The Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC) has announced changes to eHealth (electronic health) arrangements which will be effective from 1 August 2011.

There are two changes to the 100% eHealth arrangements being implemented on 1 August 2011:

• Applicants in certain countries/areas will need to lodge their visa application prior to completing medicals
• Applicants for Employer-sponsored visas (subclass 457, 856 or 857 visa) in these countries/areas will be exempt from this arrangement and will still able to undertake medicals prior to lodgement

From 1 August 2011, if you reside in:

Bangladesh, Brazil, Colombia (Bogota region only), Hong Kong, Ireland, Macau, Malaysia, Nepal, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, United Kingdom and Vietnam.

You must lodge your visa application before you can attend to visa medicals. Your visa processing officer at the Department of Immigration will give you either a “Health Examinations List” or a client identifier (known as a “HAP ID” or “Health Request ID”) which you must then provide to the panel clinic.

The main advantage with the eHealth system is that your medicals can be processed very quickly – usually within 48 hours. You are no longer required to complete medical forms and your results cannot be ‘lost in the mail’ as they are sent electronically.

Other countries offer eHealth processing, and you can find further information here.

If you wish to discuss how these changes may affect your application with Australian Migration & Visa Lawyers, please contact one of our Registered Migration Agents.

Western Australia (WA) has featured frequently in the headlines this week with the WA Government welcoming a decision to reclassify Perth as a region area for migration purposes, aiming to attract skilled foreign workers to the city. The follow article "State wants more help in labour hunt" recently featured in The West Australian.

The West Australian revealed yesterday that Perth was to be classified a regional employment "hardship" area alongside towns such as Karratha and Port Hedland as an extraordinary measure to attract workers to the city.

The move will ease the way for businesses to bring in more skilled and semiskilled foreign workers to fill jobs including child care, aged care and scaffolding.

But Mr Moore took another shot at Canberra for not making more changes, including expanding the types of jobs that qualified for work visas, expanding the use of working holiday and student visas, reducing the minimum international English language test score and reviewing the new points test for the skilled migration program.

To read the full article, click here. Or to read a related article on these changes click here to be taken to our blog.

Australian Migration & Visa Lawyers has a team of friendly, professional Registered Migration Agents (RMA) who would be happy to explain these changes and your potential for living and working in Perth and Western Australia. To speak to one of our RMA's visit our contact us page.