Employer Penalties:
Since 2007, it has been a criminal offence to employ a non-citizen who is not allowed to work in Australia. These offences apply to employers, labor hire companies, employment agencies, and anyone who allows illegal workers to work, or refers illegal workers for work.
On 1 June 2013, new laws introduced civil penalties and infringement notices for businesses that allow illegal work. The law also broadens who can be held liable and provides new evidence gathering powers. Criminal penalties remain.
The new penalties apply where...
Wednesday, 27 May 2015
Corporate Visa Lawyers - 457, 186, 400 visas
Nevett
Ford Lawyers Melbourne offers in-depth experience and flexible solutions to
even the most complex cases to develop a customized service model. This model
is highly tailored to your corporate culture and ensures that they are in
compliance.
Our
comprehensive consulting and compliance services include:
Providing assistance with the
development of internal immigration policies.
Evaluating compliance issues.
Assessing the immigration impact of a
merger or acquisition.
Developing immigration solutions.
In
addition to...
Notice of changes to Visa Application Charges
Notice of changes to
Visa Application Charges
As part of the
2015-16 Commonwealth Budget, the Government is introducing an increase,
effective from 1 July 2015, to a number of Visa Application Charges (VACs).
The proposed
adjustments to the VACs, which come into effect on 1 July 2015, include:
A price increase in
line with inflation (2.3 per cent) to specific visas within the Permanent
Migration Skill Stream, Skilled Graduate, Temporary Long Stay Business (Subclass 457), Visitor and Student visa
streams.
A 5 per cent...
New work and holiday agreement with Slovak Republic
Young Australians and Slovaks can now explore and work in
each other’s countries under a reciprocal work and holiday visa arrangement
announced today by the Minister for Foreign Affairs, the Hon Julie Bishop and
Assistant Minister for Immigration and Border Protection, Senator the Hon
Michaelia Cash.
Minister Bishop, who met and signed the agreement with Slovak Deputy Prime
Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs Miroslav Lajčák during his three-day
visit, said the new arrangement demonstrated the constructive and positive relationship
between...
Fake couples and social security payments
Fake couples fraudulently claiming social security payments,
or committing migration fraud, are to be targeted nationally under a blitz to
be unveiled this week.
A new data-matching program will be launched to expose couples in
“contrived” marriages who are receiving welfare individually, and legitimate
couples who claim to be single so they can fleece taxpayer money.
The Federal Government crackdown will involve the departments of
Immigration and Border Protection, and Human Services, with welfare recipients
who are on single...
Tuesday, 26 May 2015
Changes to Citizenship Act - Opportunity to comment
The Australian Prime Minister and the Minister for Immigration and Border
Protection announced on 27 May 2015 that the Commonwealth Government intends to update
the Australian Citizenship Act 2007 to include provisions to revoke the
Australian citizenship of dual nationals who engage in acts of terrorism.
The new powers will apply to dual citizens who fight with or support groups
such as ISIL or Daesh, as well as so-called 'lone wolves' and will apply
whether the terrorism occurs in Australia or on foreign soil.
The...
Monday, 25 May 2015
EB-5s and U.S. Visas in the Latest News
Latest EB-5 Trends:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/andyjsemotiuk/2015/05/21/whats-trending-in-the-u-s-eb-5-investor-immigration-worl...
New Tool to Look Up LCA and Salary Information– “U.S. Visa Explorer”
Interesting
Statistics on the Number of LCAs and Salary Comparison for Major Companies:
http://fusion.net/story/138693/this-tool-lets-you-search-salary-data-for-thousands-of-foreign-born-tech-worker...
Thursday, 21 May 2015
Partner visa - fee increase
The Australian Department of Immigration & Border Protection (DIBP) will increase some partner visa application fees from 1 July 2015, as follows:
Propective Marriage (subclass 300) visa
Price now: $4,630 (primary applicant)
Price from 1 July 2015: $6,865
Partner (subclass 309/100) visa
Price now: $4,630 (primary applicant)
Price from 1 July 2015: $6,865
The price for Partner (subclass 820/801) visa remains the same.
We suggest that you get in contact with us if you have been considering lodgement of a Partner based visa as...
Monday, 18 May 2015
English Language Relaxation
The Department of Immigration has implemented the new relaxed English Language Criteria. Effective 18 April 2015 the following English Language criteria apply;
457 Visa: 5 overall in IELTS with no score less than 4.5
485 & 476 Visa: 6 overall with no score less than 5...
2015 Netball World Cup - two visa subclasses
Two visa classes prescribe no Visa Application Charge (VAC) (visa fee) for participants of the 2015 Netball World
Cup, Subclasses 400 and 600.
Subclass 400 and 600 both define 2015 Netball World Cup participants as
including:
Qualifying Teams;
Team Officials;
Technical officials and umpires
Official delegates attending
the International Netball Federation Congress and
International Netball Federation Board and Panels.
Subclass 400...
English Language Scores for subclass 485 visa applicants applying as Accountants
With the Department of Immigration & Border Protection (DIBP) reducing the English
language marks required from 6,6,6,6 in IELTS to 6 average (minimum of 5 in
each band) and there being an equivalent lower score required in the other
English tests (OET, PTE, TOEFL, Cambridge), it is important to remember that
you STILL need to meet the English marks of whatever assessing body is used for
your nominated occupation.
For example with
Accountants, it has been confirmed that at this stage a mark of 6,6,6,6 (or
equivalent in...
Working Holiday visa changes
The Department of Immigration and
Border Protection is currently in the process of making a change to the second
Working Holiday (subclass 417) visa initiative, to exclude volunteer work
activities, such as Willing Workers on Organic Farms (WWOOF), from its
eligibility framework. However, this change will take some time to introduce,
and is not yet in effect, so it does not impact upon current second Working
Holiday visa applications.
When the Department
knows the exact date of implementation for the change, it will be announced
publicly...
Working Holiday Makers to pay more tax
The Federal Government will save hundreds of millions of dollars by
increasing visa application fees and forcing some foreigners working in
Australia to pay more tax.
From July 2016, those on a working holiday in Australia will no longer
enjoy a tax free threshold of up to $18,200, and will instead be forced to pay
32.5 per cent tax from their first dollar earned.
That measure will save the budget $540 million over four years.
Treasurer Joe Hockey said the measure was fair and aimed at
"levelling the playing field".
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-05-12/budget-2015-working-holiday-crackdown-to-yield-millions/6464330
(Source:...
Sunday, 17 May 2015
Where Australia's immigrants were born
http://www.sbs.com.au/news/map/where-australias-immigrants-were-born-melbourne
SOURCE: SBS online (Australian Bureau of Statistics – 2011 Censu...
Thursday, 14 May 2015
The Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) and Will it Significantly Impact U.S. Immigration?
With negotiations well under way whether to grant the Trade
Promotion Authority, questions about the affects on U.S. immigration linger:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/stuartanderson/2015/05/12/the-controversy-over-immigration-and-new-trade-authorit...
What do the 2016 U.S. presidential hopefuls think about immigration reform?
Looking ahead to the 2016 Presidential elections in U.S.,
views on immigration vary amongst the potential candidates:
http://www.usnews.com/news/politics/articles/2015/05/07/a-look-at-where-the-2016-hopefuls-stand-on-immigrati...
U.S. Immigration Relief for Nepalese Citizens
In the wake of the devastating earthquakes to hit Nepal over
the past 2 weeks, USCIS has instituted immigration relief measures for affected
citizens of Nepal. Included in these
measures are expedited processing for several immigration benefits as well as
consideration of fee waivers for some applications. Senator Ben Cardin, Ranking Member of the
Senate Foreign Relations Committee has also requested that the Administration
provide Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Nepalese nationals present in the
U.S. and cannot return home due...
Significant Investor and Premium Investor Programme Changes Announced
The Government has provided details today of the new complying
investment framework for the Significant Investor Visa (SIV) and Premium
Investor Visa (PIV) programme which it hopes to implement from 1 July 2015.
The aim of the new requirements is to encourage investment into
innovative Australian ideas and emerging companies. Austrade will also become a
nominator for the SIV, alongside State and Territory Governments, and
interestingly, the sole nominator for the PIV.
Under the new framework, SIV applicants will be required to invest...
Tuesday, 12 May 2015
2015 Budget Immigration Highlights
2015 Budget Immigration Highlights:
Funding to international
aid reduced by a further $1 billion from 2014-15
$14.5 million being
allocated in 2015-16 for an expansion of the Adult Migration English
Program to include refugees on temporary visas
$22.1 million over
four years to support young people from refugee and migrant backgrounds to
build skills to improve their participation in education and work ( in
Social Services portfolio)
Funding to
international aid reduced by a further $1 billion...
1 July 2015 - Visa fees change
Visa Application Charges (VACs) will change from 1 July 2015.
The cgovernment has announced that the changes will fund investment in a number of improvements to support stronger borders and national security initiatives.
These adjustments include:
• A price increase in line with inflation (2.3 per cent) on visas which face strong international competition or have been impacted by recent price increases. o These include specific visas
within the Permanent Migration Skill Stream, Skilled Graduate, Temporary Long Stay Business (Subclass...
Foreign Investment in Australia - Federal Government Budget update
BUDGET UPDATE - Foreign Investment in Australia
As part of the Federal Budget, the Government has announced it will:
strengthen the foreign
investment framework to ensure investors play by the rules and that
foreign investment is always in the national interest by introducing a
robust regulatory framework reflecting changing demands which is essential
to maintaining community support and a welcoming investment environment.
the Australia Taxation Office (ATO) will be given
responsibility for regulating foreign...
White Paper - Developing Northern Australia
Developing Northern Australia and Tasmania
A White Paper on Developing Northern Australia will be released
later this year.
Strengthen Northern Australia by establishing a $5 billion Northern Australia
Infrastructure Facility that will be available for major infrastructure
projects like ports, railways, pipelines and electricity generation.
$100 million to improve the
roads and supply chains involved in getting cattle to market.
The Government is delivering on
creating a stronger, more competitive Tasmanian economy.
The...
Visa Application Charges (VAC) increases
Visa Application Charges (VAC) increases
The Government will raise $437.1 million in revenue over four
years by adjusting the visa application charge (VAC) for a range of visas from
1 July 2015 and by moving to full cost recovery for citizenship costs from 1
January 2016.
VACs for all visa applications made overseas will increase to
align them with application charges in Australia, with the exception of Child
Visas, for which domestic VACs will be reduced to match overseas VACs. This
measure will also increase VACs for a range of visas.
VAC...
Sunday, 10 May 2015
Trades Recognition Australia (TRA) - Job Ready Program - Child Care Centre Managers
Important information for Child Care Centre
Managers applying for Step 2 of the Job Ready Program
The purpose of the Job Ready Employment step is to enable you to gain
experience in an Australian workplace to further develop skills relevant to your
nominated occupation.
It is your responsibility to find your own employment.
Please consider the information below before registering for Job Ready
Employment as a Child Care Centre Manager.
Child Care Centre Managers are responsible for:
directing...
Wednesday, 6 May 2015
Volunteer work to be abolished for second working holiday visa
As announced by Senator Cash, volunteer work is to be excluded
from the eligibility framework for second Working Holiday visas.
The Department has advised that this change will take some time to
implement and until this change can be bought into effect, the eligibility
criteria for second Working Holiday visas remains unchanged at this time.
http://www.minister.immi.gov.au/michaeliacash/2015/Pages/strengthening-integrity-in-working-holiday-visa-programme.as...
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