Visa Newsletters

November 2005

New Migration Occupations in Demand List (MODL)

From 1 November 2005, 4 new occupations have been added to the MODL, including Mining Engineers, Petroleum Engineers, Chemical Engineers and Dental Specialists. The MODL now includes 35 professional occupations and 26 trade occupations. The MODL list will be reviewed every 6 months from January 2006. Occupations listed on MODL attract extra points for the points-tested visa categories and receive priority processing.

(Note: With a large number of occupations specific to the Health and Resource industries included in the MODL, this represents good news to employers in this industry sector. Please contact our office for a copy of the full list.)

ENS visa for Dependants of NZ Eligible Citizens

From 1 November 2005, holders of a subclass 461 New Zealand Citizen Family Relationship Visa (dependants of NZ citizens but not themselves NZ citizens) are eligible to apply for employer sponsored visas - subclass 855 Labour Agreement visa, 856 Employer Nomination Scheme (ENS) visa, and 857 Regional Sponsored Migration Scheme (RSMS) visa.

e-Health Processing - Online Health Clinics

Online processing of health results is now available in some overseas countries including Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan and United Kingdom. e-Panel clinics are registered with the e-Health System and can complete reports online for transmission to Australia for clearance. This facility is only available to visa applicants that have lodged their applications online, e.g. 457 visa.

New Trade Skills Training Visa - Subclass 471

From 1 November 2005, a new visa allowing non-citizens to undertake an apprenticeship on a full-fee basis in regional Australia is to commence. On successful completion of the apprenticeship, the overseas apprentice will be able to apply for permanent residence through existing regional migration visas such as the Regional Sponsored Migration Scheme (RSMS) visa and State & Territory Nominated Independent (RTNI) visa. For further information, please contact our office.

Student Visa Cancellation under 8202 - Exceptional Circumstances

Effective 8 October 2005 the Migration Regulations 1994 was amended to allow for exceptional circumstances that are beyond a student visa holder's control to be taken into consideration by the Minister prior to cancelling a student visa for a breach of condition 8202. Condition 8202 relates to a student visa holder's enrolment attendance and academic progress

Student Visa - Career Relevance is to be removed

From 1 November 2005, the 'career relevance requirement' relating to student visa applicants from higher immigration risk countries will no longer be required. This amendment removes the career relevance requirement which is highly subjective and may exclude genuine students who may want to retrain or learn new skills, but whose present occupation may be unrelated to the proposed study.

NSW to attract more Skilled Migrants

NSW Premer Morris Iemma announced on 9 November 2005 a major expansion drive to attract skilled migrants to NSW. NSW Government has set a target to double its skilled migrants intake from 350 a year to at least 700. A strong focus will be placed on highly skilled applicants from: finance, IT, biotechnology, pharmaceuticals and film and television.

Business Skills Migration to NSW

NSW Government advised that the quality of applications for State Sponsorship has deteriorated over recent months and urge applicants to submit comprehensive applications. A well researched Business Plan is critical and should include the following: be consistent with the applicant's business history; show primary research by the applicant. e.g.a study visit to NSW is strongly recommended; the assumptions used to derive the financial projections are fully explained.

Victoria - Skilled Independent Regional (SIR) visa - new requirement

One of the SIR visa conditions requires the visa holder/family to live and work in regional Australia for a prescribed period. To ensure compliance of these conditions by the visa holders and assist them with successful settlement in regional Australia, Victoria now requires applicants to demonstrate that they have undertaken thorough research of their chosen regions and their employment prospects within the region, as a requirement for the grant of State Sponsorship. Applicants are therefore encouraged to conduct thorough investigations of their chosen regions prior to applying for State Sponsorship.