Legislation Updates
Migration Legislation Tracker
A single source about the status of pieces of legislation, Bills, commencement dates, disallowances, etc
Definition of “Employment Minister” amended
The definition of "Employment Minister" under r 1.03 of the Migration Regulations 1994 will change on 29 June 2019, but with retrospective effect from 29 May 2019
New VACs from 1 July 2019
'[The new] Regulations amend the Migration Regulations to increase first instalment VACs for a number of visas. The Regulations increase the majority of VACs'. The VAC for some visas will increase on 1 July 2019 and the VAC for other visas will only increase on 16 November 2019.
Case Law Updates
Cancellation revocation: expectations of Australian community
Federal Court: when determining under s 501CA(4) of the Migration Act 1958 whether to revoke the mandatory cancellation of a visa, should a decision-maker also take into consideration the non-citizen's submissions regarding what the expectations of the Australian community are or should the decision-maker only take into consideration their own views of what constitutes those expectations?
Carer visa: does medical certificate expire?
Federal Court: a time of decision criterion for visa subclass 836 is that a medical certificate must state that the person receiving care has and will continue to have a need for direct assistance for at least 2 years. Does it mean that the certificate must be issued shortly before the time of decision? Could the certificate issued in 2010 "reasonably say anything about the degree of impairment of the sponsor 8 years later"? Does a medical certificate expire?
Can 186 visa application be linked to new nomination?
Federal Circuit Court: can an existing subclass 186 visa application be "linked" to a new nomination?
Industry Updates
Can RMAs be responsible for consequences of 3rd-party forgery?
Q1 to the OMARA: assuming that it was not the Agent who forged the sponsor's signature and that he was not aware of the forgery, did he nevertheless facilitate the forgery by lack of diligence? Q2: assuming that the Agent's copying of the letterhead from the sponsor's website into nomination documents without the sponsor's knowledge did not involve dishonesty, was that nevertheless a misleading act? Q3: did the metadata on the Agent's file notes indicate to OMARA that those notes were not contemporaneous?
SA: GSM nomination to reopen on 3 July
South Australia: 'The General Skilled Migration (GSM) state nomination 190/489 application system will re-open from midday (12pm) on Wednesday 3 July'
SA: updates to subclass 190 nomination
The government of South Australia has updated the skilled nomination requirements and the international graduate of South Australia requirements and waivers
Media Updates
Cutting permanent migration by 120,000 places over 4 years
'First, the government is cutting the permanent migration program by a cumulative 120,000 places over four years. The new cap is 160,000 per annum, down from the cap of 190,000. The average intake over the last five years has been 183,000... Second, the government is introducing strong incentives for new international students to choose locations outside of the big capital cities'.
Government to ‘abandon’ plans for stricter citizenship test?
"The Australian Government may not be pursuing changes to the Australian citizenship law - that would make permanent residents wait longer and require evidence of their English proficiency before they can apply"
More work & holiday visas available to Singaporeans
'From 1 July 2019, the number of Work and Holiday visas available to Singaporean citizens aged 18-30 will increase from 500 to 2,500 per year'