Removal of health workforce certificate requirements

The purpose of this instrument is to remove the requirement for employers to provide a health workforce certificate for certain occupations for subclass 186 visa applications

Subclass 191: form, place & manner of applications

"The purpose of the instrument is to specify the approved form, place and manner (the arrangements) for making an application for a Permanent Residence (Skilled Regional) (Class PR) visa (Class PR visa), which commences on 5 March 2021"

Expiry extension for prospective marriage visa

The new Regulations "amend the Migration Regulations 1994 (the Migration Regulations) to address the ongoing impact of COVID-19 by providing for the extension of Subclass 300 (Prospective Marriage) visas" in certain circumstances

Personal Identifiers Regulations

The new regulations "amend the Migration Regulations 1994 to enable the Department of Home Affairs (the Department), including the Australian Border Force, to collect facial images from..."

Prospective marriage: marrying before grant

One of the requirements for the grant of a prospective marriage visa (subclass 300) is that the applicant still intends to marry the Australian/PR/NZ citizen at the time of decision. But if they marry before the visa is granted, is that visa automatically "converted" into a partner visa application?

Collective visa suspension

The changes give the Minister "powers to more effectively regulate travel into Australia by specified classes of non-citizens who hold a temporary visa in circumstances where this is necessary to protect the integrity and sustainability of Australia’s migration system, including during periods of international conflict or in response to other events or circumstances outside Australia".

Family violence provisions and other measures

The new regulations insert family violence provisions into Schedule 2 criteria for certain permanent visas and amends the Schedule 1 criteria for a primary applicant for certain visas

External access to movement records

The purpose of the new instrument is to specify: the prescribed Commonwealth, State and Territory legislation for the purposes of which an officer may be authorised to access the movement records; the prescribed agencies and employees of the Commonwealth, a State or Territory and the purpose for which those employees may access the movement records

Several changes coming soon

The new Regulations make changes to the business innovation and investment program, working holiday maker visas, bridging visas, the manner of reporting on arriving overseas passengers and crew members and citizenship fees

Visas affected by the new regional visas

8 existing visa types are adversely affected by the new subclass 491 and 494 regional visas. If a subclass 491/494 visa is (or has been) held by a client, that client might not be eligible for any of those 8 existing visa types and might not even be eligible for a BVA. However, those 8 existing visas are not affected in the same way. As a result, it is not enough to understand Schedules 1 and 2 for the new visas. It is also necessary to understand how those new visas could affect each of those 8 existing visas types.