admin

ISIS alarm bells A report in The Daily Telegraph sent alarm bells ringing in the government this month. The report revealed there were grave loopholes that made it difficult to strip dual nationals of their Australian citizenship. This was in context of several ISIS fighters coming back to Australia after fighting wars for the radical Islamist organisation. This prompted Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull to write to Immigration and Border Protection Minister Peter Dutton to ask him to strengthen anti-terror laws to stop Islamic State terrorists from returning to Australia. This issue again highlights misplaced priorities in Australia’s immigration policies. While you have genuine displaced people coming through boats and being stranded for years together before they are allowed to enter the country, on the other hand you have these radical elements freely coming into the country with impunity. And this is not just a border control issue. Such elements whilst inside the country will create fissures in the society and will brainwash others in joining them. The government needs to join hands with the Opposition Labour Party to plug the loopholes and see that such perpetrators of brutal crimes are not allowed freely back into the country.

We need to look beyond just Sydney and Melbourne Migrants may have saved the day for Australian economy but unless migrant population is spread across the country, we will be staring at a bigger problem. There’s only one country that has not had a recession in last 25 years and that’s the country we all call home: Australia. Now that would make the chest of all politicians here to swell and rush to take credit but all is not hunky-dory below the surface. While it’s true that Australian economy has been saved of the recessionary blushes but if one looks at the employment numbers and the growth of real wages, the picture becomes really bleak. Real wage growth has slowed down to just 1.9 per cent annually and what’s more, the unemployment too has shot up to 5.75 per cent. So what gives? Well, migration is keeping the economic engine well-oiled but it is also making things difficult for those already here—and that includes a lot of new migrants too! First of all, the concentration of migrants is limited to mostly two big cities: Sydney and Melbourne. This again sets off another chain of problems which is housing affordability and wage growth. Housing prices in Sydney are up over 70 per cent in last 5 years and in some instances rentals are eating up over 50 per cent of people’s salary. There is no way it can be sustained for long. If only two cities have to take the load of not only new people coming in but also the entire economy then we are staring at an impending crisis. A few things can be done to evenly spread the migrant population and also tackle the aforementioned issues. First of all, New South Wales and Victoria should do away with providing 5 points for state nomination for skilled visas for a few years. This will encourage prospective migrants to look for other states which provide the extra 5 points for state nomination. As most of 457 visa holders also call these cities home, local businesses should be encouraged to set up bases in other cities so that some of these visa holders can be diverted to other cities. A city like Adelaide which has such great infrastructure and affordable housing options finds no takers precisely because people are not incentivised to look up to this option. Same is true for Western Australia which has the size of an entire Europe but just 2 million people living there. Sydney, for instance, has 6 million! Let’s face it. Australia will need immigrants for many years to come now given its size and annual population growth. But it is imperative that it is made a win-win situation for both the parties. While migrants will have a new home, the government of the day can further fuel the growth engine through them.

The Genuine Temporary Entrant (GTE) criterion is one of the key requirements for the subclass 407 Training visa. Let me address this today for the benefit of those who may be thinking of applying for this visa.

Let us talk about visa cancellation provision for a subclass 187 visa, a permanent visa today. If you have been granted a subclass 187 visa, you’ll have several conditions attached to this visa. It is important that you comply with these conditions,

Second Working Holiday Visa Update Visa applicants who will be doing their specified work after 31 August for their second WHV will need to make sure that they have pay slips that cover each day of work when submitting an application for a second Working Holiday visa.  Electronic copies of applicants pay slips can be uploaded as attachments to their online second Working Holiday visa application, or hardcopies can be provided with a paper application. All Australian employers must provide their employees with pay, conditions and workplace entitlements in accordance with the Fair Work Act 2009 or relevant state legislation. This includes work performed in Australia’s agriculture sector, such as plant or animal cultivation activities on a farm. From 31 August 2015, all applicants for a second Working Holiday visa must provide pay slips as evidence of appropriate remuneration with their application. This will help ensure that work undertaken by Working Holiday visa holders is performed in accordance with workplace law. All Australian employers are legally required to provide their employees with pay slips. Work performed before the commencement date will not require pay slip evidence. Pay slips need to show that the participant’s specified work was paid work and that the pay was in accord with the basic pay entitlements employees should receive when working in Australia. Australian rates of pay can be found on the Fair Work Ombudsman website. Temporary transitional arrangements The Department acknowledges that some participants will be in the middle of a work placement on 31 August 2015, and might be unable to provide pay slips for work undertaken on/around that date. In this scenario, pay slips will not be required, provided it is clear from the dates on the participant’s specified work supporting documentation (such as Form1263 (171KB PDF)) that the placement was already underway on 31 August 2015. Questions you may have about your circumstances: What if I’m not given pay slips from my employer? Don’t be afraid to ask your employer for pay slips – it’s your legal right, and they have to contain certain information. For more information about pay slips, go to:http://www.fairwork.gov.au/pay/pay-slips-and-record-keeping/pay-slips How do I know if I’ve been paid the right amount? In some cases, your pay rate will be set by the national minimum wage, which is currently $17.29 per hour (before tax).  You may be entitled to a higher rate if you are covered by an award, enterprise agreement or other registered agreement. For more information about pay, and to use the ‘Pay Calculator’, go to: http://calculate.fairwork.gov.au/findyouraward What about volunteer work? We know that some groups, like Willing Workers on Organic Farms, promote themselves to Working Holiday visa holders. If you’d like to volunteer some of your time to help out doing activities that count as specified work, you can, but you won’t be able to count it towards your 88 days specified work if you start the volunteer work after 31 August 2015. If you started the volunteer work before 31 August, you will be able to count all days worked on the placement, even if you finish up after 31 August. If you finished volunteer work before 31 August that counts as specified work, you can include these days towards your 88 days specified work if you apply for a second Working Holiday visa.

New legislation makes it a criminal offence to pay for 457 sponsorships Last week the government introduced legislation to the Parliament to make it a criminal offence for a sponsor to be paid by a visa applicant in return for securing a migration outcome. This is one of the recommendations of an independent review of the integrity of the subclass 457 programme. The government provided its response to this review, Robust New Foundations, in March this year. The review recommended the introduction of a new penalty making it unlawful for sponsors to receive payment in return for sponsoring a 457 visa. The Migration Amendment (Charging for a Migration Outcome) Bill 2015 implements this recommendation and expands the application beyond the 457 visa programme to other temporary and permanent work visas. The practice of giving or receiving a benefit in return for visa sponsorship can have serious detrimental effects including possible exploitation, undermining of Australian pay and conditions and can damage the integrity of Australia’s migration programmes. Minister Cash said the legislation sends a very clear message to those who are tempted to engage in this type of activity. ‘Those who think they can get away with this kind of behaviour take note – we will target you and we will bring you to justice,’ Minister Cash said. There will be a framework for criminal, civil and administrative sanctions against sponsors who actively ‘sell’ sponsorships, or seek to obtain an undue advantage in return for sponsoring a person. The Bill also introduces a new discretionary power to allow for cancellation of a visa where the visa holder has engaged in ‘payment for visas‘ activity. Minister Cash said the new penalties will further strengthen the integrity of Australia’s migration programme, building on a number of initiatives announced over the past two years.