Partner visa (Australia) - married or de facto

You could be granted a Subclass 820/801 or Subclass 309/100 Partner visa if:

• Your partner is an Australian citizen, permanent resident or an eligible New Zealand citizen.

• You are married or can show that you have lived together with your partner in a ‘de facto’ relationship for 12 months.

The 12-month cohabitation can be waived if the couple registers their relationship in the state they live in. Relationship registration is only available for people living in certain Australian states.

Relationship registration in Queensland, Victoria, Australian Capital Territory or New South Wales:

The registration process is different in each state and not all states allow couples to register. If you can register your relationship, you can lodge a Subclass 820 partner visa application without having lived together for the 12 months prior to lodging the visa. You must however be living together when your 820 partner visa is lodged.

For example, to register your relationship in New South Wales, you’ll need to prove that neither of you are married and that one of you has lived in NSW for a short period of time. Registering your relationship in NSW is crucial if you have not lived together for 12 months prior to lodging the application.

To register your relationship in Queensland, you’ll need to prove that neither of you are married and that at least one of you has lived in Queensland for a minimum of 6 months. You must register your relationship in Queensland to be able to lodge the Subclass 820 visa, if you have not lived together for the most recent 12 month period.

To register your relationship in Victoria, you’ll need to prove that neither of you are married and that at least one of you has lived in Victoria for a short period. Victorian relationship registration is essential if you have not lived together for the past 12 months.

To register your relationship in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT), you’ll need to show that neither of you are married and that one of you is ‘usually’ resident in the ACT. An ACT relationship registration allows you to apply for a Subclass 820 partner visa if you have not lived together for 12 months.

We can provide detailed information on relationship registration requirements.

Showing evidence of your genuine and ongoing relationship

In relation to a Subclass 820/801 Partner visa application you must be living together when the visa is lodged. You need to show evidence of your shared life, such as financial commitment to one another, shared living and social recognition of your relationship. We help you put together your evidence to demonstrate your commitment to each other.

A permanent residency partner visa straight away

If you have been living your partner for at least 3 years prior to your application – or you have a child together and have lived together for the previous 2 years, you can apply for the Subclass 801 visa straight away (i.e. without having to hold the Subclass 820 (temporary residence) Partner visa first.  It is ultimately at the discretion of the Department as to whether they will grant the permanent residence visa straight away but if you meet either/both of these policy criteria then you have a good chance.

If this does not apply to you, the Subclass 820 visa application must be submitted first before you can apply for permanent residency. Once 24 months has passed since your first visa application, you can then apply for the Subclass 801 permanent residency visa, by showing that you are still a legitimate couple.

Onshore Partner visas and work rights

If you hold an eligible visa and you lodge your Partner visa, you transition on to ‘Bridging Visa A’ or a BVA when the first eligible visa expires. You have full work rights on your BVA, during the partner visa processing time and you can also obtain a temporary Medicare card for medical services.

It should also be noted that if you lodge a partner application whilst holding a 457 visa, you cannot stop working for the sponsor until your Subclass 820 visa is granted.

If you hold a Working Holiday 417 visa and lodge a partner visa, we can help you apply for a work rights wavier, allowing you to remain working longer that the allowed six months, for one employer.

It currently takes the Department approximately 12 - 15 months to process the Partner visa application.

Please contact us if you would like further information, advice and assistance, including an initial consultation. 

.

 

Read More»

Work and Holiday (subclass 462) visa Arrangement with China

Work and Holiday (subclass 462) visa Arrangement with China

Starting from 21 September 2016, the Australian Government reached an agreement with People’s Republic of China to expand eligibility for the Work and Holiday visa (subclass 462) to Chinese Nationals. This enables young, educated Chinese citizens to be able to travel to Australia for work, study or holidaying purposes.

This new addition to the SC 462 Visa programme follows the recent enacted China-Australia Free Trade Agreement (ChAFTA), and is aimed at building on the growing international relationship between both countries. Australia and China are set to jointly benefit from the new changes, which are intended to encourage cultural exchange, and strengthen the connection between nations.

This is also a great platform for overseas visitors to experience living in Australia for an extended period of time (up to 12 months). The ability to work also means that visa holders can experience the Australian work culture and meet potential employers who might be willing to offer a permanent position if the visa holder impresses. The wages from work done will also allow travelers to see more of Australia during the 12 months of stay. At the moment the Australian Government has recently allocated 1,500 places in the Working and Holiday Visa program are going to be open for application, with more places to be released in further stages until the programme reaches its annual cap of 5,000 places.

In addition, the visa allows the holder to:

·         stay in Australia for 12 months from their date of first arrival;

·         work for the 12 month duration of their stay, but for no longer than six months with any one employer; and

·         study for up to four months.

General eligibility requirements for Chinese Work and Holiday visa applicants are:

·         hold a valid Chinese passport;

·         are at least 18 but have not turned 31 years of age at the time an application is lodged;

·         will not be with a dependent child while in Australia;

·         have enough money for support on a working holiday (at least AUD $5000);

·         have enough money to buy a return or onward travel ticket at the end of your stay in Australia;

·         have not previously entered Australia on a Working Holiday visa (subclass 417);

·         hold tertiary qualifications, or have successfully completed at least two years of undergraduate university study;

·         have functional English (equivalent to IELTS 4.5 or higher);

·         meet character and health requirements; and

·         are a genuine visitor.

Read More»

Visa Cancellations and Delays

 

As a result of a concerted and ongoing campaign by the Department of Immigration to cancel visas of persons it believes to be serious criminal offenders, there is now a very large backlog of persons in immigration detention awaiting news of their ultimate fate.

 

Once a visa is cancelled by the Department there is in most cases a right to seek a revocation of that decision, and because of the large numbers of cancellations that have been made there is a correspondingly large number of revocations being sought with the result that significant delays in processing are being experienced.

 

A recent report in The Age newspaper (10 January 2017) indicated that the number of people deported from Australia because of serious criminal convictions has increased more than tenfold since 2014 – with a huge spike in the number of New Zealanders being sent home.

 

The same report indicated that the Commonwealth Ombudsman has recently concluded an investigation into the treatment of persons who have had their visas cancelled and found serious delays in deciding revocation requests meant former prisoners were spending long periods in the above in immigration detention. Not surprisingly, a spokesman for the Minister said the government made no apologies for strengthening deportation laws to ‘further protect the Australian community’.

 

When making a revocation request to the Department it is necessary to carefully consider what information will be included. Issues such as whether there are children or other family members in Australia whose interests will be affected need to be carefully canvassed and focused submissions need to be prepared in a clear and cogent way.

 

While it seems that there will be no relief in terms of delays in processing, persons seeking revocation of a cancellation know that they will have ample time in which to prepare proper submissions and should use this time to their best advantage.

 

Read More»

Kiribati First to Pilot Australia’s Microstate Visa Program

The new program grants a 2-year work visa, restricted to jobs in northern Australia’s agriculture or tourism industries.

December saw the first arrivals in Australia of participants from Kiribati in a new “Microstate Visa.” The program is aimed to the citizens of Nauru, Tuvalu and Kiribati, and carries a different set of regulations to the Seasonal Workers Program available to nine Pacific Island countries, and Timor-Leste. The visa is currently in its pilot stage and will allow 250 people from each of the three countries, over a five year period, a two-year work visa, with the option of applying for a third year.

Kiribati was the first country to sign the agreement with the Australian government. The agreement with Tuvalu is currently awaiting to be sign by both countries. Due to the unique situation in Nauru as the host of Australia’s offshore detention facility, negotiations remain ongoing, but will hopefully be completed in the new year.

While the visa is a positive step in allowing greater access to Australia’s labor market, it does comes with some significant restrictions that limit participants to low-skill labor in agriculture and tourism, with discussions taken place to extend the employment opportunities into elderly care. The other major restriction is that these jobs must be taken in northern Australia. This can be viewed as part of the government’s desire to populate and develop Australia’s northern regions.

Part of the reason for this policy is the unique demands for labor in Australia’s northern regions, where companies have a rapid turnover of staff due to the transitory nature of the way people spend their time there. The Seasonal Workers program utilized by other Pacific Island states only allows for 6 months work with each employer, while European backpackers and southerners escaping the winter are not considered longer term employment prospects. Were this visa to be expanded after the pilot program, then a 2 to 3 year visa for Pacific Islanders may provide greater labor stability in the region.

While Australia may be attempting to facilitate its own labor and development requirements though this scheme, it is also a recognition of the great importance of providing labor market access as a development strategy for the South Pacific region. Being able to work in Australia will not only generate significant remittances to be sent back home, but it will be provide valuable skills for participants who return home after their visas expire.

Significantly, both the Microstate Visa and the Seasonal Workers Program have recently been extended to include tourism. For many of the Pacific Islanders who take the opportunity to work in the Australian agricultural sector, similar sectors or conditions don’t exist in their home countries to utilize their new skills upon returning. However, this is not the case with tourism, a major source of income for most Pacific Islands.

Although the expansion into tourism is welcome, limiting the sectors within which Pacific Islanders can work remains a constraining exercise. While these restrictions may have been created in order to limit the “brain drain” of more highly skilled Pacific Islanders, what they actually do is restrict the “brain circulation” flowing through the islands, preventing participants from developing a broader range of skills that could be of greater assistance to their societies.  New Zealand’s labor program for people from Kiribati, Tuvalu, Tonga and Fiji — the Pacific Access Category — provides permanent residence and simply requires that applicants obtain a job and not rely on public funds, it does not have any restrictions on which sectors these Islanders are able to work in.

The importance of labor mobility and the remittances this generates is increasingly becoming acknowledged as the most effective, and least paternalistic, tool to allow developing countries to improve their situations. Analysis from Australia’s premier foreign policy think tank the Lowy Institute suggests that were Australia to allow just one percent of the population of the South Pacific island nations to work permanently in Australia the benefits to these countries would be greater than Australia’s current aid program in the region.

Aside from migration’s importance for the South Pacific’s development, the threat of climate change also requires an acknowledgement that further migration pathways for these countries are becoming increasingly important measures for their human security. Especially for Tuvalu and Kiribati, the two countries in the South Pacific most under threat from rising sea levels, The Kiribati government has already purchased an area of land in Fiji as an insurance policy against its potential submersion, yet other options need to be explored.

If the pilot program for this new Microstate Visa produces positive results it is highly likely that the Australian government will expand its scope. Hopefully expansion of the program will remove both the regional and employment restrictions in order to increase its positive outcomes. This then could potentially lead to changes in the Seasonal Worker Program to allow citizens of other Pacific Island nations greater access to the Australian labor market.

Source: The Diplomat, 29 DEC 2015

Read More»

Australian Permanent Residency - 'probabtion period' proposed

Visa changes could put migrants on ‘probation’ before being granted permanent residency

Fairfax Media recently published leaked sensitive papers which reveal possible changes to put migrants on probation before being deemed fit for permanent residency and Australian citizenship.

The leaked papers were prepared for a meeting between the Department of Social Services and the Department of Immigration and Border Protection and state how the Turnbull government hopes to save money by delaying welfare and benefits to migrants, such as social security payments which become accessible once permanent residents are granted Australian citizenship.

The changes would involve the creation of a new category of migrants, referred to as ‘provisional migrants’. If the changes were to go ahead, moving existing visa holders to the new category would make it more difficult to obtain a direct pathway to permanent residence and subsequently, Australian citizenship.

“This proposal has the potential to fundamentally change access to social security payments for newly arrived migrants, who already serve a waiting period before access to government services,” the document notes.

The leaked papers also discuss the national security committee and cabinet discussions over the proposal’s potential flaws. It warns that reduced access to social security could be in breach of international obligations and that the reforms could create double standards by treating migrants differently to Australian-born residents. It also questions whether the savings will be as significant as The Department of Immigration and Border Protection expect.

Source: SBS News and Sydney Morning Herald.

Read More»

Victorian State Nominations Closed for ICT Occupations

Due to an influx in State Nomination applications for ICT occupations in Victoria, all applications for the below occupations will be closed from 11 November 2016 - 6 March 2017.

• 135112   ICT Project Manager
• 261111   ICT Business Analyst
• 261112   Systems Analyst
• 261311   Analyst Programmer
• 261312   Developer Programmer
• 261313   Software Engineer
• 261314   Software Tester
• 261399   Software and Applications Programmers nec
• 262111   Database Administrator
• 262112   ICT Security Specialist
• 263111   Computer Network and Systems Engineer

Therefore all applicants who wish to apply for the Victorian State Nomination under the above occupations need to wait until post March 2017.

Read More»

Changes to 457 scheme on the way

It seems that every few years the 457 temporary work visa comes under intense parliamentary and media scrutiny, and we are now at that point again.

In the past few weeks we have seen an intense media campaign highlighting alleged rorts of the system by unscrupulous employers. In addition, possibly reflecting elements of the political agenda of Donald Trump, the opposition leader, Bill Shorten, has introduced a private members bill to review the 457 visa system.

The Migration Amendment (Putting Local Workers First) Bill 2016, calls for stronger testing, stricter licensing criteria for 457 workers and more restrictions for employers.

Not surprisingly, the ACTU is strongly in support of this bill, arguing that the system needs a complete review notwithstanding the fact that a comprehensive review was only recently finalised.

The biggest area of attack on the current scheme is the list of eligible occupations for 457 purposes. This list currently includes 651 occupations which many argue bears little resemblance to areas of general skills shortage.

Adding to the pressure for a further review system is the evidence of exploitation which has surfaced as a result of the 7 Eleven scandal, and more recently, potentially Caltex as well. Typically, employees of these organisations have been either 457 holders, backpackers or students with work rights, and there has been concern that in many cases employers have forced people to work for sub par wages and conditions with veiled threats of possible visa violation charges, and possible deportation if they do not accept terms which have been offered.

A recent statement by the Minister in Parliament makes it clear that the list of occupations will be looked at. Possibly we will also see more stringent labour market testing being introduced in the future.

Employers contemplating sponsoring someone for a 457 visa, or workers hoping to be sponsored should think about making an application as soon as possible prior to any changes being introduced.

 

 

Read More»