Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has triumphed in the 2019 election, with results showing the Liberal-National union is on track to be returned to the government. So what does this signify to Australian immigration in the next 3 years? Discover more here.
Updated employment list
Skilled Occupation List shifts 186,187,189,190, 407; 482; 485; 489 were declared and come into effect from 11 March 2019.
Commencing 11 March 2019, for the 189, 190, 489 visas there was 36 employment added to MLTSSL; 27 employment removed from the STSOL, 18 employment added to the ROL. For the TSS visa, there was 2 employment added to MLTSSL, 6 moved from STSOL to MLTSSL and 16 moved from STSOL to ROL. See the full list here.
Skilled visas point test changes will come into effect from November 2019 which will allow some applicants to earn supplementary points where the partner has competent English.
Migration changes in 2019
The recent sponsored family visa and clearance of family sponsor changes commence on 17 April 2019
The new shifts to Sponsored family visa’s, which is apt to include partner visas, is planned to commence on 17 April 2019. This may have the following impact on prospective partner visa aspirants: Sponsorships lodged early and approved before Partner visas can be lodged. If you are aspiring to apply for a Partner visa we suggest booking an appointment to review and comprehend how these changes may impact you.
New legislation has recently been introduced that will significantly impact whether an Australian Partner visa application can be lodged whilst the applicant (partner or spouse) is in Australia.
The latest Migration Amendment (Family Violence and Other Measures) Bill was enacted through Parliament. The Governor-General declared on 8 April that Schedule 1 of the Migration Amendment (Family Violence and Other Measures) Act 2018, would launch on 17 April 2019.
The new legislation means that partner visa sponsorship requests would need to be lodged under stricter norms and approved before the overseas partner visa application could be lodged.
The new 2 step process will hamper the lodgement of the overseas partner application and require the overseas partner to have a valid visa until a visa request for the overseas partner can be lodged. We recommend that our clients take benefit of the deferral of the new regulation and lodge their sponsorship and partner visa application before 17th Aprilll2019 changes.
The change of Partner Visa will require the sponsor, and not just the applicants, to be evaluated as well.
These key shifts amend the Migration Act 1958 to solidify a sponsorship framework for the sponsored family visa policy to establish a sponsorship framework for the sponsored family visa program to:
- separate sponsorship evaluation from the visa application process for family-sponsored visas;
- require the permission of persons as family sponsors before any relevant visa requests are made;
- impose statutory obligations on individuals who are or were certified as family sponsors and provide for sanctions if those obligations are not satisfied;
- promote the sharing of personal data between parties specified in a sponsorship application;
- enable the prohibition of a sponsorship application and the revocation or barring of a family sponsor in particular circumstances;
- enable the regulations to prescribe factors for, and about, the operation of the sponsorship framework; and make significant amendments.
Subclass 870 visa
The preamble of the new temporary sponsored parent visa for getting in overseas parents of Australian nationals and permanent residents will be functional on 17 April 2019. 15,000 visas will be ready annually. The visas will be valid for 3 or 5 years for $5,000 and $10,000 respectively. The new parent visa will be renewable for a combined limit of 10 years.
Introduction of the 870 Temporary Sponsored Parent visa.
Sponsors can only sponsor two parents at one time and have a minimum household taxable income limit of $83,454.80 and have no debts to the Commonwealth or outstanding public health debts.
Employer-Sponsored Migrants
The Department of Home Affairs will initiate the collection of tax file numbers for current 457/482 TSS visa holders and other employer nominated and sponsored migrants. The resulting data will be matched with the ATO’s tax records to ensure that visa owners are not paid less than their nominated salary.This also refers to Subclasses 124, 132, 186, 187, 188, 189, 190, 457, 476, 482, 485, 489, 858, 887, 888, 890, 891, 892 & 893 visas
This inserted regulation defines the visas for which TFN may be requested from holders or former holders of the specified visas for the Migration Act.
The Department will use this information. For more details Contact us.