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"The purpose of the instrument is to update the list of approved travel agents for the Approved Destination Status (ADS) stream of the Visitor (subclass 600) visa. The ADS stream facilitates group travel from the People’s Republic of China to Australia for applicants participating in tours organised by travel agents..."

The OMARA has recently informed practitioners that it will not be able to refund registration (or repeat registration) application charges for legal practitioners who will no longer be regulated by the OMARA. Although the OMARA is not itself able to offer refunds, we carried out research for our readers and found a piece of legislation which gives the Commonwealth government the discretion to make payments to individuals in certain circumstances, which in the case of OMARA fees could effectively work as a refund. We also discuss the government's policies on such circumstances and how to make a "refund" request.

"The amendments in the [new legislation on RMA application charges] ensure that a [registered migration agent] who paid the non-commercial application charge in relation to their current period of registration, but gives immigration assistance otherwise than on a non-commercial basis, is liable to pay an adjusted charge". The date of commencement of the new legislation is...

"The Bill amends the Migration Act to protect disclosure of confidential information provided by gazetted intelligence and law enforcement agencies where the information is used for decisions made to refuse or cancel a visa on character grounds, or revoke or set aside such decisions (Protected Information)... The Bill also amends the Citizenship Act to introduce provisions (which are substantially similar to the provisions in the Migration Act described above)..."

The new legislation supports "the trial of the Australia Travel Declaration (ATD) as a digital version of the passenger card, also known as the ‘incoming passenger card’"

New rules for the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia (Division 2) (General Federal Law). Compared to the current rules, there is a significant difference as to how costs are to be determined, among other things.

"The Amendment Regulations amend provisions which enable the Minister to grant a BVR visa without application to an individual, including in circumstances where the non-citizen" and "provide for a range of new and amended conditions for BVR visa holders"

The new instrument specifies: the minimum amount of taxable income for an income year that a primary applicant for a subclass 189 visa in the New Zealand stream must meet; the circumstances under which an applicant for a subclass 189 visa is a member of a class of applicants exempt from the minimum amount of taxable income specified and the evidence required for the class.

The instrument specifies a new event for the purpose of paragraph cl 408.229(b) of Schedule 2 to the Migration Regulations 1994 (Cth)

The ATO will acquire visa data from the Department of Home Affairs for 2020-21 through to 2022-23.  The data items include...