Change in visa condition 8107 for Subclass 457 visa From 19 November 2016, the time period that Subclass 457 (Temporary Work (Skilled) visa holders can remain in Australia after ceasing employment with their current sponsor will be reduced from 90…

From 1 July 2016, a number of changes will be made to the SOL and CSOL. The following occupations will be removed from the Skilled Occupation List and added to the Consolidated Skilled Occupation List: 233611  Mining Engineers (excluding Petroleum)…

The Government has announced a reciprocal Work and Holiday visa arrangement with Singapore. The visa will allow residents aged 18 to 30 years of age to travel, live, work and study in each other’s country. The agreement will enable up to…

The Government has signed a new Work and Holiday arrangement with Hungary today. The agreement will enable up to 200 young adults between 18 and 30 to travel to each other’s country for one year to enjoy a holiday in each other’s…

There will be a streamlined pathway to Australian citizenship for New Zealand citizens who have been living in Australia.  These new arrangements will give many New Zealanders permanent residence status and enable them to apply for Australian citizenship. The new visa…

The reciprocal work and holiday visa arrangement between Australia and the Slovak Republic and Australia and Slovenia have commenced this year.  The arrangement allow up to 200 young adults between 18 and 30 to visit each other’s country fro up…

From 1 September 2015, the Department of Immigration and Border Protection will stop issuing visa labels to Australian visa holders.  Visa holders will no longer be able to request a visa label even if they are prepared to pay for the…

A Work and Holiday arrangement for young people in China was announced at the signing of the China-Australia Free Trade Agreement last month. Up to 5000 visa places will be available annually for qualified Chinese nationals aged between 18 to…

The Assistant Minister for Immigration and Border Protection, Senator the Hon Michaelia Cash and the Assistant Minister for Education and Training, Senator the Hon Simon Birmingham, announced today that Panelbeaters and Cabinet Makers will be added to the Skilled Occupation List…

On 16 June 2015, the Senate disallowed the Legislative Instrument IMMI 15/050 which came into effect on 18 April 2015, reducing the high income salary threshold from $250,000 to $180,000. As a result, the previous instrument IMMI 13/028 is now…

The Government has signed a new Work and Holiday arrangement with Slovak Republic. The Work and Holiday visa requires applicants to have the support of their government, hold tertiary qualifications or studying for one and to speak functional English. The…

From 18 April 2015, the validity of English tests for points tested visas will be from time of invitation and not time of application.  The Migration Regulations have been amended to allow English test scores to be accepted for points…

The Government has signed a new Work and Holiday arrangement with Vietnam today. The Work and Holiday visa requires applicants to have the support of their government, hold tertiary qualifications or studying for one and to speak functional English. The…

The Assistant Minister for Immigration, Senator the Hon. Michaelia Cash announced today the government’s response to the recommendations of the Independent review into the integrity of the subclass 457 program.   The review was commissioned in 2014 with the task of…

On 25 February 2015, the legislation to establish Australian Border Force (ABF) was introduced to the Australian Parliament by the Minister for Immigration and Border Protection, the Hon. Peter Dutton MP. In May 2014, the Government announced the integration of…

The new visa application charges for Partner visa from 1 January 2015 will be as follows: Provisional and permanent partner visas – currently $3085 increased to $4630 Prospective marriage visa – currently $3085 increased to $4630 Temporary and permanent partner visas – currently…

From 23 November 2014, the department will accept English language test scores from the Test of English as a Foreign Language internet-based test (TOEFL iBT) and the Pearson Test of English Academic (PTE Academic) across the Temporary Graduate, Skilled, Former…

From 23 November 2014, passport holders from the following countries are eligible to make Subclass 600 Visitor visa applications online in the Tourist, Sponsored Family and Business Visitor streams. The following countries are also added to the existing list: Bhutan…

The Western Australian Government has announced that public school fees will be waived for families on 457 visa to take into account lower incomes and other hardships. These include: Families earning $75,000 a year or less will not pay the…

As of 23 November 2014, the list of eligible countries for Work and Holiday visa include Spain and Portugal.  The full list includes  Argentina, Bangladesh, Chile, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Thailand, Turkey, United States of America and Uruguay.

From 23 November 2014, the entry period (the period between the grant of the visa and entry into Australia) and maximum period of stay (the period between entry into Australia and exit out of Australia) for a Subclass 400 (Temporary Work…

The Government has signed a new Work and Holiday arrangement with Israel today. Minister Cash said the agreement will enable up to 500 young adults from Israel and 500 young adults from Australia to enjoy a holiday in each other’s…

The Government has announced the endorsement of the key findings in the Significant Investor Visa review, which include: the creation of a Premium Investor visa (PIV) with Austrade as the nominator the involvement of Austrade in determining complying investment policy enabling Austrade to…

Senator Hanson-Young has successfully disallowed the motion against the Migration Amendment (Repeal of Certain Visa Classes) Regulation 2014, as contained in Select Legislative Instrument 2014 No. 65 [F2014L00622], made under the Migration Act 1958. This means that  non-contributory parent and…