300,000 more chances to move to Australia
June 21, 2008
The Australian budget has been and gone and I didn’t pay that much attention to it to be honest.
Having said all that though a post made in our forums suddenly made me realise that the Australian Budget had pretty large implications for all wannabe Aussies.
The Labor party budget for 2008-09 includes an increase of almost 300,000 visas to Australia in a bid to address labour shortages in Australia.
Federal Treasurer Wayne Swan revealed a healthy increase of almost 300,000 more permanent and temporary visas to Australia as a part of the Labor Party Budget for the 2008-09. This is the biggest annual increase in visas in the history of Australia’s migration program
The new budget accommodates for an extra 31,000 skilled migrant visas, and over 150,000 other permanent migrant visas such as family visas & spouse visas. Read more
Popularity: 8% [?]
Current Australian Immigration processing lead time as of June 2008
June 14, 2008
Guys, latest Australian Visa Processing time line for June 2008.
Any comments or questions please post them in this thread on our forums.
RECEIPTING AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF APPLICATIONS
The ASPC is currently receipting new applications within service standards.
Once an application has been receipted it undergoes validity checking and an acknowledgement letter with client information and a receipt will be sent.
If an application is determined to be invalid documents will be returned and a refund of the visa application charge arranged.
As of June 2008 the ASPC Admin Section is processing applications as follows:
Onshore Applications: receipting and acknowledging applications received on 10 June 2008.
Offshore Applications: receipting and acknowledging applications received on 10 June 2008.
Once an application has been acknowledged it will be allocated to a case officer for further assessment as soon as possible, however, the ASPC receives a large number of applications and you will not be contacted immediately.
PROCESSING AND ALLOCATION INFORMATION - For the week of 10 June 2008
Applications lodged on or before the dates shown below have been allocated to case officers for further processing.
Popularity: 12% [?]
New ACS skills assessment fee from 1 July 2008
June 14, 2008
For those who are planning to apply to the Australian Computer Society (ACS), it’s worth noting that new fees will be applicable from 1 July 2008.
The Australian Computer Society is the approved professional organisation providing advice on skills recognition for prospective migrants to Australia .
Under the agreement between the ACS and the Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC), those seeking to migrate to Australia as an IT Professional must complete an assessment through the ACS prior to lodging a migration application.
The new fees charged by the ACS from the 1st of July 2008 will be as followed:
Australian Recent Graduate A$360.00
Skills Assessment A$400.00
Recognised Prior Learning (RPL) A$450.00
Re-Validation/ACS MACS Members A$200.00
Appeals A$300.00
Popularity: 8% [?]
Tornado in Perth - Yes, seriously
June 14, 2008
I’ve written before about the wonders of the Weather here in Western Australia and being someone of British decent, talking about the weather is always going to be a popular past time for me 
Whilst standing in the coffee queue at work early this week however, the topic of conversation wasn’t the more traditional sunshine and rain but the wind!
I’m not talking about the flatulent variety either. I’m talking about seriously strong wind of the climatological kind so serious in fact that they even gained tornado status!
During the weekend there was a sever weather warning and we were advised to move anything ‘loose’ such as garden furniture from outside to under cover to minimise the possibility of damage.
They weren’t joking either. Around about midnight last Sunday the wind really picked up, the new plants in our garden were getting a good beating and at one point I heard one of the steel chairs from our patio furniture set getting blown from one end of the patio to the other.
Thankfully, other than a few torn branches, everything survived pretty well. Having said that we did better then the folks living south of us down in Rockingham.
Apparently the tornado reached speeds in excess of 150 kph and tore the roof of houses in the local area.
I remember a couple of years ago whilst in holiday in Sydney before we moved to Australia permanently there was news of storms in Perth which caused serious structural damage.
Thankfully on this occasion, we’ve escaped relatively damage free.
Having said that there are more storms planned for this weekend. The Bureau of Meteorology has predicted another cold front will hit Perth and the South-West coast tonight and into Sunday morning, which may result in damage to homes and properties.
This is all pretty difficult to believe right now. As I type this it’s beautifully sunny outside, a very pleasant 24 degrees Celsius and hardly the hint of any breeze in the air. 
If you don’t hear from me again then you’ll know why
Popularity: 7% [?]
We’ve seen our first Whales!
June 7, 2008
OK, so we’ve seen red-back spiders and plenty of parrots but last week we can add Whales onto our list of things that we’ve seen.
Junior had acquired 100 stars on his ’star chart’ so we asked him what he wanted to do for a treat and his response was AQWA which is the Aquarium of Western Australia.
Located in Hillary’s boat harbour, it’s only a 10 minute drive away so we thought it sounded like a great idea.
On route to the aquarium we noticed the car park at Hillarys was pretty chocker and there were plenty of people looking out to the ocean.
There were quite a few boats around to so we assumed that there must have been some kind of boat show going on.
Once we got out of the car and looked where everyone else was looking we saw Whales!
I’d read that Whales travel up the Western Australia coast line as part of their migration and can be seen from the shoreline but I never fully appreciated how close these things got.
Three (what turns out to be) Southern Right Whales were literally less then 100 meters out to shore and I have to say my first experience of these majestic creatures was a breath taking one.
Quality!! 
Popularity: 8% [?]
Changes to the Migration Occupations in Demand List (MODL)
June 7, 2008
The Australian Immigration Minister has announced changes to the Migration Occupation in Demand List for applicants for General Skilled Migration visas.
The Migration Occupations in Demand List (MODL) lists those occupations and specialisations identified by the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations (DEEWR) as being in short supply.
Twelve occupations have been added to the MODL, including five Computing Professional specialisations, Electronics Engineer, Optometrist and Dental Technican, as well as the trade occupations of Binder and Finisher, Landscape Gardener and Tree Surgeon. Read more
Popularity: 10% [?]
Capital Investment Scheme for pre-1 September GSM visa applications
June 7, 2008
The Australian Department of Immigration is currently considering options for applicants affected by the withdrawal of the States and Territories from the Capital Investment scheme.
Prior to 1 September 2007 General Skilled Migration visa applicants could earn 5 bonus points if they deposited at least $100,000 in a designated security for a term of not less than 12 months.
The NSW, Queensland and NT Treasury Corporations and the SA Government Financing Authority had been State and Territory authorities participating in these arrangements (the Western Australia Government withdrew from 1 July 2007).
Each of the participating States and Territories have notified the department of their withdrawal of support for the use of treasury bonds for this purpose. Read more
Popularity: 9% [?]
