Employer Nomination Changes From 1 July

The Department of Immigration has announced that on 1 July 2014, there will be changes to certain employer nomination/regional skilled migration provisions so as to provide greater flexibility to intending applicants.

A major change will be in relation to the policy with regard to the requirements under the Temporary Residence Transition stream when demonstrating 2 years work with the same employer. The Department has recognised that the existing arrangements were too restrictive, particularly where businesses have undergone change in the form of restructures, takeovers and sales.

The updated policy will apply to all applications on hand as at 1July 2014, as well is all applications lodged from this date onward.

The updated policy also provides greater clarity on issues such as ‘periods of continuous employment’, how time spent on a bridging visa is to be dealt with, and how employment is to be treated when the nominee has been working for a number of companies within a group.

Persons wishing to apply for permanent residence under the Temporary Residence Transition stream should seek legal advice prior to lodging an application so as to ensure that their situation will fit within the new policy guidelines.

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Skills assessment validity period - 3 years from the date of issue

Following amendments to the Migration Regulations 1994, from 1 July 2014, if a skills assessment is mandatory as part of a visa application, it will only be valid for a period of 3 years from the date of issue, unless a shorter validity period is specified on the assessment.

A skills assessment must be valid at the time of lodgement for the following visas:

• Direct Entry stream of the Employer Nominated Scheme (subclass 186) visa;
• Direct Entry stream of the Regional Sponsored Migration Scheme (subclass 187) visa; and
• Graduate Work stream of the Temporary Graduate (subclass 485) visa.

A skills assessment must be valid at the time of invitation to apply through SkillSelect for the following visas:

• Skilled—Independent (subclass 189) visa;
• Skilled—Nominated (subclass 190) visa; and
• Skilled Regional (Provisional) (subclass 489) visa.

These changes do not affect the Temporary Work (Skilled)(subclass 457) visa.

 

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Changes to Consolidated Skilled Occupation List (CSOL) - NEW occupations 'Hydrogeologist' & 'Exercise Physiologist'

From 1 July 2014, the following occupations will be added to the CSOL:

Hydrogeologist  (ANZSCO 234413)
Exercise Physiologist (ANZSCO 234915)

The following titles of occupations will be changed:

Ship's Surveyor will be titled Marine Surveyor (ANZSCO 231215)
General Medical Practitioner will be titled General Practitioner (ANZSCO 253111)

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Asylum seeker detention on Manus Island is constitutional, High Court rules

The High Court has unanimously upheld the Federal Government's constitutional right to send asylum seekers to Papua New Guinea. Read more

Questions about this article or immigration matters, please contact our specialist Nevett Ford Immigration team.

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Can You Remember the Dates of Your Previous Trips to the U.S.?

If you are a frequent traveller in and out of the U.S., you may find it difficult to remember the exact dates of your recent arrivals and departures. 

It’s not easy to remember all of these dates, and when you asked to list these dates on a visa application and your mind goes blank. 

Your temporary brain freeze is not a problem anymore and can be resolved in a few minutes.   

Under the new system, every time you enter the U.S. by air or sea your admission is now recorded electronically with Form I-94 by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) at your port of entry.  When you arrive, you are issued an I-94 number and you are given a paper with instructions on how to access the CBP website where you can retrieve an electronic copy of your I-94.  CBP maintains the arrival records in the Nonimmigrant Information System (NIIS).

Furthermore, there is a very handy tool on the website at the login page. 

There are two options:  “Get Most Recent I-94” or “Get Travel History”.  The travel history will reflect all of your arrival and departure dates for the last 5 years.

If you travelled on an older or now expired passport, you can enter those details to obtain their corresponding travel records . 

If you have any questions about this new tool or about U.S. Immigration, contact our specialist U.S. Immigration Attorneys at Nevett Ford.  

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Three new occupations to be added to the Skilled Occupation List (SOL) - chefs, tilers and bricklayers

Chefs, tilers and bricklayers will be added the Skilled Occupation List (SOL) on 1 July 2014, Senators Michaelia Cash and Andrew Robb have announced.  The recommendation to add these occupations was provided by the Australian Workforce and Productivity Agency which works independently of the Government to ensure the composition of the SOL responds to Australia’s changing skills needs.

It was also announced that no existing occupations will be removed from the SOL.

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Sydney public hearings for skilled worker programme inquiry

Federal Parliament’s Joint Standing Committee on Migration is set to hold public hearings in Sydney as part of its inquiry into the Business Innovation and Investment Programme (BIIP).

NSW also nominated 175 migrants for the Significant Investor Visa programme, which will represent a minimum of $262 million in new investment into the state if all are approved. The number of skilled migrants sponsored by NSW doubled in the past financial year.

The BIIP is designed to increase entrepreneurial talent and diversify business expertise in Australia.

Committee Chair Louise Markus said the Business Innovation and Investment Programme has the potential to generate a significant economic benefit to Australia.

“It is important that we encourage the creation of genuine and sustainable business opportunities benefiting both the Australian economy and workforce,” she said.

Details of the public hearings are as follows:

Date: Thursday, 12 June 2014

Location: Corinthian Room, SMC Conference and Function Centre, 66 Goulburn Street, Sydney

Program

9.00 am Chambers of Commerce: roundtable

11.15 am Migration Alliance Inc

1.00 pm Mr John Findley

1.45 pm Mr Christopher Levingston

2.45 pm Financial Services and Funds Management Sector: roundtable

Date: Friday, 13 June 2014

Location: Corinthian Room, SMC Conference and Function Centre, 66 Goulburn Street, Sydney

Program

9.00 am Migration Institute of Australia

9.45 am Managing Global Migration Research Group

10.45 am Australian Private Equity and Venture Capital Association

11.30 am Immigration Solutions Lawyers

Members of the public are welcome to attend. For more details, visit the Committee’s website: http://www.aph.gov.au/mig

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