Search Results for: Australia

November 1, 2017

Following the Australian Senate’s block to the overhaul of the citizenship eligibility criteria, the Department of Immigration and Border Protection (DIBP) has resumed processing applications that were lodged on or after 20th April 2017. However, processing times are expected to be longer while DIBP works through a backlog of applications. Background As reported by Newland […]

July 4, 2017

Several previously announced changes to Employer Sponsored temporary and permanent visa programmes came into effect on 1st July 2017. The changes (which we originally covered here and here) and a brief explanation of the impacts are provided below. Temporary Work (Skilled) Subclass 457 Visas There have been several changes to 457 visas including: Training Benchmarks: more restrictions on training […]

June 26, 2017

From 1st August 2017, Singapore will be included under Australia’s Work and Holiday Visa program. In addition, Australia will introduce a six-year multiple-entry visa to citizens of Singapore for business and tourism purposes from 1st January 2018. These new measures were announced at the recent Singapore-Australian Leader’s Summit by Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, and […]

June 2, 2017

The Australian Government announced last year that, as of 1st July 2017, there will be a separate pathway for New Zealand citizens to apply for permanent residency and then Australian citizenship. Who is Eligible? New Zealand Special Category Visa (SCV) holders who arrived after 26th February 2001, who have lived in Australia for the last […]

May 10, 2017

The 2017-18 Budget handed down on 9th May 2017 affects sponsoring employers and visa applicants. All current first instalment VACs will rise by around 2% on 1st July 2017 and then be indexed annually. The current and new application fees for subclass 457 and 186 visas are shown below and a full list of the VAC increases […]

April 26, 2017

On 20th April 2017, the Government announced that a package of reforms will apply to citizenship applications received on or after 20th April 2017. Legislation relating to these reforms will be put before Parliament by the end of 2017. What changes were announced? Applicants will be required to have lived in Australia as a permanent […]

April 20, 2017

The Department of Immigration (DIBP) has released more information about its changes to the Temporary Work (Skilled) visa (subclass 457) overnight. It is important to note that the 457 programme has not yet been abolished, but it will be replaced with the Temporary Skill Shortage visa (a different programme) from March 2018. 457 visa fee increases […]

April 18, 2017

The Prime Minister Mr. Turnbull announced today the abolition of the 457 visa program and its replacement with a new Temporary Skill Shortage (TSS) visa. At present there is no law or policy, and we can only provide you with information which is currently in the public domain: Mr. Turnbull said 457s would be replaced by […]

December 1, 2016

A new Frequent Traveller stream of the Subclass 600 visitor visa, allowing multiple entries for business or tourism for up to three months at a time, came into place on 19th November. Other changes this week relate to the introduction of…

November 23, 2016

The definition of Member of the Family Unit (MOFU) has been simplified and is now limited to only partners and dependent children of the main applicant. Other relatives can no longer be included. These new arrangements impact all applications lodged…