This week we will witness the demise of a dear old friend, the COVID Pandemic visa (also known as the Subclass 408 AGEE Visa). The nifty and free visa was introduced by the Australian Government during the Pandemic, to allow an extension of time for temporary visa holders stuck in Australia due to flight or country restrictions.  It was also used to allow skilled workers to remain, as there was a critical shortage of workers during the pandemic due to the huge drop in international student and working holiday makers. The COVID AGEE was loved by many.  A free option for providing te ..read more

If you’re planning to live in Australia long-term, there are definite advantages to becoming an Australian citizen. You’ll be able to leave and return to Australia without restriction or the need for a visa, plus you can apply for an Australian passport, just to name a few. To obtain citizenship, you’ll need to have been: Residing in Australia on a valid visa for the past 4 years or Maintaining permanent residency status (or being an eligible New Zealand citizen) for the preceding 12 months and Remaining outside of Australia for a duration of no more than 12 months within the last 4 years (wi ..read more

People who held a Subclass 457 visa after April 2017, may now be eligible for a new Age Concession to Permanent Residency through the Employer Nomination Scheme (ENS) Permanent Residency Pathway. Recently, a range of other concessions were announced, and we mentioned them in our last blog. The most recent concession allows people of any age to access the ENS pathway to permanent residency, if they: Held a Subclass 457 visa at any time after the 18th April 2017; and Were in Australia for at least 12 months between 1st February 2020 and 14 December 2021. There are a range of other nomination ..read more

On the 25th November 2021, the Immigration Minster announced that there would be some changes to make it easier for certain highly skilled migrants, who were already in Australia working for an employer sponsor, to remain in Australia. The new arrangements apply to people who are in Australia and hold, or have held, either a Subclass 457 or a Subclass 482 Visa, during the period 1st February 2020 and 14th December 2021. The main beneficiaries fall into two categories of visa holders in Australia. Group 1: People who held, or had applied for, a Subclass 457 Visa, on the 18th March 2017.  ..read more

Some Skilled Visa holders will have their visas extended.  These include a particular group of people who have been very concerned about Australia’s travel bans. These people hold a temporary or provisional visa with strict qualifying parameters that can’t be easily repeated.  For example, a Skilled Graduate (Subclass 485) Visa can only be lodged within 6 months of finishing your studies in Australia.  You’re hardly likely to embark on another 4 years of study if you couldn’t take advantage of your graduate visa because of the pandemic!  The Subclass 489 and 491 (Skilled Re ..read more

It’s been a long two years since Australia closed its borders to the world, making inbound and outbound travel very difficult. Yesterday our Prime Minister made the big announcement that everyone has been waiting for. Australia’s borders will re-open to fully vaccinated overseas visitors on the 21st February 2022.   The 21st February 2022 will be the first time that tourists will have been able to freely enter Australia, since the beginning of the pandemic. We anticipate that the border re-opening will signal the gradual recommencement of processing of the thousands of skilled and em ..read more

Now that plans are underway to re-open Australia’s borders, the Immigration Minister has released a range of very welcome and significant announcements which will benefit many of our clients.  At this stage the announcement is just that – a media release.   Before these changes can be implemented,  legislative changes will be made, covering all of the “fine print” not specified in the announcement.  It is only when we have complete clarity on the details, that we will be able to give advice specific to your circumstances. I’ll run through the main announcements here an ..read more

Back in October 2020, we wrote a blog about upcoming significant changes to Partner Visas.  The indicative date for these changes, was suggested to be November 2021.  This was based on information from the Department of Home Affairs at the time. So, when will these changes happen? For the last several months, the Professional Association for Registered Migration Agents, the Migration Institute of Australia, has been trying to seek confirmation that the partner visa changes will occur, and if so, when this might happen. To date, there has been no official confirmation from the Depart ..read more

We’re currently inundated with requests from excited people wanting to hop on the next plane to Australia now that Australia is getting ready to open for business with the rest of the world. News reports include various teasers about travel and border re-opening, all of which indicate that all moves away from restrictions are linked to vaccination uptake in Australia. It’s been a long hard 18 months for lots of people, both in Australia and outside.  And, while most of our clients just want to know when Australia is going to be fully open again, the answer is…. it’s complicated! Here ..read more

If you’re planning to live in Australia long-term, there are definite advantages to becoming an Australian citizen. You’ll be able to leave and return to Australia without restriction or the need for a visa, plus you can apply for an Australian passport, just to name a few. To obtain citizenship, you’ll need to have been: Residing in Australia on a valid visa for the past 4 years or Maintaining permanent residency status (or being an eligible New Zealand citizen) for the preceding 12 months and Remaining outside of Australia for a duration of no more than 12 months within the last 4 years (wi ..read more