A slight shift in priorities will see 700 places taken from the skilled program and added instead to the Family program. The government continues to treat migration as a revenue source, announcing a doubling of 457 application fees, to $900 per application.  This change will raise an extra $46 million mainly from sponsoring businesses.

Other changes include an enhancement of the Department of Immigration’s capability to detect and minimise identity and document fraud, and improvements to communications that increase consumers’ understanding of their rights.
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Blog by Philip Duncan, Registered Migration Agent (MARN) 0427769 and Director at AMVL Migrations.

The Immigration Department has released a new list of unacceptable travel documents and passport, and there’s some real beauties on there, in amongst some old favorites. The ‘Knights of Malta’ passport, is not going to get you into Australia, nor the ‘Hutt River Province’ passport (poor old Prince Leonard). Now that the Australian government has clamped down, maybe Mossad will have to resort to one of those. My favourites are the ‘World Service Authority’ passport, and the ‘Planetary Passport’ issued by the World Association of World Federalists. I wonder if Bob Brown has one? But I’m really surprised that that the Disneyland® Resort Annual Passport is not on the list.  Maybe the Magic Kingdom is a little more real than we thought.

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Blog by Philip Duncan, Registered Migration Agent (MARN) 0427769 and Director at AMVL Migrations.

Immigration continue to release information about upcoming 457 visa changes, adding details to the Minister’s announcement late last week. The changes do not seem to be as bad as originally suggested. They will come into effect the 1st of July, and will include:

• The introduction of a genuineness criterion under which the department may refuse a nomination if the position does not fit within the scope of the activities of the business.
• The removal of English language exemptions for certain positions. 
• Enhanced regulatory powers for the department to ensure that the working conditions of sponsored visa holders meet Australian standards and are not undercutting local workers.
• Amendments to existing training benchmark provisions to clarify that an employer’s obligation to train Australians is ongoing for for the life of their approved sponsorship.
• Amendments to clarify that 457 workers may not be on-hired to an unrelated entity unless they are sponsored under a labour agreement.

Fortunately it looks like labour market testing will not be re-introduced, as it may breach some of Australia’s international trade agreements. We applaud the decision, but for different reasons – it is an ineffective process laden with red tape.
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