Migration Centre of Australia

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  • August 4, 2017

Final days for submissions to VET regulation review

Final days for submissions to VET regulation review There is just over a week remaining for submissions to be made to the federal government’s review of the National Vocational Education and Training Regulator Act 2011 and its legislative framework. Led by Professor Valerie Braithwaite, the review was announced in June and will examine whether the Act supports a responsive, effective and efficient approach to regulation of the sector. The call for public submissions will close on 18 August. Professor Braithwaite is due to report to the Assistant Minister for Vocational Education and Skills, Karen Andrews, by the end of the year. For further information and to make a submission, visit here.
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  • April 19, 2017

Separating chaff from wheat – Here comes the TSS visa

Separating chaff from wheat – Here comes the TSS visa What was being speculated for long has finally happened. The government has finally bitten the bullet and has scrapped 457 visas altogether—at least in the name. A new category of visas will come in place which will be much more attuned to the needs of the Australian job market and at the same time keep “Australian jobs for Australians”. As someone who has been associated with the migration industry for many years, I heartily welcome the government’s move. For far too long this visa scheme was being misused by unscrupulous elements who brought a bad name to the industry. Now do we have a dearth of people in Australia who can be retail managers? Why do we need people coming from outside for that? Or, for that matter, people working as “cooks” in a pub or a fast food joint, where all you do is heat the food and churn out burgers? At the same time, I would like to congratulate Prime Minister Malcom Turnbull for also not tarring all with the same brush and retaining occupations which Australian businesses genuinely need. Just go through the list of eligible occupations and it will be clear that the migration option still remains open for a genuinely skilled person in a job that genuinely requires skills of a particular kind. Don’t panic and stay away from all the brouhaha that is happening on social media. We at Migration Centre of Australia are all geared up to help migration agents in familiarising them about these changes and the ways through which they can process their future applications. Don’t hesitate to contact us!
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  • April 10, 2017

Good news coming from DIBP

Good news coming from DIBP A couple of weeks ago in this space I had talked about how securing a partner visa in Australia was becoming an uphill task—with waiting times upwards of 16 months on average—and having one of the highest fees in all OCED countries. Our cover story in ME magazine, too, is on the same issue this time. Guess what, some ray of hope is beginning to emerge. The DIBP has sent out a communication wherein it talks about how the department is trying to fulfil targets before the financial year closes on June 30. At the same time it says the DIBP is digressing from the set pattern of granting partner visa according to its lodgement date. The communication says: “We will be giving priority to low-risk applicants and those regarded by DIBP as fully front-end loaded with documentation that immediately satisfies Partner criteria. This will result in a departure from our usual chronological method of assessing applicants by month of lodgement. Therefore, you may find that some visa applicants may receive decisions ahead of others who had lodged many months prior. This triaging approach has been endorsed by the Executive as an efficiency measure to identify partner applications which are potentially of the highest quality and lowest risk for visa places this programme year.” It is indeed heartening that the DIBP has finally realised that not all partner visa cases are an act of fraud and many cases are genuine and require fast disposal.
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  • April 4, 2017

Got a leaking tap? Blame migrants!

Got a leaking tap? Blame migrants! The Federal budget of Australia is due next month and as always what will be in store is making news. But curiously, migration industry too is keeping a close look. Now you will ask what migration industry has got to do with something that details the country’s finances and is purely an economic policy document. Well, strange are the times we live in. Housing affordability has been a hot button issue for past several months now and there are groups that are urging the government to announce a cut in migration so that it eases the housing prices in the country! This is the most lol thing that you must have heard in a long time. No debate on how to increase the housing supply, taking a holistic look at negative gearing, incentivising migrants to settle in cities other than Sydney and Melbourne; but what is being debated is how to cut migration. Ever heard of throwing the baby with the bathwater? This is what is being recommended. Politicians everywhere look for scapegoats and Australia’s are no different. But I am hopeful that sanity will prevail and powers that be will realise that it is migration which is oiling the economy’s engine so smoothly. Cut it and you will stutter to stop.
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  • March 28, 2017

Us, the Australians

Us, the Australians After a gap of 6 years the Australian government has released a new statement, describing what it means to be part of “multicultural Australia”. It was heartening to see Prime Minister Malcom Turnbull term Australia as an “immigrant nation” and acknowledge the fact that “Australians look like every face, every race, every background because we define ourselves and our nation by our commitment to shared political values, democracy, freedom and the rule of law”. The statement also “condemned people who incite racial hatred” and called for regular inter-faith and inter-cultural dialogue as a way to reduce tensions. The Prime Minister emphasised upon learning English for integration and at the same time said having a “multilingual workforce” was a competitive edge in an increasingly globalised economy. This is an important statement from the Prime Minister in these times of charged passions against immigration world over, including Australia. The statement also carried photos of women wearing hijab, which is as strong a symbolism as it gets. The role of immigrants in making Australia what it is today can never be overlooked. The government is facing heat from some of the hard-line parties vis-à-vis immigration but this statement puts to rest any doubts as to what the government’s thoughts are.
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  • March 21, 2017

Let’s get in touch after 50 years!

Let’s get in touch after 50 years! Truth, they say, is stranger than fiction. Ask Lidiumila Nikitenko if you need any attestation to this. After having fought the Australian immigration department over denial of visa for subclass 114 (Aged Dependent Relative) in 2015, the Russian widow filed a case in AAT and won in February 2017. So far so good. But the waiting time for this visa as mentioned on the DIBP website is close to 50 years. Once you have digested this be ready to gulp the fact that she is 69! This bizarre case relating to Ms Nikitenko points to how out of sync visa processing times have become. Now I want to ask, did this waiting time become 50 years overnight? Did it not reach 10 years first, 20 years later and so on? Why was something not done before it spiralled out of control? These are the questions that people want to ask from authorities but sadly no answers are forthcoming. As for Ms Nikitenko, she has no one beside at this age to look after her and despite securing a victory in the Tribunal, it is she and her Australia-based son who are the real losers.
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  • March 14, 2017

Playing spoilsport – Australian Partner Visa

Playing spoilsport – Australian Partner Visa The partner visa debate gets heated up every now and then. And not without a reason considering partner visa costs in Australia are now the highest in the world, including all first world countries. Now there is no denying the fact that government should be wary of who comes into the country and under what circumstances, but how is high fees a counter to stringent background checking and other security measures? Australia is a country made up of migrants with different ethnic backgrounds and it is no surprise that they look for a partner from the same cultural background. And not just that, in these times of hyper-connectivity, people can find partners living in far off lands and would want to bring them into the country. I would like to urge the DIBP to put as many stringent checks as it wants in terms of background checks but not force people to pay through their nose if it is a legitimate companionship. And to also process these visas like they do for many other categories. Currently people are facing a double whammy of not just high partner visa costs but also long processing times.
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  • March 7, 2017

PG Connects – Australia ahoy!

PG Connects – Australia ahoy! That Australia is a great centre for higher education has been long known to most of us living here; seeing as we have a huge influx of international students coming each year. So it was nice to see Australian National University (ANU) take the 7th spot in the top 25 places in the Times Higher Education’s ranking of the most international universities. The University of New South Wales and the University of Melbourne took 14th and 18th place, respectively. While Monash University in Melbourne came 21st and the University of Sydney was placed 23rd. There was another report which said how Australia is the top choice for millionaires looking for a new home. This is indeed heartening and a badge of honour. Experts believe these are signs of the things to come as the US and the UK become more inward-looking and so Australia should make the most of the changed global scenario to attract the talent pool. Education and migration go hand-in-hand in Australia and these two industries have been pillar of growth for the country over the last many years. Australia today is the top destination for skilled migrants from all over the world. And most bright students graduating from Australian universities eventually settle down in the country. Australia has not had a recession for 25 years, here’s hoping for another 25 (50?) years!
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  • March 1, 2017

After minister’s intervention, autistic girl to remain in Australia

For close to four years, the case of Sumaya Bhuiyan would continually feature in the media—how a girl with autism is facing deportation despite living in Australia for many years because her “moderate development delay” would result in “significant cost” to Australian taxpayers. The saga started in 2013 when her family’s petition for Permanent Residency was rejected and things came to a head when Sumaya Bhuiyan, 16, was ordered to book her flight out of the country by February 24 this year (2017). Numerous petitions were sent to the Immigration minister and appeals made elsewhere but to no avail. But, we are happy to inform that the case has had a happy ending with the Assistant Minister for Immigration, Alex Hawke, reconsidering his refusal to intervene, and granting Sumaya a permanent residency. Sumaya’s mother, Dr Nasrin Haque, a GP in Blacktown, is elated and happy that difficult, trying times for the family are over. This case has again put a spotlight on the issues concerning the migrants and how the Australian government treats such cases. Australia has one of the best healthcare facilities in the world and no doubt for it to remain that way the authorities need to screen each case diligently. But, it is one thing to not let migrants suffering with major ailments not come in the country and completely other to ask them to leave if they are already in. What if Sumaya was a permanent resident already and her condition would have come to light later? Thousands of migrants make Australia home each year and the government has been welcoming of them all. But this case points to a sort of cherry-picking where the government wants your talent to be best utilised here but if something goes wrong then you are on your own. This is no way to burnish your image as a welcoming country for migrants. But all’s well that ends well and it’s good to see that a policy error has been rectified.
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  • September 28, 2016

The new entrepreneur visa: Are your supporting documents complete?

The new entrepreneur visa: Are your supporting documents complete? The newly introduced Business Innovation and Investment (Provisional) visa (subclass 188) is getting quite some attention from international applicants as it is from the Department itself. The biggest reason for visa rejection is the applicant’s failure to provide the required documents, which can be a result of lack of information. We suggest all our readers, registered agents and applicants alike, who are planning to apply for this visa to thouroughly go through the  document checklist at least once to make sure their application is not missing any supporting document. Access the list and information here.
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