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On 4 Nov 2019, the federal government announced it will increase the number of annual places available under the Work & Holiday visa program from 500 to 2,000 for a particular country.

"The purpose of the instrument is to update the approved form, place and manner (the arrangements) for making an application for a Special Category (Temporary) (Subclass 444) (Class TY) visa (SCV)"

The new instrument specifies the approved form and the place and manner in which applications must be lodged for the following visa subclasses: 189, 190, 485, 476, 489, 491 and 887.

"The Regulations prescribe an amount of AUD... as the charge for registration as a registered participant in a ballot for the new Pacific Engagement visa. The charge must be paid at the time of ..."

Sponsors' obligations and liabilities are a serious matter and practitioners should ensure that clients are made aware of them. For instance, sponsors are required to notify Immigration (not via email) when certain events occur, such as a change to any information provided in the sponsorship application. Lack of notification can result in the following sanctions against the sponsor: a bar; sponsorship cancellation; civil penalty order; and others. Further, the visa's expiry date is brought forward if the sponsorship is cancelled.

The purpose of the new provision is to describe the visas that are COVID-19 affected visas. A working holiday maker visa is a COVID-19 affected visa if all of the following requirements are met...

The new instrument specifies the relevant assessing authorities for occupations specified in the Medium and Long-term Strategic Skills List, the Short-term Skilled Occupation List and the Regional Occupation List

Among other things, the new instrument "amends regulation 2.12 to prescribe three skilled visa classes as visas for which an application may be made in Australia by applicants who have been refused a visa or had a visa cancelled while in Australia and are prevented by section 48 of the Migration Act from applying for a visa other than a prescribed visa while remaining in Australia"

The instrument amends LIN 20/262 to ... The new Migration (Arrangements for Certain Skilled and Temporary Graduate Visa Applications) Amendment Instrument (LIN 20/297) 2020 commences...

The new instrument amends the Migration Regulations 1994 (Cth) to: "provide certain concessions to facilitate the grant of further WHM visas to certain holders and former holders of those visas in Australia who have been affected by the COVID‑19 pandemic; establish an instrument-making power for the Minister to exempt holders of certain passports from meeting ‘specified work’ requirements when they apply for a second or third WHM visa; and ..."