Iscah Migration NewsLetter (Copyright 2011) MONDAY 18TH APRIL 2011 ISSUE 154 Contents Hiya All Hope you all had a good few weeks since our last update. Immigration wise it is going to be an important few months as we hear more about the new points test. A few interesting pieces in our latest newsletter. On the footy front, it has been a good few weeks for the fighting Freo Dockers who have started off brightly. Golf is good (I have actually learned to putt, ha), and I am just starting the first few strums of my glittering guitar playing career (watch out Mark Knofler and apologies to my poor teacher). Anyhow on to the latest edition of our monthly newsletter.. 1) New 485 Processing Arrangements 2) New 457 Levy for Semi Skilled Workers 3) South Australian Migration Plan 4) Article about Skilled Migration 5) Overseas Students Ombudsman 6) New DIAC Forms 7) Details of the 1 st July 2011 Points Test 8) Miscellaneous DIAC News 9) State Government to Reassess declined State Sponsorships 10) Skills Assessment have no expiry date 1) New 485 Processing Arrangements 11) DIAC Skilled processing update The following announcement comes from DIAC.. The Migration Act provides that the Department of Immigration and Citizenship may consider and finalise applications for visas in such order as considered appropriate. These processing arrangements are designed to allocate resources to those subclass 485 most in need of processing prior to the implementation of the new points test for General Skilled Migration on 1 July 2011. Under the arrangements, subclass 485 applications will be considered in the following order: 1. Applications from people who have completed a Professional Year who lodged a subclass 485 application before 17 March 2011.
Page 2 APRIL 2011 2. Applications lodged from 9 February 2010 to 30 June 2010 where the nominated occupation was on the Skilled Occupation List (SOL) Schedule 3 in effect from 1 July 2010. 3. All other applications will generally be processed based on the date they were received. Applicants who lodged a subclass 485 application on or before 8 February 2010 are eligible for transitional arrangements. Under these arrangements, they have until 31 December 2012 to apply for a permanent skilled visa under the points test in effect as at 8 February 2010. As such, they do not need processing before 1 July 2011. Applicants who lodged a subclass 485 application from 9 February 2010 to 30 June 2010 who did not nominate an occupation on the current SOL are unlikely to meet the requirements to apply for a permanent skilled visa. These administrative arrangements will end on 30 June 2011. The department expects that subclass 485 application processing times will return to published service standards of 12 months in 2011-12. Please note that while every effort will be made to finalise as many applications as possible, no guarantees can be given about the outcome or timing of any individual application. The department has processes in place to identify applicants who will be considered under these arrangements and it is therefore not necessary for individual applicants to contact us directly. As a result of this The Decision Ready Checklist option for 485 processing will cease on 22 nd April 2011. (Source: DIAC) 2) New 457 Levy for Semi Skilled Workers MINING and construction companies could be forced to spend more on training Australian workers in exchange for getting easier access to low-skilled foreigners. Federal Labor is planning to use a new fast-tracked migration program for the booming resources sector to raise money for training programs as part of a Budget focus on getting more people into work.
Page 3 APRIL 2011 A draft government policy document, which is marked "in-confidence not for circulation", says employers should pay "an additional $5000 training requirement per each semi-skilled overseas worker nominated". Extra training costs would be on top of existing rules for businesses that use foreign workers to spend 1-2 per cent of their payroll on training, the policy says. Mining companies say the extra training costs amount to a new levy on businesses and warn it could discourage employers from sponsoring migrants and create delays in major projects. The policy document says the Government would not collect the funds directly, but would monitor businesses to make sure they spend the pay the extra training costs. The levy will be imposed on "mega" mining and construction projects that use semi-skilled migrant workers and could raise hundreds of millions of dollars over four years to fund skills programs. Official government forecasts warn of a shortfall of 36,000 tradespeople in the resources sector by 2015. But mining companies say they may need 61,000 extra workers over the next three years because of enormous growth in oil, coal and natural gas projects in Queensland and Western Australia. If only half this number were classed as semi-skilled, the Government would raise an extra $155 million through the proposed extra training levy. Prime Minister Julia Gillard has flagged a major crackdown on welfare and extra funds for training in the Budget but warned these will be expensive. Ms Gillard hinted that mining companies who use migrant labour could face new training obligations. "It's not satisfactory to me for the mining industry in this country to say 'we need skilled workers' and for our national answer to be 'let's import them', while we know that there are kids (in Australia) that can't get a job and can't get a chance," Ms Gillard said yesterday. Labor is also considering ways to encourage people to move from areas of high unemployment such as Cairns to boom towns such as Gladstone. This was based on trial programs used during flood reconstruction work in Queensland, Ms Gillard said. The Government is negotiating with mining companies and unions about the plans to fasttrack foreign workers. Employers are furious about the planned extra training levy, which they say could go to industry funds run by unions. But unions are angry about plans to lower the eligibility to projects that use 1000 workers at their construction peak and cost $1 billion. Original plans were for fast-tracked migration to be limited to projects with capital expenditure of $2 billion or more. Immigration Minister Chris Bowen said the Government had not finalised its policy and was still consulting over the plans. "The Government has always made it very clear it is committed to boosting Australia's skills base and ensuring Australian workers remain the first choice for employers and industry," he said (Source: Perth Now, Thanks GH)
Page 4 APRIL 2011 3) South Australian Migration Plan to allow enough time for visa applications to be lodged with DIAC under the current Points Test, all completed applications should be received by Immigration SA before 5pm (Adelaide local time) on Monday 2 May 2011. this means that your online sponsorship application and supporting documents should be submitted to and registered by Immigration SA before 5pm (Adelaide local time) on Monday 2 May 2011. please be aware that the Online Application System will be closed at 5pm (Adelaide local time) on Monday 2 May 2011. If your application is received after that time, it will not be processed. Immigration SA will endeavour to finalise applications received by the May deadline before 1 July 2011, to enable you to lodge your visa application with DIAC under the current Points Test. Please check the Online Client Tracking System for results, which will be available as soon as a decision is made on your application. all applications will be processed in order of receipt of complete documentation. Please be aware that due to the anticipated volume of applications, Immigration SA cannot guarantee that all applications will be finalised before 1 July 2011. you should also be aware that there are Planning Levels for all occupations on the current State Sponsored Migration List. Once the Planning Level for a specific occupation has been reached, that occupation will no longer be available for sponsorship. This means that applications already submitted for that occupation will not proceed to be considered under the current Points Test, you need to lodge your visa application with DIAC before 1 July 2011; otherwise your visa application will be assessed against the new Points Test and criteria. once details of South Australia s Sponsorship criteria for 2011-2012 have been finalised, the Online Application System will be reopened. please regularly check the Immigration SA website for updated information. (Source: South Australian government) 4) Article about Skilled Migration A recent article appeared in the Australian press which stated in part.. Australia must open the door to more skilled migrants in order to alleviate labour shortages that threaten resources projects, industry and government leaders said yesterday, in another sign of the pressure on Canberra to devise new migration agreements
Page 5 APRIL 2011 The comments come as the federal government works on new enterprise migration agreement: to arrange all-in-one policies for the biggest resources projects, giving companies more certainty about their ability to bring in labour over several years at specific work sites. Immigration minister Chris Bowen is developing the plan for the migration agreements in response to consultations with companies and unions over what sorts of sites will qualify. (Source: Australian Financial Review.. thanks GH) 5) Overseas Students Ombudsman The Overseas Students Ombudsman resolves complaints and helps private education providers to improve their policies and practices to enhance the quality of international education in Australia. The Ombudsman investigates complaints about the actions and decisions of private registered education providers in connection with overseas students. We also provide information about best practice complaints handling to help providers manage internal complaints effectively. Also see our Frequently asked questions for private education providers. We publish reports on complaint trends, systemic problems and broader issues in international education that we identify through our investigations. www.oso.gov.au/private-education-providers/ 6) New DIAC Forms DIAC updated a number of their forms on 1 st April 2011. Some are essential and some not. Details of which forms have changed are here.. www.immi.gov.au/allforms/pdf/form-changes-apr-2011.pdf
Page 6 APRIL 2011 7) Details of the 1 st July 2011 Points Test Some details of this new points test have been released already and the links are here.. www.immi.gov.au/skilled/general-skilled-migration/pdf/points-fact.pdf http://www.immi.gov.au/skilled/general-skilled-migration/pdf/points-testfaq.pdf However we have been trying to clarify some aspects of this limited information. We have confirmed that a person who has no formal qualifications such as a degree or trade certificate and obtains their skills assessment through work experience or recognition of prior learning will gain NO points for their skills. That is as they do not hold a formal degree/trade certificate they cannot be awarded 10/15 points. We are currently trying to clarify two issues Will onshore skilled migration for student graduates be extended to notionally 40 point occupations? Will a person who is covered by the 8 th Feb 2010 transitional arrangements for permanent residence be allowed to apply for both the existing points test and the post 1 st July 2011 points test 8) Miscellaneous DIAC News New Fraud Provisions DIAC have introduced a new public interest criteria to combat fraud in migration applications. On 2 April 2011, the department is introducing the Fraud Public Interest Criterion (PIC) that will be applied to certain visa subclasses in the Skilled and Employer Sponsored Migration Program www.immi.gov.au/skilled/fraud-public-interest-criterion.htm
Page 7 APRIL 2011 Reduction of Student Assessment Levels Student visa assessment levels for 38 countries, for one or more Student visa subclasses, will be reduced from 2 April 2011. All applications lodged on or after 2 April 2011 are subject to these new assessment levels. These changes will lower the minimum evidentiary requirements needed for the grant of a Student visa for the selected countries and education sectors. However, the reductions to assessment levels do not change the likelihood of a former student in Australia obtaining permanent residence. www.immi.gov.au/students/news/2011/reduction-al.htm Functional English Partners to avoid the English language charge have to show functional level English in the points test. We have confirmed with Brisbane DIAC that such tests have a validity of 2 years (not the previous 12 months). 9) State Government to Reassess declined State Sponsorships After a very difficult, stressful and expensive effort it seems that the WA State Migration Unit are now to reassess the approximate 60 odd state sponsorships that were declined in the first half of 2010. These particular ones were fully documented when refused, but did not have all documents on at the initial lodgement stage. (Source: DTWD) 10) Skills Assessment have no expiry date A recent Federal Court Decision (Octavia) means that skills assessment no longer have an expiry date irrespective of what they may say. (Source: DIAC)
Page 8 APRIL 2011 11) DIAC Skilled processing update Current Processing Dates If your application date has recently come into our current processing date range you should allow at least 6 weeks to enable a case officer to complete the initial assessment. Please refrain from sending requests for an update on the status of your application within this 6 week period. Priority Processed Applications Under the priority processing direction we are giving priority in allocation to applications with a nominated occupation that appears in an active State Migration Plan - Priority Group 2. Priority Group 3 applications are allocated only where all Priority Group 2 have already been allocated. Priority Group 4 cases will be allocated once all Priority Group 3 are allocated. To determine which priority group your application falls into please read the information on the department s website at: http://www.immi.gov.au/skilled/general-skilled-migration/updated-priority-processing-arrangements.htm For further information regarding State Migration Plans please visit the department s website at: http://www.immi.gov.au/skilled/general-skilled-migration/whats-new.htm http://www.immi.gov.au/skilled/general-skilled-migration/pdf/statmig-fs.pdf http://www.immi.gov.au/skilled/general-skilled-migration/pdf/statmig-faq.pdf Applications lodged before the following dates are currently being considered by a case officer: Priority 2 State Migration Plan: *Priority 2 applications are currently being allocated within a week of DIAC receiving confirmation of a valid nomination from the relevant State/ Territory Government. As a result applicants are encouraged, where possible, to provide decision ready Priority 2 applications to facilitate more efficient processing and finalisation of these applications. VE 176 (e-lodged): 15 April 2011 VE 176 (paper): 15 April 2011 VB 886 (e-lodged) 15 April 2011 VB 886 (paper): 15 April 2011 VF 475 (e-lodged): 15 April 2011 VF 475 (paper): 15 April 2011 VC 487 (e-lodged) 15 April 2011 Vc 487 (paper): 15 April 2011
Page 9 APRIL 2011 Priority group 3 VE 175 (e-lodged): 15 October 2009 VE 175 (paper): 15 October 2009 VE 176 (e-lodged):15 October 2009 VE 176 (paper): 15 October 2009 VF 475 (e-lodged): 15 October 2009 VF 475 (paper): 15 October 2009 Skilled Independent Regional (Provisional) subclass 495 and Skilled Designated Area Sponsored subclass 496 UX 495 and UZ 496 (e-lodged and paper): All applicants who have an occupation on the new Skilled Occupation List (SOL) Schedule 3 have been allocated. VB 885 (e-lodged) 30 November 2010 VB 885 (paper): 30 November 2010 VB 886 (e-lodged) 30 November 2010 VB 886 (paper): 30 November 2010 VC 487 (e-lodged) 30 November 2010 VC 487 (paper): 30 November 2010 Priority Exempt Applications Visa Subclasses 476, 485 and 887 are exempt from the current priority processing direction. Applications under these subclasses will be processed in the order in which they were received by the department. Applications lodged before the following dates are currently being considered by a case officer: VF 476 (e-lodged): 2 December 2010 VF 476 (paper): 2 December 2010 VB 887 (e-lodged) 17 February 2011 VB 887 (paper): 17 February 2011 Subsequent Entrant Applications All subsequent entrant applications for subclasses 485, 487 and 475: 7 March 2011 Skilled - Graduate subclass 485 **See here for important information regarding the VC 485 visa subclass - http://www.immi.gov.au/skilled/general-skilled-migration/pdf/485-processing.pdf
Page 10 APRIL 2011 The relevant processing dates per priority group are listed below - 1. Applications from people who have completed a Professional Year who lodged a subclass 485 application before 17 March 2011. - All cases have been allocated for assessment 2. Applications lodged from 9 February 2010 to 30 June 2010 where the nominated occupation was on the Skilled Occupation List (SOL) Schedule 3 in effect from 1 July 2010. - Allocation will commence early May. A further update will be provided 6 May 2011. 3. All other applications will generally be processed based on the date they were received. * Allocation of these cases for processing will resume once all applications from Category 1 & 2 have been allocated. At the time of this announcemement applications lodged prior to the following dates had been allocated - VC 485 (e-lodged) - 22 December 2009 VC 485 (paper) - 14 November 2009. (Source: DIAC) Okay folks all over for another month. Be good and catch you all on Monday 16 th May.. Cheers Steven O'Neil (Iscah Manager - MARN 9687267) 08 9353 3344 / www.iscah.com Latest newsletter www.iscah.com/iscahnewsletterlatest.pdf Facebook using facebook@iscah.com Twitter using www.twitter.com/iscahmigration Iscah Migration Suite 22 (Kewdale Business Park) 133 Kewdale Road, Kewdale Perth Western Australia, 6105 PO Box 75 Welshpool BC 6986 Phone: 61-8-9353 3344 Fax: 61-8-9353 3350 E-mail: newsletter@iscah.com Website: www.iscah.com Registered Migration Agent 9687267