For nominations under the Temporary Skills Shortage (“TSS”) Program, labour market testing is required.  What this involves will change for nominations lodged after 30 September 2020. 

From 1 October 2020, unless exempted or relating to a select position or select...

In its Economic and Fiscal Update in July the Government announced intended amendments to the eligibility for New Zealand citizens applying for a subclass 189 Skilled Independent visa.  It states:

"The Government will reduce the income eligibility requirement for the Ne...

The Department of Home Affairs created a new portal for requests for exemption from the Australian border closures.  If you submitted a request prior to Friday 17 July 2020 and have still not received a response you will need to submit a new request through the portal.

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The Australian government is now restricting the number of international arrivals permitted per day into Australian airports.  In Sydney this is limited to 350 people per day and a maximum of 30 people per flight.  This will place great pressure on people trying to tra...

Since Saturday 18 July the NSW Government is now charging international travellers who arrive in Sydney for their hotel quarantine accommodation. Travellers who purchased their flights before 11.59 pm 12 July 2020 AEST will not be charged.

The fees charged are...

State and territory governments have the capability to nominate applicants under the subclass 190 and 491 programs based on expressions of interest lodged through Skillselect.  Each state and territory are provided with a particular allocation of the number of nominati...

It is common for application fees to increase on 1 July each year.  The Administrative Appeals Tribunal has announced that its application fee will increase to $1,826 for migration decisions other than protection visa application reviews.

It is generally good practice t...

With face to face citizenship ceremonies having been cancelled due to COVID-19, the Department of Home Affairs has introduced online citizenship ceremonies through a secure video link.  Ceremonies held online are one-on-one with the presiding officer from the Departmen...

The Red Cross has announced that it will be receiving funding from the Australian Government for the next six months to deliver emergency relief and casework support to temporary visa holders.

The funds have not yet been received and the Red Cross will work as quickly a...

The Australian Government have announced a new stream for a subclass 408 visa which is referred to as the COVID-19 Pandemic stream.  

There is no application fee for the sc408 visa application under this stream.  To be eligible you must be:

- in Australia and u...