Prior to 14 February 2014, approved Standard Business Sponsorships were subject to a nomination ceiling and will cease when that ceiling is reached.
All Standard Business Sponsorships approved on or after 14 February 2014 will not end if the number of approved nominations have been reached. It is possible to submit further nominations until the sponsorship expiry date.
SmartGate is an automated border processing system used by the Australian and New Zealand customs service. The system gives eligible travellers the option to self-process through passport control. SmartGate uses the data in ePassport and face recognition technology to perform the customs and immigration checks usually conducted by a customs officer.
Singapore has been added to the list of countries in which their nationals who are holders of ePassport can access the SmartGate automatic border processing. Other eligible countries include Australia, New Zealand, United Kingdom, United States of America, Switzerland and Ireland.
The updated ACT Occupations List will come into effect on 24 February 2014. Applications for nominations lodged prior to 24 February 2014 will be assessed against the old occupations list. Those occupations verified before 24 February 2014 will have 30 days to submit the ACT nomination application.
The Minister for Trade and Investment, Andrew Robb and the Minister for Immigration and Border Protection have jointly announced the introduction of a new three-year multiple entry visitor visa for Chinese business visitors.
Source: Minister for Trade and Investment website