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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'

The new Regulations 'allow citizenship application fees ... and refunds ... to be paid in foreign currencies and in foreign countries, and [align] the concession codes in Schedule 3 with the concession codes currently employed by the Department of Human Services'

If a child is born a non-citizen in Australia and, at the time of birth, one the parents holds a visa of a given subclass and the other parent holds a visa of another subclass, does the child "inherit" any of those 2 visas? If so, does the child inherit the most beneficial visa? Can the child "inherit" and hold both visas at the same time? Are there circumstances where the child will "inherit" no visa at all and will be born an unlawful non-citizen, despite the fact that the parents hold a visa? The answers might be surprising.

It is sometimes said by applicants that a person who remains in Australia after their student visa expires has a 28-day "grace period" during which they remain lawful non-citizens. We explain why that is not the case.

The new Regulations "allow the Minister to impose a number of existing visa conditions, relating to the safety and security of the Australian community, on Subclass 050 (Bridging (General)) visas and Subclass 070 (Bridging (Removal Pending)) visas. The conditions may be imposed if the visa is granted by the Minister exercising his or her personal power under section 195A of the Migration Act to grant a visa to a detainee".

'The purpose of the instrument is to update the language of the values statement for all visa subclasses specified to better reflect the values that are important to Australian society'

"The purpose of the instrument is to update the information previously contained in [the instrument to be repealed on 31 March 2020] to ensure all officers, agencies and their employees who require access to movement records for various purposes are authorised to do so. Accordingly, changes have been made to the legislation specified under subregulation 3.10A(1) and the agencies, employees and purposes specified under subregulation 3.10A(2)".

The new regulations amend PIC 4005(1)(c) and 4007(1)(c) so that a ... "is not required to satisfy the Minister that they are free from a disease or condition which would necessitate the provision of health care or community services, where that would result in a significant cost to the Australian community or prejudice the access of an Australian citizen or permanent resident to that health care or community service"

Among the many changes, the new instrument amends the definitions for the classes of persons who are exempt from or are not required to meet the age requirement for visa subclasses 186, 187 and 494

"The benefits of a ballot to select eligible visa applicants may include: ... avoidance of the requirement for visa applicants to pay the non-refundable first instalment of the visa application charge (VAC) for an application which may be..."