Legislation Updates
Migration Legislation Tracker
A single source about the status of pieces of legislation, Bills, commencement dates, disallowances, etc
Direction No 82: order of processing for subclasses 457 & 482
New Direction No 82 replaces Direction No 77: 'the Government considers that [Sponsors awarded Accredited Status] should be able to access streamlined processing arrangements and their applications should be allocated to a decision-maker for initial assessment as a priority'
Direction No 81: order of consideration of skilled visas
New Direction No 81 (Order of Consideration – Certain Skilled Migration Visas): replaces Direction No 74; sets the order of processing of applications for visa subclasses 189, 190, 489, 186 and 187; sets the order of processing of nomination applications for visa subclasses 186 and 187
Case Law Updates
De facto relationships & PIC 4020
Federal Court: does the question "has the applicant been in any previous relationships" in a partner visa application form refer to relationships in general or only to married or de facto relationships? Can decision-makers assume the existence of a previous de facto relationship even if s 5CB is not satisfied? In determining whether information is false, does it matter that, at the time the information was provided, the FCCA had interpreted s 5CB in a way that was subsequently rejected by the FCA?
‘Late’ Tribunal applications may be reconsidered
Federal Court (Full Court): the Minister's visa refusal letter indicating that the applicant could apply to the Tribunal within a timeframe to be calculated by the applicant by reference to the legislative provisions (as opposed to stating the date in absolute terms) was an invalid notification; as a result, a 'late' Tribunal application was not late; this decision means that 'late' Tribunal applications including those from years ago may be reconsidered in certain circumstances
Whether a Departmental policy is unlawful
The Federal Court (Full Court) decided whether a Departmental policy is unlawful. The policy deals with the situations in which the Minister should exercise his/her discretion to refuse a citizenship applications under s 24 of the Australian Citizenship Act 2007. The policy deals with children under 16 years old 'applying individually in their own right'.
Industry Updates
Practitioner reprimanded for rewriting file notes
The practitioner's submission included the following passage: I 'made the misguided decision to rewrite the file notes on plain paper as I firmly believed it was inappropriate to hand in any file notes on Blake Dawson and [sic] Waldron letterhead'. As there was no suggestion that the rewriting involved dishonesty, the Tribunal made a finding of unsatisfactory professional conduct.
Canberra 24 May 2019 invitation round
323 invitations issued; next invitation round to take place on or before 2 June 2019
AAT website maintenance Sunday 26 May 2019
'Due to scheduled maintenance this website may be unavailable between 4:00 pm and 8:00pm (AEST) on Sunday 26/05/2019'
Media Updates
Operation Sovereign Borders monthly update: April 2019
'Five IMA detainees, who arrived in Australia before 1 January 2014, were voluntarily removed from Australia. Three IMA detainees who arrived in Australia before 1 January 2014 were involuntarily removed from Australia to their country of origin, consistent with Australia’s obligations'
Coalition to freeze refugee intake if it wins election
'Australia's refugee intake will be frozen at current levels for three years under a coalition government'
Greece: work & holiday arrangements to commence
From 1 July 2019, 500 places will be available annually for young Greeks to visit Australia on work & holiday visas