What is the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Accreditation Council (ANMAC)? How is it different from the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia (NMBA)?

ANMAC is responsible for making an assessment on an applicant’s work experience and qualifications to determine the applicant’s suitability for skilled migration. A health professional would obtain the migration skills assessment from ANMAC before lodging a visa application.

NMBA is the registration body in Australia which manages the registration of nurses and midwives in Australia. It is compulsory for nurses and midwives to be registered in Australia. You cannot work in Australia as a nurse or midwife unless you are registered with NMBA. NMBA also sets policies and standards for the nursing and midwifery profession.

In summary, you will need to:

• apply for the skills assessment with ANMAC to apply for Australian work visas or the General Skilled Migration visas; and
• apply for registration with NMBA to work as a nurse or midwife in Australia.

Nevett Ford Lawyers (Melbourne) can provide advice and assistance.  Please call us today to speak to an experienced team of immigration lawyers and registered migration agents.

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Expert review of the 457 temporary skilled migration income threshold

Mr John Azarias has been appointed to undertake an evidence-based review of the Temporary Skilled Migration Incomes Threshold (TSMIT).

The review was recommended by the Independent Review into Integrity in the Subclass 457 Programme.

The review will consider a range of issues including the factors that should determine the settings, the appropriate base level, and the roles of indexation and regional concessions for the TSMIT.

The TSMIT defines the salary threshold for jobs that can be filled by a 457 visa holder and is designed to protect Australian workers and ensure that visa holders are undertaking skilled employment.

The Government has brought forward the review as part of an agreement with the Opposition to ensure the passage through Parliament of legislation to implement the landmark China-Australia Free Trade Agreement.

Mr Azarias will provide a report to Government at the end of April 2016. As recommended by the 457 Integrity Review, the TSMIT will be retained at $53,900.00 until the findings of the review are considered by Government.

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Lee Case Overturned Clarifying Appeal Rights for 457 Refusals

As a result of the 2014 Lee case (Minister for Immigration and Border Protection v Lee [2014] FCCA 2881), the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) has had no jurisdiction to review 457 visa refusals unless there was an approved nomination at the date the appeal was lodged.

This was a significant barrier to appealing refused 457s, particularly where the reason for refusal of the 457 was an issue with the nomination.

 

The Lee case has been overturned by the Full Federal court in Ahmad v Minister for Immigration and Border Protection [2015] FCAFC 182. As a result, it is now possible to lodge an appeal for a 457 refusal where at the date of the appeal:

• There is an approved nomination; or
• A nomination application is still pending; or
• There is a refused nomination, but the nomination has also been appealed to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) (formerly the 'Migration Review Tribunal (MRT)'.

However, it appears that it would not be possible to appeal a 457 visa refusal if:

• A nomination has been refused, but not appealed to the MRT; or
• A nomination has previously been approved, but has now expired.

 

 

 

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Self Sponsorship for 457 Visas

Changes have been made to the Australian immigration policy document (known as the Policy Advice Manual (PAM)) for 457 nominations which means that self-sponsorship is now very difficult. The changes are in relation to the "genuine position" requirement for the nomination. As a result, the nomination would be refused on the basis that the position has been created just to facilitate a visa application.

 

Immigration has set out the following "risk factors" which could indicate the position is not genuine

• Visa applicant is a director or owner of the sponsoring business;
• Visa applicant is a relative or personal associate of an officer of the sponsoring business;

Immigration will wish to see an ASIC historical extract with the application - this would give information on the company owners and directors, and so assist in establishing whether the visa applicant is associated with a company officer. Sponsors must also declare who the company officers and shareholders are in the application for sponsorship approval.

The policy document specifically mentions that the application will be scrutinised if an overseas business is being used to "self-sponsor" a business owner to establish a branch in Australia. The stated reason is to prevent the 457 program from being used to 'circumvent' the Business Innovation and Investment (Subclass 188) program.

  

Based on these changes, "self-sponsorship" is not recommended. 

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Offences Introduced for Charging Visa Applicants for Employer Sponsorship

Offences Introduced for Charging Visa Applicants for Employer Sponsorship

The Migration Amendment (Charging for a Migration Outcome) Act 2015 has been passed and came into effect from 14 December 2015.


This legislation makes it illegal for a benefit to be given by a visa applicant to another person in return for a "sponsorship-related event". Effectively, this means that if a visa applicant pays an employer to sponsor them, the following can result:

• Refusal of a visa application - applicants must now declare that they have not paid for sponsorship, and this could result in Public Interest Criteria (PIC) 4020 refusal and a 3 year re-entry ban;
• Cancellation of the visa applicant's visa - even if this did not require employer sponsorship;
• Significant fines to the employer - up to $324,000 for a corporation
• Jail sentence of up to 2 years for the visa applicant, as well as a fine of up to $64,800 for individuals;
• Fines for company officers and directors who allow payment for sponsorship to occur due to recklessness or negligence, or if they know about it.

The above offences apply to 457 visas, but also apply to other visa types, including:

• Employer Nomination Scheme (ENS) Subclass 186;
• Regional Sponsored Migration Scheme (RSMS) Subclass 187;
• Temporary Work (Long Stay Activity) Subclass 401;
• Training and Research Subclass 402 (Research stream);
• Entertainment Subclass 420; and
• Superyacht Crew Subclass 488.

There are both criminal offences (which require proving the person's state of mind) as well as civil offences which do not require proof that the person acted knowingly.
"Benefits" which are prohibited include:

• Payments or valuable consideration
• Deductions - for example from a person's salary
• Real or Personal Property
• An advantage, service or a gift
• Payment of reasonable fees to a migration advisor is exempt from the above provisions

"Sponsorship related events" which are prohibited include:

• Applying for approval as a sponsor, renewing this, or not withdrawing an application
• Applying for nomination
• Employing or engaging a person to work or perform an activity, or not terminating a person

This legislation makes it clear that people paying an employer to sponsor them for a visa are acting contrary to the legislation and the consequences are severe.

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Working Holiday Visa (Subclass 417) - Slovak Republic & Slovenia added to list of eligible countries

Slovak Republic and Slovenia have been added to the list of eligible countries for Working Holiday Visas (subclass 417).

Applications from eligible Slovak Republic and Slovenia citizens should be lodged at, or posted to:

Australian Embassy, Berlin, Germany

Visa Office

Wallstrasse 76-79

D-10179 Berlin, GERMANY

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Entrepreneur visa

Minister Dutton has announced a new Entrepreneur visa to encourage and attract innovators and entrepreneurs to come to or stay in Australia.  The new visa is one of a number of strategies under the newly announced National Innovation and Science Agenda.

The new visa will assist in retaining highly educated and talented foreign students who have gained their knowledge base in Australia.  Graduates with STEM subject qualifications (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) or specific ICT and related fields will benefit from the new visa. A pathway to permanent residence will be facilitated for foreign student graduates from these disciplines with specialised doctorate level and Masters-by-research qualifications.

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