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Almost 90 per cent of temporary skilled migrants who were granted Subclass 457 visas in 2009-10 to date are managers and professional workers, new figures show.

The average total salary package for all new Australian temporary skilled migrant workers is almost $100,000 – an increase of $10,000 on the same time last year.

The highest paid workers on a Subclass 457 Australia visa were in the mining industry, with an average total remuneration of $169,000, followed by the financial and insurance services sector at $127,600.

Temporary skilled overseas workers in Western Australia were the highest paid with an average total remuneration of $114 800, followed by New South Wales ($101,100), Queensland ($97,900), Victoria ($94,200), Tasmania ($94,100), Northern Territory ($85,500), ACT ($83,600) and South Australia ($81,700). Read the full story

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Desperate to travel to the Land Down Under and be allowed to work while you’re there? You can, with the Working Holiday visa.

The good news is that you can easily get your own. The bad news? You’ll need to know many things about your work travel Australia visa before securing it, from how much it costs to who it’s for.

This article covers the basics of work travel Australia visa.

Who It’s For. The Working Holiday visa is for visitors who Read the full story

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One of the most critical questions for all potential migrants is to decide what class of visa to apply for.

The skilled migration Australia visa is one of the most popular, but is it right for most people? Let’s take a look at some of the different types of visa available.

A Working Holiday Visa is ideal for young people between 18 and 30 who want to spend up to a year in Australia. Whilst you can only have temporary or casual work, there are a great many of these visas available every year so you stand a good chance of getting one. Read the full story

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Before moving down under to Australia for good, one of the best ways to get to know the place that one day may be your future home is by going on holiday to Australia.

Once you have decided to have an Australian holiday, the next thing to consider is to get your Australia visa. Before you could even think about scuba diving, outback tours, and lying in the pristine beaches, you should first consider getting an Australian visa.

Listed below are some helpful guidelines regarding Australia visa: Read the full story

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The ASPC has changed the method of receipting and acknowledging applications to improve the service provided to clients which will be a comfort to many folks sending in their applications.

Once an application has been receipted it will undergo validity checking.

An acknowledgement letter with a client reference number and receipt will be sent approximately six weeks after lodgement if the application is valid.

The ASPC Admin team is moving towards receipting payment within 7 working days of receiving an application where e-mail communication has been authorised. This represents a siginificant improvement in the amount of time traditionally taken to acknowledge new applications.

Applicants or their authorised representatives will receive acknowledgement that the department has received their documents and receipted the relevant visa application charge.

If an application is determined to be invalid documents will be returned and a refund of the visa application charge arranged.

Have yourecently applied for your visa? Post in the appropriate sticky thread (the ones with the ) in our Australia Immigration Advice Forums (Clicky Here) and join other members who applied at the same time. This way you can compare your own timeline with others

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Firstly, because of the number of questions normally raised in response to these updates I have turned comments off.

Please use our forums for any visa related enquiries. You’ll get a much quicker response this way. To visit our forums please click here.

Now onto the update: The ASPC is still experiencing some delays in receipting and acknowledging applications (shock horror)

Please note that these delays do not affect the date on which a valid application is recorded as having been received and this is the date used for processing purposes.

Processing of an application will usually commence within seven (7) working days of its receipt by the department. This means that an application is receipted, acknowledged and a file number is allocated.

Once this has occurred a case officer is appointed to assess each application as soon as possible, however, the ASPC receives a large number of applications and you will not be contacted immediately.

Applications lodged on or before the dates shown below have been allocated to case officers for further processing.

ONSHORE APPLICATIONS

Student/Graduate

Paper based applications: 13 December 2006 (subclass 880), 31 October
2006 (subclass 881) and 24 November 2006 (subclass 882)

E-lodged (online) applications: 22 December 2006 (subclass 880) and 11
September 2006 (subclass 881) and 11 September 2006 (subclass 882)

Skilled Independent Regional (Provisional) (SIR VISA)

Paper based applications: 1 November 2006
E-lodged (online) applications: 18 December 2006

New Zealand

All applications: 5 September 2006 (all subclasses)

OFFSHORE APPLICATIONS

Applications for Classes BN, BQ, BR and UZ (subclasses 134, 136, 137, 138,
139 and 496)

Priority Applications: 27 June 2006
Non-Priority Applications: 13 June 2006

Skilled Independent Regional (Provisional) (SIR VISA)

Paper based applications: 30 August 2006
E-lodged (online) applications: 01 February 2007

If a visa application was made more than two weeks before the relevant date shown above and you have not been contacted by a case officer please contact the Adelaide Skilled Processing Centre from the web page http://www.immi.gov.au/contacts/visa-enquiries/professionals.htm

Applications eligible for priority processing

1. Applicants whose nominated occupation is on the Migration Occupations in Demand List (MODL)

2. For applicants whose nominated occupation is not on the MODL, applications for any of the following visas are given priority:

a) Skill Matching (Migrant) (Class BR) – Subclass 134 – Skill Matching
b) Skilled – Independent (Migrant) (Class BN) – Subclass 137 – Skilled – State/Territory-nominated Independent
c) Skilled – Australian-sponsored (Migrant) (Class BQ) – Subclass 139 – Skilled – Designated Area Sponsored
d) Skilled – Independent Regional (Provisional) (Class UX) – Subclass 495 – Skilled – Independent Regional (Provisional)
e) Skilled Designated Area-sponsored (Provisional) (Class UZ) – Subclass 496 – Skilled Designated Area-sponsored (Provisional)
f) Skilled New Zealand (Residence) visa class (Class DB) – Subclass 863 – Skilled – Onshore Regional-Sponsored New Zealand Citizen
g) Skilled Australian-sponsored Overseas Student (Residence) (Class DE) – Subclass 882 – Skilled Designated Area-sponsored Overseas Student

Eligibility for priority processing does not mean that any processing requirements can be waived.

Offshore Applicants can now initiate Health and Character Checks before being allocated a case officer

The inclusion of health forms on the department’s website means that applicants can reduce the time taken to finalise the application by commencing health and character checking before their application is allocated to a case officer, however, applicants and migration agents should be aware that:

o Applicants are responsible for all costs associated with medical examinations and providing police clearances;
o Health examinations and police clearances have limited validity periods, generally for a period of 12 months;
o If clearances expire before the application is finalised they may be requested again, and must be provided at the applicant’s cost;
o The ASPC may need to undertake other checking in respect of the application that can delay a decision; and
o Undertaking health examinations and providing police clearances does not guarantee an application will be successful.

Applicants and Agents can monitor which applications are currently being allocated for assessing through this e-mail service before deciding when to undertake health and character procedures.

If you decide to undertake these checks before being allocated a case officer it is suggested that these checks be initiated when allocation dates are within three months of your date of lodgement.

IT IS IMPORTANT TO NOTE THAT:

Applicants are not obliged to undertake these checks now and may wait until receiving a further request from the department.

If any applicant is pregnant – please contact this office for further advice before any person included in the application commences health or character checking.

Non-migrating family members of applicants for a SIR visa should not undertake health and character checking unless specifically requested to do so.

Medical Examinations

Information on health checking requirements and medical forms can be obtained at http://www.immi.gov.au/allforms/health-requirements/index.htm

Please pay careful attention to the information available on this page including Form 1071i detailing health requirements for permanent entry to Australia. Visa applicants in Australia must contact Health Services Australia (HSA) to arrange a health examination.

Applicants outside of Australia must arrange their health examination with a panel doctor and/or radiologist nominated by the Australian Government. A list of panel doctors and radiologists is at http://www.immi.gov.au/contacts/panel-doctors/index.htm

Please note that the panel doctor is required to send all medical results to the Local Clearance Unit in Australia and not give them to applicants or their representatives. Information about the Local Clearance Unit including their address is available at http://www.immi.gov.au/contacts/australia/processing-centres/lcu-sydney.htm

Before attending a health examination applicants need to:

1. Print off the required numbers of forms 26 and/or 160 to present to the panel doctor and radiologist; and
2. Complete the “Office use only” box to indicate the visa class applied for (eg subclass 136), the file reference number and / or the ICSE Request ID number on each form.

Police Clearance Certificates

Police Clearance Certificates are required, for each member of the applicant’s family unit aged 16 years or over, regardless of whether or not they are migrating. Clearances are required for each country the applicant has lived in for a cumulative total of 12 months or more in the last 10 years. Applicants should also provide an address history for any other relevant persons who need to satisfy the character requirements as part of this application.

For information on obtaining police clearances please refer to the Form 47P Character Requirements available at http://www.immi.gov.au/allforms/pdf/47p.pdf

Finalising Applications

Please note that the information provided above is not about the time it will take to process an application to completion. The time it is expected to take to process a General Skilled Migration visa application to completion is detailed in the department’s service standards. Service standards are specified for applications lodged with complete documentation. Individual cases may take longer than the service standard depending on the completeness and complexity of the case. For further information on service standards see: service standards

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If you need to visit Australia on business, even for a very short period of time, you will need to apply for an Australian visa. This article gives some basic details of the three types of business visa available.

There are three types of visa available for business visits to Australia. It should be noted that a business visit is NOT the same as “working” in the context of applying for an Australian visa.

The first is a Short Stay Business Visa which is suitable for a visit of less than three months. This will cover a business person for normal business meetings, negotiations and conferences and may be applied for through their chosen airline or via the internet. This is a Business Electronic Travel Authority (ETA). Alternatively, applications may be made in writing.

The second type of business visa is a Sponsored Business Visitor (short stay) Visa. In order to quality for this type of visa, a business person will need to be sponsored by a member of an Australian parliament, an authorised government agency, local mayor or other authorised organisation and the sponsor will need to guarantee that their visitor will abide by all the visa conditions including that which specifies the date by which they must leave the country.

The third business visa is a Temporary Business (Long Stay) visa. To apply for one of these, an applicant must have an approved employer as a sponsor who has an eligible position available. The employer can be an Australian or overseas company and the employee must be a foreign national with the applicable skills to fill the position. The eligible position must have been approved as a skilled occupation suitable for this program, must be full time and of a minimum salary as well as meeting various Australian laws and award requirements.

However, before the employee can apply for a visa, the employer will need to apply to be a sponsor of overseas employees and nominate the job vacancies to be filled. The nomination period will be 12 months or until all the vacancies are filled, whichever is the shorter. The sponsorship will be for a period of 2 years and the visa period may be anything from 3 months to 4 years. However, if the employee wishes to change employment, he will need to find a new approved sponsor with an eligible position and re-apply for a visa.

Full details of all the above can be found on the Australian Government Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs website.

Michael Russell
Your Independent guide to Australian Visas

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Many people would welcome the opportunity to spend some time in Australia studying and they can, as long as certain conditions are met.

Firstly they must be proficient in English language, must attend a course or part of a course full time, and that course must be offered by an education or training provider registered with the Australian Government as accepting overseas students. The Department of Education, Science and Training provides full details but such courses include both vocational and academic.

There are seven different types of student visa which may have differing conditions attached and these are:

Independent ELICOS – for those undertaking an English Language Intensive Course either not leading to an Australian award or to a variety of certificates.

Schools – for those in primary or secondary education.

Vocational Educational and Training – which covers a number of vocational certificates and diplomas.

Higher Education – covering degrees and graduate qualifications.

Postgraduate Research – for those undertaking Masters research or a Doctorate.

Non-Award – which are foundation studies or other components of courses not leading to an Australian award.

AusAID and Defence – these are full-time courses undertaken by an AusAID or Defence student sponsored by the Australian Government

Each applicant for a student visa is assessed depending on country from which a passport is held and the type of visa required. The assessment level is designed to indicate how likely a student is to comply with the conditions of their visa, based on their previous behaviour. The assessment levels range from 1 to 5 and the higher the level, the more evidence will be required to support the visa application in terms of the student’s ability to support themselves and their fluency in the English language.

There are a number of conditions associated with being granted a Student Visa, the most notable of which being that the student must maintain adequate health insurance for the duration of their stay, they may not work unless the apply for a separate visa to do so and they must remain in full-time education. The conditions are far more detailed than this but this gives an idea of what is required of someone wanting to apply for a Student Visa.

The Australian Government Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs website will guide students through the steps required to apply for an Australian Visa.

Michael Russell
Your Independent guide to Australian Visas

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Australia is a popular destination. Gone (or nearly) are the associations with convicts from Mother England and bars filled with muscle-bound sheep-shearers (women not allowed). Now if you ask for someone’s impression of Australia they’re likely to say “cosmopolitan”, “outdoor living”, “beaches”, “scenery”, “Great Barrier Reef”, “sophisticated” even. However, if you want to go there, unless you are a citizen of New Zealand, you are going to need a visa or travel permit.

There are different visas depending on your reasons for wanting to go to Australia.

For social or recreational reasons including a holiday, sightseeing, visiting family and friends or other short term (less than three months) non business or work related reasons, you can apply for an Electronic Travel Authority (Visitor) or a Tourist visa or a Sponsored Family Visitor visa.

If you wish to participate in Australia’s Overseas Student Program, you will need to do a registered course full-time and in order to do that, you will need a Student Visa.

For business visits of less than three months you will need a Business (Short-Stay) visa, which will permit you to visit Australia for the purposes of conferences or business meetings. If you are actually organising a business event or conference, you may need a different visa. For longer term employment in Australia, you will need to be sponsored by a company who are prepared to employ you for up to four years.

If you are between 18 and 30 and fancy working your way around Australia, you can participate in the Working Holiday Program which allows you to take up casual employment.

A visit to Australia for medical consultations or treatment requires that you have Medical Treatment Visa.

You can also get a Retirement Visa if you wish to spend some of your retirement years in Australia and a Transit Visa if you want to stop over on the way to somewhere else.

If you want to immigrate to Australia permanently, you will need to participate in the Migration Program which covers people with special skills who will contribute to the Australian economy and people who have family members already in Australia and who are prepared to sponsor them. There is also a Humanitarian Program for refugees.

If you are permanently resident in Australia but are not an Australian citizen, you will need a Resident Return Visa to allow you back in, should you leave on a temporary basis.

Each visa carries different conditions and may require additional paperwork to accompany the application. The one thing all the visas have in common, however, is that you will need to be specific about the length of your proposed stay. If you apply for a visa for three weeks but once you arrive, decide that you want to extend that to two months, you may have a problem.

It is possible that you will have to undergo a medical examination and/or chest x-ray in order to complete your visa application. This is unlikely, however, for a stay of up to 3 months, unless you already have a serious medical condition.

The best place to start for detailed information is the Australian Government Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs website.

Michael Russell
Your Independent guide to Australian Visas

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If you want to holiday or visit family in Australia, unless you are a New Zealand citizen, you will need to obtain an Australian visa before you travel.

The type of visa you will need broadly depends on what you intend to do in Australia, your nationality and the length of time you want to stay in Australia, but you will probably need either an Electronic Travel Authority (Visitor) or a Tourist visa or a Sponsored Family Visitor visa. Whichever the case, you should apply for the full period of time that you want to remain in Australia, because once there, it is possible that you will be unable to extend your visa.

The Electronic Travel Authority (ETA) (Visitor) is just as it sounds – electronic and therefore you may not get a stamp or label in your passport but don’t worry, the Australian immigration officers will have a record of your visa.

You can apply for an ETA (Visitor) if you wish to stay for less than three months, if you are outside Australia and hold a passport from one of the 34 eligible countries. You will find a full list of these on the Australian Government Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs website, but included are most countries from Western Europe and Scandinavia, the USA and a number of Far Eastern countries. There are special arrangements for citizens of countries not on the eligible list. An ETA (Visitor) Visa may be obtained via a travel agent or an airline, direct on the Internet or at an Australian visa office in your country of residence. There is no charge for this type of visa unless you apply over the Internet.

You may apply for a Tourist Visa whether you are inside or outside Australia and the duration will usually be 3 or 6 months but can sometimes extend to 12 months if you can prove your ability to support yourself during your stay. Applications for Tourist Visas may be made via the Internet if you are a passport holder of an eligible country, or via a registered travel agent, airline or service provider, a list of which can be found on the website mentioned above.

A Sponsored Family Visitor Visa is applicable for stays between 3 and 12 months and to apply you must be outside Australia and have a sponsor within Australia who is a family member, a member of an Australian parliament or other authorised person. To apply, you will need to complete a form, get a certified copy of your passport and send it all to your sponsor in Australia. Your sponsor will need to complete a different form and make the application on your behalf, sending all the paperwork to the applicable office.

Anyone who is not eligible to apply for an ETA Visitor or Tourist Visa over the Internet can complete a paper application which can be mailed to specific offices of the Australian government overseas.

Australian Visa – Business Visits

If you need to visit Australia on business, even for a very short period of time, you will need to apply for an Australian visa. This article gives some basic details of the three types of business visa available.

There are three types of visa available for business visits to Australia. It should be noted that a business visit is NOT the same as “working” in the context of applying for an Australian visa.

The first is a Short Stay Business Visa which is suitable for a visit of less than three months. This will cover a business person for normal business meetings, negotiations and conferences and may be applied for through their chosen airline or via the internet. This is a Business Electronic Travel Authority (ETA). Alternatively, applications may be made in writing.

The second type of business visa is a Sponsored Business Visitor (short stay) Visa. In order to quality for this type of visa, a business person will need to be sponsored by a member of an Australian parliament, an authorised government agency, local mayor or other authorised organisation and the sponsor will need to guarantee that their visitor will abide by all the visa conditions including that which specifies the date by which they must leave the country.

The third business visa is a Temporary Business (Long Stay) visa. To apply for one of these, an applicant must have an approved employer as a sponsor who has an eligible position available. The employer can be an Australian or overseas company and the employee must be a foreign national with the applicable skills to fill the position. The eligible position must have been approved as a skilled occupation suitable for this program, must be full time and of a minimum salary as well as meeting various Australian laws and award requirements.

However, before the employee can apply for a visa, the employer will need to apply to be a sponsor of overseas employees and nominate the job vacancies to be filled. The nomination period will be 12 months or until all the vacancies are filled, whichever is the shorter. The sponsorship will be for a period of 2 years and the visa period may be anything from 3 months to 4 years. However, if the employee wishes to change employment, he will need to find a new approved sponsor with an eligible position and re-apply for a visa.

Full details of all the above can be found on the Australian Government Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs website.

Michael Russell
Your Independent guide to Australian Visas

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