Following the signing of an Australia-China free trade agreement on the 17th of June, the Australian Federal Government has extended its three year multiple entry visa to ten years for Chinese nationals. Singapore, Canada and America have made similar moves in the past, in a competitive strategy to attract more of the booming capital surfacing in China.
Since the December introduction of a new power which allows the Department of Immigration and Border Protection to cancel the visas of non-citizens who commit serious criminal acts in Australia, 490 criminals’ visas have been revoked. This number includes 24 rapists, 28 paedophiles and 12 murderers, all of whom have been forcibly removed from the country.
The UK is currently facing some major issues with net migration. Migrants are moving to the UK and never leaving, creating a significant shortage of resources.
In order to apply for a 457 visa, an employer must nominate and sponsor you to work in the country. The application can only be successful if your skill area is listed on the Consolidated Sponsored Occupations List.
Maria Sevilla arrived in Australia with her son Tyrone in 2007 on a skilled provisional work visa. She has trained and worked as a nurse in Townsville, Queensland since then and applied to renew her visa recently. Sadly, her son was diagnosed with autism six months after they arrived in Australia, and when the government were informed of this her visa renewal application was rejected.
Immigration Minister Peter Dutton explained that programs and resources for differently-abled Australian children are already lacking and that an assessment of the Sevilla’s visa application would have to take this into account. Dutton has to ensure that we can adequately support the education and medical treatment of Australia’s own children before committing itself to Tyrone’s case.
The media has been rife with reports over the last few days, of the Australian government supposedly bribing boats containing asylum seekers to turn around upon reaching Australian shores.
Around the same time the UN high commissioner for human rights, Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, has criticised Australia in front of the Geneva humans rights council. He called Australia’s new asylum seeker policies bewildering and suggested that, as a nation that is highly reliant on and predominately composed of migrants or descendants-of-migrants, Australia is setting a poor standard for other countries in terms of their foreign policy.
There are over eight thousand public servants from the Department of Immigration and Border Protection that may lose some of their rights to appeals in unfair dismissal as part of the Australian Border Force’s formation.
At present before the Parliament, the Australian Border Force bill consists of provisions for the head of the new department to readily fire public servants if proven engaged with “serious misconduct”, with no appeal to the industrial arbitrator.
Commencing July 2016, the Australian Department of Immigration and Border Protection will implement a new visa program to replace the existing 400 visa. The new program is a Short-Term Mobility Visa, which will enable immigrants to work in Australia for up to 12 months without a 457 skilled migration visa.
The Australian Department of Immigration and Border Protection is busy making changes. The goal of these changes is to increase the numbers of law-abiding Australian citizenship, while reducing illegal attempts to immigrate to Australia. This move might make it more complex for those faced with plans to immigrate to Australia.
One upcoming major change is the consolidation of two departments. The Department of Immigration and Border Protection and the Australia Customs and Border Protection Service will combine beginning 1 July, 2015. The new entity will be called the Australian Border Force.
Personalised assistance and consulting service for Australian Immigration services for both individual and businesses.
