12 August 2018 The following alterations/additions have been made to the current LMT requirements for employers: LMT must be for a minimum of 4 weeks be undertaken in the 4 months immediately prior to lodgement salary must be advertised unless higher than $96,400 skills and experience must be advertised alternative arrangements are available for positions annual earnings over $250,000 Advertising […]
12 August 2018 From 12 August 2018 employers wishing to nominate skilled overseas workers will need to make a contribution to the Skilling Australia Fund (SAF). The amount your business needs to pay depends on the type of visa and the annual turnover of the sponsoring business. Businesses nominating a skilled worker for a Subclass […]
1 July 2018 Breaking News – Pool and Pass Mark for GSM will increase to 65 points from the 1st July. In the last year we saw a lower number of invitations issued by the Australian Government whilst the points score required to receive an invitation continued to increase. English scores have now become more important […]
1 July 2018 Department of Immigration Visa application fees are set to increase for a number of visas lodged on or after 1 July. For many visa types the visa application fees have been increased in line with CPI. Changes for some common visa types are below: Visa Type Current Fee From 1 July 2018 […]
1 June 2018 The closure of the Class UY visa, which consists of one visa subclass, the Subclass 405 (Investor Retirement) visa, was announced in the 2018-19 Federal Budget, as part of the establishment of a pathway to permanent residence for current holders of the Retirement (Temporary)(Class TQ) visas and the Class UY visa. Current […]
22 May 2018 The Skilling Australians Fund Bill 2017 has been passed by the Parliament and was given Royal assent on 22 May 2018. The current issue is what date the Act will commence, as no specific commencement date was included with the Act. If no proclamation is made, the Act will automatically come into effect 6 […]
9 May 2018 Following plans for the Senate to vote for a disallowance motion, the Turnbull government has done a complete backflip on it’s changes to the Assurance of Support system announced last month. These changes would have doubled the income requirement for parent sponsors. There are plans to rewrite the legislative instrument before May […]
1 April 2018 Income Threshold for Assurers The Assurance of Support scheme, which allows Australian citizens to support newly-arrived migrants, has been changed to lift the earning threshold. The complex new formula involves multiplying the Newstart Allowance by the number of people earning income and the number of people they’re supporting. If a couple in Australia […]
18 March 2018 From 18 March it is no longer possible to apply for a 457 Temporary Skilled Work visa, or apply for 457 Sponsorship or lodge a 457 Nomination. The new 482 Temporary Skills Shortage visa commenced on 18 March and replaces the 457 category. Read more about the changes on the DOHA website […]
17 January 2018 The following occupations were added to the STSOL: Property Manager 612112 Psychotherapist 272314 Real Estate Representative 612115 The following occupations moved from the STSOL to the MLTSSL: Horse Breeder 121316 Management Consultant 224711 The following occupations were removed: Building Associate 312112 Hair or Beauty Salon Manager 142114 Read more about the changes […]
1 February 2018 From 1 February 2018, the cost of annual living amounts will increase in line with Australia’s consumer price index. This will mostly affect Student visa applicants, but will also apply to other temporary residence visas. From this date, every application where evidence of funds is required should include the updated cost of […]
18 November 2017 From 18 November 2017 all Partner visa applications must be lodged online. Paper applications received at any office after this date will be invalid.