associate Professionals -29 days Tradespersons -56 days These processing times are consistent with those of 12 months ago prior to the major reforms. Longer processing times for Tradespersons is largely caused by requirements for some trade occupations to undergo a skills assessment

7 Page 6 JUNE ) Employer Nomination changes being considered The following areas of Employer Nominations are being considered for the November review.. English language standards Exceptional circumstance exemptions Introduction of market rates Introduction of a regional occupation list Skills assessments Applicability of the Worker Protection framework Registration, licensing or professional membership requirements Alignment with deregulation, Visa Services Transformation and the Skilled Migrant Selection Model Okay folks, that is all for this addition. Am sure there will be significant changes in the next couple of weeks but for now the next newsletter is due on Monday 19 th July. Keep well. Chow Steven O'Neil (Iscah Manager) / / MARN Latest newsletter Facebook using facebook@iscah.com Twitter using 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