Home Affairs and Immigration has a new minister. After a cabinet reshuffle, Tony Burke has taken on the Home Affairs and Immigration portfolios. Tony Burke will replace Clare O’Neil who
The Albanese government announced at the recent Jobs and Skills Summit that it would increase the Permanent Migration Program numbers from 160,00 to 195,000 this financial year.
With labour and skills shortages at severe levels, this is welcome news for industries reliant on overseas workers. This additional 35,000 places will reflect a return to the high point of migrant intake that Australia saw a decade ago.
With the latest federal election done and dusted, newly elected Prime Minister Anthony Albanese last week announced his new Labor Government ministry including the new Immigration Minister and Home Affairs Minister.
Visa cancellation is a serious issue. Visa cancellation is at the discretion of the Department of Home Affairs and may also result in the cancellation of visas held by family members of the cancelled visa holder. Only the Minister for Immigration or a delegate of the minister can cancel Australian visas.
Peter Dutton made headlines last week when it was revealed that the federal police had raided the Department of Home Affairs. The raid was the result of leaked documents pertaining to Mr Dutton’s intervention in granting visas to European au pairs.
It’s now harder than ever to become an Australian citizen. We live in a great country so it’s not surprising that many people want to make Australia their permanent home.
While we don’t want to let just anyone into Australia, how stringent should we be on permanent residents wanting citizenship?
There has been a great deal in the media about Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton and his character test. In effect since late 2014, the character test has the potential to block aspirations of being an Australian citizen.
The 457 visa which was abolished earlier this year was a popular route for Indians heading to work Down Under. Of the 90,000 holders of the 457 visas in Australia, 22% of them were held by Indians.
Indians who had set their eyes on permanent residency will now find it tougher to achieve this PR status. If they qualify from Australian universities, they will still need to have had two years’ work experience in that area of specialism to obtain a role. Labour testing means that the local workforce will be given the first opportunity for a job vacancy.
Effective 18th March 2018, the former Subclass 457 visa was abolished, and replaced with a new Subclass 482 visa, which is known as the Temporary Skill Shortage visa.
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