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"The amendments limit the adverse impact of COVID-19 related travel restrictions on holders of Subclass 870 visas who were outside Australia on 1 July 2021. These visa holders may have been granted the visa while outside Australia and now have difficulty in travelling to Australia, or may have left Australia while holding the visa but now have difficulty in returning.  The amendments assist these visa holders by allowing them additional time to travel to and stay in Australia when travel resumes."

Generally, salary requirements for a TSS nomination have 3 limbs: 1) annual market salary rate (AMSR), excluding non-monetary benefits, must be at least $53,900; 2) nominee's annual earnings must be at least the AMSR. 3) annual earnings, excluding non-monetary benefits, must be at least $53,900. But if annual earnings are at least the AMSR (limb 2) and the AMSR, excluding non-monetary benefit, is at least $53,900 (limb 1), is it not the case that the annual earnings, excluding non-monetary benefits, will necessarily be at least $53,900, thus rendering limb 3 redundant? Not really, as we explain.

The explanatory statement to LIN 20/029 reads: "The purpose of this instrument is to give domestic effect to Australia’s obligations under international trade agreements, to which it is a party, for the purposes of applying the labour market testing condition". Parts of LIN 20/029 commenced on 17 Jan 2020 and 11 Feb 2020. The remaining part of LIN 20/029, which concerns the Indonesia-Australia Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (IACEPA), commenced on 5 July 2020. Understand why.

2 occupations added to MLTSSL; 6 moved from STSOL to MLTSSL; 16 moved from STSOL to ROL; 5 removed from STSOL; new caveats for some occupations; error in explanatory statement

The new legislative instrument: increases the VAC for some visas; expands the group benefitting from transitional arrangements related to the closure of subclass 187; adds one of the new regional visas to the visas for which, unless there are compelling and compassionate circumstances, the Minister must be satisfied that an applicant claiming to be in a de facto relationship has been in that relationship for at least 12 months at time of application; ensures that eligible family members can join an application for one of the new regional visas after it is made and before it is decided.

The new regulations amend the Migration Regulations 1994 (Cth) to "enhance the operation of the Community Support Program (CSP), which allows community groups and individuals to propose and support applicants for entry to Australia under the Humanitarian Program"

The regulations "amend the Migration Regulations 1994 (the Migration Regulations) to allow for persons affected by the High Court’s decision in Love v Commonwealth; Thoms v Commonwealth (2020) 270 CLR 152 (Love) who have accepted an offer of permanent stay in Australia made by the Australian Government to be granted a permanent visa, the Subclass 851 (Resolution of Status) (RoS) visa..."

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

"The instrument also operates to specify appropriate regional authorities for the purpose of the definition of appropriate regional authority in regulation 1.03 of the Regulations. Specifically to reflect the correct names for the appropriate regional authorities who are able to sign sponsorship forms required to be lodged with an application for one of five legacy classes of visa".

It is often said that, if PIC 4020 is contained in a time of decision (TOD) criterion under Schedule 2, only the TOD is relevant for the purposes of the look-back provisions in PIC 4020. But is that really the case?