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Government issues “boutique” visas in areas with skills shortage

The Australian government is offering “boutique” visa deals in regions with niche skills shortages as revealed by an SBS report. The areas of Northern Queensland and Goldfields in Western Australia’s southeast are two regions that will benefit the most in the upcoming months. According to the report there have already been 322 special labour agreements in place with certain businesses and industries across the country, but the Minister for Citizenship Alan Tudge wants to go further and do arrangements on the basis of geographical locations. “In the Goldfields, they’ve got a shortage of drillers. They’ve got a shortage of people who can work on some of the nearby farms and we want to be able to ensure that those skills gaps can be met so that those businesses can continue to grow.” “In North Queensland, they’ve got a thriving tourism industry and they’ve got requirements for things like Chinese-speaking scuba diving instructors,” Mr Tudge told SBS News. What exactly is a boutique visa?   Boutique visas are arrangements that are granted at the government’s discretion when there are vacancies for certain positions that cannot be filled locally or by Australian citizens and the job isn’t within the Skills Shortage List of more than 600 occupations eligible for skilled visa categories. It is necessary for companies to demonstrate that they are unable to acquire local workers for the positions by publicizing nationally first. In the majority of the cases, visa holders are given a pathway to permanent residency. “The good thing about the arrangements of the boutique visas is that it allows to have a personalised arrangement with each company but helps keep the structure same as we are prioritising Australians first as the company needs to show that there is no Australian available to fill the position and it still needs to satisfy the criteria set out in the agreement,” said Mr Tudge. The visa deals are expected to be in place by the end of this year. One of the centres out of the dozen that have been granted visas, is the Melbourne aged care centre Fronditha Care to boost staff numbers. 22 Greek aged care workers have been employed by the centre so far and the centre has also been granted an extra 60 visas known as the TSS (Temporary Skill Shortage) visa – to hire more bilingual staff. According to the centre’s CEO George Lekakis, “They’re able to relate to our residents. They also help with the transfer of information to other colleagues who don’t speak Greek.” According to Mr Tudge there is going to be a significant demand for Greek-speaking personal carers because there are about 27,000 people in Australia of Greek heritage who do not speak English and they are typically all above the age of 60. Dozens of elderly Greek migrants call Fronditha care centre their home. These residents have reverted to their first language as they have aged and so having staff that speaks the language helps in the communication. “The Greek language builds trust with the residents.” “If someone is irritated, agitated or in extreme cases, aggressive, the language can calm them down,” Greek care worker Dimitra Xexaki said. Contact Us if you wish to find out more   Guest blog by Mckkrs
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First Round of Invitations for Skilled Visas

First Round of Invitations for Skilled Visas It is expected that applicants who have submitted their EOI (Expression of Interest) for a 189 Visa (Skilled Independent) or the 489 Visa (Skilled Regional Provisional) will receive an invitation these days as the next invitation round was anticipated to start on 11 July 2018. Looking back at previous invitations rounds starting in a new migration year (after July 1st each year) have generally seen a higher volume of invitations. While the minimum pass marked was increased to 65 points on July 1, many invitations in previous invitation rounds were issued to applicants with about 70 – 75 points even. Those with higher points will be invited to apply for the visa first. Applicants with the same score will receive their invitations based on the time they reached their score for the visa. The latest invitation round results currently officially published on the Department of Home Affairs’ website are those from 20 June 2018. You might also be interested in: SkillSelect – From EOI to Invitation New Visa – Global Talent Scheme Migrants now need more points for skilled migration to Australia Victoria welcomes skilled visa applications Contact Us
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8 Reasons Why Studying In Australia Isn’t As Rosy As It Seems

With students from all over the globe choosing to study in various parts of the country, Australia is ranked as one of the most student friendly countries in the world. Though everyone mentions the beaches and the sunny days, no one really talks about the struggles one faces as an international student in a new country. Here is a list of a few:   1. Tuition Fee: As an international student, you are required to pay an extremely high tuition fee which is sometimes almost 3-4 times the cost of the tuition fee of your local classmates, enrolled in the same course and same class as you. Being international does come with a price.   2. Loneliness: When the initial high of being in a new country dies down, the reality hits and so does loneliness. The noise and hustle that would be annoying back home, is suddenly the one thing you crave the most. There is no one to look out for you, you need to look after yourself which can be a huge change for any international student living away from home.   3. Public Transport: The public transport in Australia may be comfortable to sit on but not as comfortable on your pocket as an international student. This is another aspect of an international student’s life where they face silent discrimination on having to pay twice the amount for public transport as their local counterparts.   4. Work: Finding work can be an extreme uphill task for any international student causing a vast number of students to end up working for employers who exploit them by paying them way below the minimum wage (and making it sound like a favour). Since international students are new to the country and completely unaware about the law, they are often exploited on the job market by scrupulous employers.   5. Food: Grocery shopping is expensive in Australia. EXPENSIVE. A person spends $150-200 on weekly groceries as most of them don’t know how to handle their money or probably don’t know how to cook. This can be a lot of money for any international student , specially those with no part-time job and already having to pay  a huge amount on tuition.   6.Cultural Shock: As an international student coming to live in a new country thousands of miles away from home is a pretty scary feeling. On coming to a new country adjusting to the lifestyle and trying to make friends can be a real difficult task. As a lot of international students say meeting Australians and becoming a part of their friend circle are two different things altogether as unlike in countries like the UK and US where people move away from home to study, most Australian students prefer to study near home, and so already have their friends and a fixed group of friends.   7. Lack of guidance: Though there are abundant sources to help International students, most of the students aren’t aware about them because of lack of guidance. Many international students only find out about the support systems around them by their final year or sometimes even after they graduate. It is because of this that a lot of students spend their time abroad getting frustrated by the lack of opportunities and sources available to them.   8. Graduation ceremony? Unless you have studied for a degree for two years or more, an international student is not eligible for post study work rights, because of which a lot of international students have to come back to Australia on a visitor visa just to attend their graduation ceremony, which sometimes happen 4-6 months after the actual release of results. This can be really annoying and causes a lot of hassle.
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What Happens To Your PR If Your Relationship Breaks Down?

The breaking of a relationship can be extremely painful and traumatic but for some people there is added pressure of worrying about their visa status. If you are in Australia on a Temporary Partner Visa such as the 820 Visa or the 309 Visa, a relationship breakdown will have an impact. According to the Department of Immigration & Border Protection they must be informed if the relationship ends before a decision has been on the Permanent Partner Visa application (801 visa and subclass 100 visa). Once informed, the department will ask the sponsor (the ex-partner) to formally withdraw the application for sponsorship. The applicant will then be notified about the sponsorship being withdrawn and provide them with an opportunity to explain the circumstances leading to the break up of the relationship. It may also be an opportunity to be given a chance to stay in Australia independently of your sponsor. Therefore it is extremely essential to keep the DIBP informed about the up-to-date contact details, including postal address. After the withdrawal of the sponsorship, the sponsor will not be informed about the progress of any other visa applications that the applicant might make, because of privacy laws. If a relationship ends an applicant may still be eligible to stay in Australia. The most important example is of victims of domestic violence. A victim of domestic violence does not have to stay I an abusive relationship to protection their immigration status as the Family Violence provisions under the Migration Regulations apply under the following circumstances: 1. You are on a Partner Visa (309 or 820) or have gotten married to your spouse while on a Prospective Marriage Visa 2. Your children or you have suffered from family violence; and the relationship has ended. According to the Migration Regulations family violence is defined as “conduct, either actual or threatened, towards: The alleged victim; a member of the family unit of the alleged victim; a member of the family unit of the alleged perpetrator; the property of the alleged victim; the property of a member of the family unit of the alleged victim; or the property of a member of the family unit of the alleged perpetrator that causes the alleged victim to reasonably fear for, or be reasonably apprehensive about, their safety or wellbeing. It can include physical or psychological abuse or harm, forced sexual relations, forced isolation or economic deprivation.” If this requirement gets fulfilled, an applicant can continue with their application for a Permanent Partner Visa. Another way through which an applicant might be eligible to stay in Australia if they have a child from the relationship who is under 18 years of age and for which the applicant and sponsor still have shared parental responsibility It is extremely important to keep in mind that if the DIBP is informed by anyone about the relationship being fake, it could lead to the Permanent Partner Visa may be cancelled.   Need help with your partner visa?  
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New Visa – Global Talent Scheme

What is the Global Talent Scheme? High skilled workers from across the globe will have a new pathway to enter the Australian market through the new Global Talent Scheme pilot program that has started July 1, 2018 for a one-year trial period. It is a visa that is designed to help businesses in sponsoring highly skilled professionals and workers to help grow their businesses and help create more jobs where there are no suitable Australians available to fill the vacancies. “We want to ensure that Australian businesses can access the best talent in the world, because this will underpin business growth, skills transfer and job creation.” “At all stages, Australians are prioritised for the jobs, but where the skills and experience are not available here, we want to be able to attract talent from overseas,” said Alan Tudge, Minister for Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs The scheme which was announced in March, came as a response to the concerns being raised after the changes and tightening of requirements in regarding the 457 visa for skilled workers, which reduced the number of eligible occupations for visas and introduced stricter English language tests. What is the timeline? The visa scheme commenced on 1st July 2018. The scheme was originally announced in March 2018. Refining of initial settings and consultation with industry and other stakeholders took place in the period from April-June 2018. The trial will last for 12 months until June 2019. Visa Streams The Global Talent Scheme will consist of two streams: 1. Established businesses Stream The annual turnover of the sponsoring business must be over $4 million for each of the past 2 years. The requirements of the applicant include: Meeting health, character and security requirements Should have no familial relationship with directors/ shareholders Qualifications must be commensurate with highly skilled role (minimum annual earnings of $180,000). Minimum 3 years prior work experience relevant to the position 2. Start-up stream The requirements for a company include operation in a STEM related field (digital, biomedical, agtech) including but not limited to agricultural tech, medical tech etc. The requirements of the applicant include: Meeting health, character and security requirements Should have no familial relationship with directors/ shareholders Qualifications must be commensurate with highly skilled role Minimum 3 years prior work experience relevant to the position Minimum annual earning of the nominated position can’t be less than the Temporary Skilled Migration Income Threshold which currently stands at $53,900. This can include equity (which is a common offering in start-up payment package) but it has to incorporate cash components as well. According to the Fact Sheet all successful applicants will have access to a 4-years stream (midterm) Temporary Skilled Shortage (TSS) visas and age gap concessions. There is also the chance of a gateway to permanent residency after 3 years which makes this scheme even more exciting and useful. Both streams require the sponsoring businesses to conduct Labour Market Testing on available positions. Who can apply for the Global Talent Scheme? The Global Talent Scheme will be an attractive scheme for both individuals and businesses in need of middle to high level positions (possibly C-level execs) related to the tech industry. It will also be relevant to people whose job titles didn’t exist 5-10 years ago. According to co-initiator, Minister for Jobs and Innovation Michaelia Cash, “Those individuals–skilled and experienced as they are–are likely to become job multipliers, who, by transferring their skills, knowledge, and expertise, will benefit Australians in the long run.”
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Occupations Lists for all States (Update August 2018)

Below you will find all current and updated lists for all Australian States on one page (Update August 2018). All lists are available for download by clicking on the underlined text. New South Wales The latest skilled occupations list for New South Australia was published in July: NSW-Priority-skilled-occupation-list-2018-19 489 Visa – Individual Region Lists for Skilled Migration Orana Skills List Central West (no application before 20 August 2018) Mid North Coast Murray Skills List Northern Inland Skills List Riverina Skills List Southern Inland Skills List Victoria The State of Victoria has updated its lists on 2 July 2018. For International Student Graduates, the following lists apply: Graduate occupations eligible to apply for Victorian visa nomination. If you wish to apply to work and live in Australia as a skilled migrant, the following list applies: Visa Nomination Occupation List for Victoria Queensland The Queensland state occupation list is divided into 4 different lists: A List for applicants already working in Queensland: Queensland – Onshore Occupations List A List for applicants that are currently overseas: Queensland – Offshore Occupations List A list for students graduating from a Master’s Degree from a QLD University: Master Graduate – Occupation List Queensland South Australia The state of South Australia updated their occupation list in July 2018 and made a few additions. The state of South Australia has two lists: The State Nominated Occupation List and the Supplementary Skilled List with 297 occupations. The State Nominated Occupation List is available to all applicants, including international graduates of SA. The Supplementary Skilled List shows occupations that are on the STSOL but are not on the State Occupations List for South Australia. For this list additional requirements apply. Tasmania Following two occupations are removed from the Tasmanian State occupation list 251513 – Retail Pharmacist 251511 – Hospital Pharmacist However in July 2018 further occupations were added, such as Sales and Marketing Manager, Speech Pathologist and ICT Business Analyst: Tasmanian Skilled Occupations List. The Tasmanian government committed to processing nomination for subclasses 489 and 190 visas for no fee. There are also no occupation ceilings.  Northern Territory (NT) If you are living in the Northern Territory the following lists may apply to you: Northern Territory Occupations List Australian Capital Territory (ACT) You can find the ACT Occupations List and information on open and closed occupation here: ACT Occupations List Western Australia Western Australia’s occupation did not have any changes: Western Australia Occupations List Contact Us
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5 Things you need to know when applying for a 485 Visa

1. High Refusal Rate Most people applying for the Temporary Graduate visa might think of it as an extremely easy process with a guarantee of a visa. Though the truth is that temporary graduate visas have an extremely high refusal rate when compared to many other visas such as student visas and employer sponsored skilled visas. The major reason behind the huge refusal rate is the fact that there is a “time of application” requirement that must be met and if an application is lodged without all the requirements being fulfilled, there is a chance of the application being refused and cannot be repealed even in the event of applying to the Administrative Appeal Tribunal. 2. Importance of applying for the Australian Federal Police Clearance It is a requirement to have an Australian Federal Police (AFN) National Police Check certificate which is less than 12 months old along with your 485 visa application or an evidence that an application has been made to acquire the clearance by including proof of the application been made for the AFP Check. It is also essential to obtain and AFP Check for the secondary applicant (if you have a secondary applicant) along with the primary applicant’s visa application. This applies to secondary applicants who are 16 years or older. 3. Apply for Adequate Health Insurance When an application is being submitted for the 485 visa, it is essential to provide proof that the primary applicant and every other applicant included has adequate health insurance in Australia. You will need to provide any one of the following: A signed letter from a health insurance provider outlining the level and range of health cover A Medicare card or receipt of enrolment with Medicare (if eligible); If you are from a country with a reciprocal health care agreement with Australia and will be eligible for Medicare when you arrive here, evidence of adequate of health insurance, including travel insurance, to cover you until you enrol in Medicare.  If the applicant is a current student, they may provide evidence of their current Overseas Student Health Cover (OSHC) policy. It is important to note that OSHC policies are only valid at the time of the application because once a decision is made on the application, the applicant ceases to be a student. If a decision is made on the application before the expiration of a person’s OSHC they would be required to arrange health insurance to meet the health requirements of the subclass 485 visa application. Non-OSHC insurance is just normal overseas visitor health cover. Another thing to be noted is that if the applicant’s student visa is still valid and they haven’t applied for OSHC, the case officer will request one from them. 4. Apply Within 6 Months of Finishing Your Course This is a point of great confusion amongst a great number of graduates regarding what determines the start date and the deadline to “apply within 6 months of finishing your course”. The start date is the date on which the results of the course get published or announced which ends up starting the six month period during which you may apply for the Subclass 485 visa. Evidence of the start date can be found or stated in: in a letter addressed to you; on the Internet; in a newspaper; or on the educational institutions bulletin board. 5. English Requirements The primary applicant is required to submit the evidence of their English skills at the time of the application. IELTS, OET, TOEFL, PTE Academic, and CAE results are all accepted. The applicant is free from the requirement if they hold a valid passport from the UK, USA, Canada, New Zealand, or Ireland. Otherwise, you must provide evidence of your skills at the time of application. Test results must be a maximum of 3 years old on the day of the application, and 5 tests results are accepted. ​
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Skilled Visa Nomination Open for Victoria

The State of Victoria has started accepting 190 visa and 189 visa applications again. Find more information on the 190 Visa for State Nomination and the Occupations that are eligible to apply for visa nomination by the state of Victoria More information on subclass 189 Visa (Skilled Independent) is available here. If your occupation is in ICT, nursing or engineering & building occupations you will have to apply through a different application process: Check if you meet the criteria for subclass 190 visa and the minimum requirements for nomination by the state of Victoria Submit an EOI in Skillselect. Find out how this works here. Check your email inbox to see if you have been chosen by the State of Victoria. Submit an online application for Victorian visa nomination within 14 days after having received the invitation via e-mail. If you are nominated, you will get an invitation in SkillSelect to apply for subclass 190 visa for Victoria. Lodge your visa application within 60 days after having been nominated by Victoria.   Use the form below to get in touch with us!
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Migrants now need more points for Skilled Migration to Australia

Unfortunately, this is not a bad joke. The Australian Government has announced that starting in 2 days, on July 1 2018, applicants wishing to migrate to Australia under the Skilled Migration program will have to have at least 65 points instead of “only” 60 points. This significant change will affect the following subclasses: Visa 189 – Skilled Independent Visa 190 – Skilled-Nominated Visa 489 – Skilled-Regional Sponsored This change will apply to applications that have been lodged on or after 1 July 2018. The points will still be calculated based on the same criteria such as age, education and work experience but applicants will have to be able to meet 65 points when submitting an EOI in SkillSelect. In the previous year, applicants were able to get invited at 55 points as they would get the extra 5 points through state nomination. That made them eligible to lodge a visa application. With these changes starting in only 2 days, that won’t be possible any more. While 5 points might not sound like a lot to someone who hasn’t dealt the Australian Immigration System, those who ARE applying for Skilled Visas know how big of a change 5 points can make. Those 5 points could mean having to repeat the costly English test because the applicant needs to get a higher score now. For someone else that might mean having to rely on their partner’s skill assessment to get an additional 5 points. Others might have to look into receiving additional 5 points by taking the NAATi Credentialed Community Language Test (CCL). This news comes as a big shock for many migrants who have already struggled to get to 60 points. The existing 60 points applies only to applications where the invitation to apply for the visa was issued before 1 July 2018. Important links: Calculate your points NAATI Test English Language Requirement Skilled Migration Reference: Migration (IMMI 18/067: Pool and Pass Marks for General Skilled Migration Visas) Instrument 2018 Worried about this news?   Contact us at (02) 4626 1002 or use our form below and we’ll get back to you within 24 hours (Mon – Fri).  
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Australian visas to cost more from 1 July 2018

As expected, the vast majority of visa fees will be increased starting July 1st, 2018. Here are some of the most popular visa subclasses and their increase: If you need more information on any of those visa subclasses, simply contact us. We’d love to hear from you. You can find information on the main visa subclasses here.  
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