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During a recent visit to India, Australian Minister of Immigration & Citizenship, Chris Evans told press that Australian Immigration law is changing with a stronger focus on skilled workers.

Evans said in New Delhi, “We are reviewing the policy on migrants. Our government will adjust the policy based on the needs of the country and not be driven by the education choices of overseas students”.

Senator Evans is in New Delhi to advise the Indian government on steps that Australia is taking to ensure the safety of Indian students who choose to study in Australia.

Thousands of Indian students move to Australia each year, taking admission in vocational courses like cookery and hairdressing in Australian institutions to get permanent residency. Continue Reading

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Thousands of students enrolled in vocational courses like cookery and hairdressing, which till now allowed a “fast track” to permanent residency, will have to sit for a test requiring “competent” English language skills while applying to live and work in Australia.

“Trades people applying to live and work in Australia permanently from the first of July will require increased English language skills,” according to new immigration policy changes issued by the Australian Immigration Department.

The change will mean that people applying for the General Skilled Migration (GSM) visas overseas will have to pass a test showing they have competent English. In the past, the pass mark was based on vocational English, a lower standard. Continue Reading

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It’s been a while since I’ve complained about the weather and as I’m an Englishman wishing to retain at least a small portion of my Englishness I thought today was as good a day as any.

Back in the UK, the English summer is in full swing. From what I’ve heard from the friends and family back in the UK; it’s been a pretty good one to with UK residents receiving more than two whole days of sunshine!

Season wise Australia is exactly six months in front of the UK so here in Australia, Winter is in full swing.

This will be the third winter we’ve experienced since being down under and I don’t know if it’s simply because we’re becoming acclimatised to the weather (or I may be just going soft) but this feels like some of the coldest winter weather I’ve experienced since moving to Australia. Continue Reading

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Hey all. Not much to write about in the world of Australian immigration so I thought I’d write a little entry just to say hi.

I have a number of Google news alerts set up under various Australian Immigration categories on the basis that if anything happens then I’ll get to know about it quite quickly. Having said that, there doesn’t appear to be much of interest  happening right now.  

If you’re trying to enter Australia illegally then there are plenty of stories in the news about how NOT to do it.

Boat people (i.e. Folks trying to migrate illegally to  Australia on small boats) seem to be making headlines over here in Australia on almost a daily basis.

It seems the Aussie immigration folks are paying very close attention to Australian shores after a number of high profile incidents where boat after boat full of illegal immigrants were  turning up on Aussie soil, apparently unchallenged! Continue Reading

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Frequently Asked Questions – Attestation

On 1 April 2009, the Minster for Immigration and Citizenship, Senator Chris Evans announced a requirement for sponsors to attest in writing that they have a strong record of, or a demonstrated commitment to employing local labour  and non-discriminatory employment practices.

What the heck is an attestation?

Attestation is the  witnessing of the execution by the method that is appropriate to the situation.

Attestation of a document is certification that the document has been executed correctly and is signed by the witness or witnesses to the execution. Continue Reading

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Australias economy is a tower of strength after two respected international reports confirmed it continued to lead the developed world.

The first from the  International Monetary Fund added its weight to mounting evidence that Australia was powering ahead of its rivals during the worst downturn since the Great Depression.

It yesterday upgraded its outlook for the Australian economy, tipping it to retreat by only 0.5 per cent this year before growing by 1.5 per cent next year. It earlier forecast a contraction of 1.4 per cent.

The report followed an Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development report that commended the Government’s stimulus measures. Continue Reading

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Yesterday we posted an article detailing the significant delays for folks applying under certain visa classes and following numerous discussions in our forum on the topic a number of additional factors have come to light.

Firstly, Visa Subclasses 485 (Skilled – Graduate visa) 476 (Skilled – Recognised Graduate visa), 487 (Skilled – Regional Sponsored visa and 887 (Skilled – Regional Residence visa) are exempt from the priority processing changes.

Applications under these subclasses will continue to be processed in the order in which they were received by the Department of immigration so if your applying under these visa classes then you shouldn’t be impacted.

The Australian Imigration Department have also confirmed that these changes will not affect people who have or are going to apply for Tourist, Family, Spouse or Prospective Marriage visas!

As before, we would encourage you to post in our forums if you have any specific questions. Lots of discussions in this thread

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The Australian Immigration and Citizenship department have started issuing letters to visa applicants who have applied for Australian Residency under certain visa classes.

The letter confirms that priority will be given to applicants who are applying under the employer or state sponsored visa classes. In addition the letter also confirms that priority will remain for those holding a primary occupation which is listed on the Critical Skills List (CSL)

Essentially though, the letter goes onto confirm that if you do not fall into one of these three categories, it now looks almost certain that the processing of your application will be delayed into the 2010 – 1011 Migration program year.

The key text taken from the letter is as follows: Continue Reading

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The Australian visa application fee increases have been formally announced, with the skilled migration fee set to increase by 20 per cent as of 1 July 2009.

The Australian Government reviews the Australian visa application fees on an annual basis, as part of the release of the Federal Budget release. Typically, fees will increase in accordance with changes in the Consumer Price Index, resulting in an increase of approx. AU$40 – AU$60 for the skilled migration visa application fee.

However, this year has seen a 20 per cent increase applied to some Australian visa application fees, including the skilled migration fee. Continue Reading

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Your reasons for choosing to emigrate to Australia will be varied. For us, as adults we saw the local parks and playing fields we used to play on as kids, turned into graffiti and syringe strewn scrap heaps.

Australia presented us with the opportunity for a better life for our kids. The affordable housing, wide open spaces and beautiful weather were just the icing on the cake.

As a ‘Pom’ it was relatively easy for us to accept the ‘better life’ we now have down under. Comparitivly speaking, it wasn’t that different from the life we left behind. For families from other countries though, life in Australia is a VERY different life indeed!

One example would be good friends of ours who migrated to Australia from South Africa. The barbecues have been great, the summer evenings have been warm and yet the stories they have shared with us have at times, been quite chilling! Continue Reading

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Jobs in Australia still exist in their thousands and despite some of the more sombre news printed in the media of late, finding a job in Australia shouldn’t be too hard a task once you get here.

One of the questions were frequently asked is ‘are there many opportunities doing job type ‘x’ ‘? Or ‘where can I find jobs in Australia doing job type ‘y’?’

Finding the answers to these questions isn’t as hard as you’d think as there are plenty of resources available to you if you know the right places to look.

Below we list details of some of the more common online Australian Job banks. Each of these sites lists thousands of jobs in Australia with most presenting themselves as a great tool to help you highlight the availability of certain jobs and the current salaries on offer. Continue Reading

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G’Day UK 2009 kicks off this weekend delivering two weeks of food, wine, cultural and business events.

Top of the list will be Australian immigration and tourism which will be sold to Brits interested in making the move Down Under.

Being a major source of skilled workers and tourists for Australia, organisers of G’Day Week have targeted the UK to showcase Australian immigration and Australian tourism.

G’Day UK 2009 is a chance for Australian celebrities, governments, businesses and agencies to show off the sunshine in Australia. Two week’s worth of events will showcase Australia as a place of investment, tourism, business, and more importantly, as a prime destination for skilled migrants. Continue Reading

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Deadly 60 – Australia is being broadcast on BBC one tomorrow at 17:15 for anyone that’s interested.

Within the program, lucky wildlife expert Steve Backshall and his crew head for the Australian continent as he continues his Deadly 60 mission.

During the program he visits Perth (yay!) which turns our to be home to one of Australia’s deadliest snakes, the tiger snake (boo!).

For all those who choose to tune in, theres a surprise in store as it turns out that these snakes live right alongside the visitors to the city’s local park. How nice!

Happily, slightly less deadly Australian animals are also highlighted in the show including pelicans and bottlenose dolphins. I wonder if they filmed the dolphins over in Monkey Mia?

As I can’t the good old beeb from down under then I’d appreciate the views of anyone who saw the show. Were the tiger snakes that scary?

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Alan Collett at Go Matilda often writes a good article and his more recent article;   ’skilled migration, dispelling the myths’ is no exception.

Within the article, Alan talks about some of the misconceptions now held by people looking to make the move down under following the announced changes to the skilled migration program made towards the end of last year.

In no particular order, here are some of the comments heard in recent months:

Australia has stopped accepting skilled migrants

Nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, Australia’s skilled migration program (the amount of visas the Immigration Minister requires his Department to grant annually) is the highest on record this year, with a planned 115,000 skilled visas to be granted in the year to 30th of June, 2009. Continue Reading

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I read a very interesting letter printed in the Sydney Morning Herald this morning

Within the letter a chap by the name of Michael Jones writes about the strong link between overseas students studying in Australia and perminant Australian residency. He also points out that the $16 billion education industry, our third largest export earner, is largely about selling visas, not education. Very strong words indeed!

Now the thing is… Does he have a point?

I think for starters it’s fair to say that there is indeed a very strong link. Afterall, anyone applying for permanent residency under the skilled migration program needs to show acceptable qualifications and 12 months’ recent, full-time, skilled employment. On the other hand, those with an ‘Australian qualification’ can, after only two years’ study in Australia, qualify for a permanent visa without any work experience, or any intention to work in their field of study. Continue Reading

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The Migration Institute of Australia (MIA) has warned the government that work on infrastructure projects will be difficult to accomplish following the decision to put restrictions on the skilled migration program.

While the MIA welcomed the Australian immigration ministers decision to increase the number of humanitarian and family reunion Australian visas for the 2009/10 Migration Program, they were less than impressed with the decision to remove a number of trade-level occupations from the skilled occupation list.

“The MIA awaits with great interest to see how the Government proposes to administer the new job-readiness criteria for trade occupations. It’s hard to imagine a one-size-fits-all assessment system of employability,” said Maurene Horder, CEO of the Migration Institute of Australia. Continue Reading

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