News & Updates
Our Immigration News service is used by over 15,000 visa applicants, migration agents, business owners, HR professionals and journalists to keep up to date on changes to the Australian Migration Regulations. Because we monitor changes to the Migration Regulations closely, we are often able to release information and explain why it is relevant before it is available on the Department of Immigration website.
Religious Organisations Benefit from Changes to Employer Sponsored Migration
February 12, 2013By Mark Webster 12 February 2013 Religious organisations have benefited from changes made in 2012 to the Employer Nomination Scheme (ENS) and Regional Sponsored Migration Scheme (RSMS) visas. ENS and RSMS both result in permanent residence for the visa applicant. The applicant and any dependent family members receive visas allowing them full work rights in [...]
Consolidated Sponsored Occupations List (CSOL) Released
July 2, 2012By Mark Webster 2 July 2012 The long-awaited Consolidated Sponsored Occupations List (CSOL) was released on Friday 29 June. The CSOL is the occupations list for use for the following types of visa applications: 457 Business Long Stay – where nominated by a Standard Business Sponsor (this is the most common way of applying for [...]
Acacia TV – Are you a winner?
June 26, 2012video converter Video is not visible, most likely your browser does not support HTML5 video
Exemptions for Skill and Age Requirements for Employer Sponsored Visas Announced
June 21, 2012By Mark Webster 21 June 2012 Employer Nomination Scheme (ENS) and Regional Sponsored Migration Scheme (RSMS) visas will be changing significantly from 1 July 2012. An important part of the changes are new objective tests for exceptions to the age and skill requirement. Age Exemptions The maximum age for RSMS and ENS applications from 1 [...]
LAFHA Changes from 1 July 2012
May 10, 2012By Mark Webster 10 May 2012 Updated 21 May 2012 More details are now available on the timing of the changes to LAFHA (Living Away from Home Allowance). According to the Treasury Exposure Draft for the new LAFHA legislation to apply from 1 July 2012, it appears that most temporary residents will not be able [...]
Tony Abbott Supports Use of 457 Business Sponsorship Visas
April 30, 2012By Mark Webster 30 April 2012 The Australian Federal Opposition leader, Tony Abbott, has supported the use of 457 visas as the mainstay of the Australian immigration program. The comments were made in an address to the Institute of Public Affairs, Melbourne. Mr Abbott has called 457 holders the “best possible immigrants to Australia”, saying [...]
457 Training Benchmark Policy Changes 2012
April 23, 2012By Mark Webster 23 April 2012 The Department has recently made changes to their policy in assessing the training benchmark for 457 Standard Business Sponsors. Most employers seeking to sponsor for the 457 program would need to be approved as a Standard Business Sponsor. An important part of this approval is to demonstrate that the [...]
ENS and RSMS Changes – The Losers
April 23, 2012By Mark Webster 23rd April 2012 The changes coming in on 1 July 2012 to the permanent employer sponsored visas (ENS and RSMS) are quite significant. Today, we’ll go through the Losers – people who will be worse off under the changes. Unfortunately there seem to be a lot more losers than winners under the [...]
NZ Citizens to be Disadvantaged by Australian Immigration Rules from 1 July 2012
April 17, 2012Many New Zealand citizens living in Australia don’t think about applying for Australian permanent residence. New Zealanders receive Special Category Subclass 444 visas on arrival to Australia in most cases, and these allow them to live and work in Australia indefinitely. Family members can obtain NZ Citizen Family Relation Subclass 461 visas, which also give [...]
ENS and RSMS Changes – The Winners
April 10, 2012By Mark Webster 10 April 2012 The changes to the permanent employer sponsored visas (ENS and RSMS) coming in on 1 July 2012 are quite significant. People will be affected differently by the new changes depending on their circumstances. This article goes through the main winners – and losers – under the new system. This [...]
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