Premium

According to the new Migration (LIN 19/147: Arrangements for Sponsorship for Temporary Sponsored Parent Visa) Instrument 2019, the sponsorship application fee for the new parent visa (subclass 870) will be $420

It is expected that applications for the new Temporary Sponsored Parent visa subclass will be available on 17 April 2019; sponsors will need to have a taxable income of at least $83,454.80

The new Subclass 494 (Skilled Employer Sponsored Regional (Provisional)) visa will "replace" subclass 187. However, r 5.19 of the Migration Regulations 1994 will not apply to the new subclass. Instead, nomination applications will need to satisfy the requirements in the newly introduced r 2.72C, which is very different to r 5.19. For instance, nomination applicants will need to be Standard Business Sponsors (or a party to a work agreement) for the new visa, which is not a requirement for subclass 187.

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 purpose of the instrument is to specify a class of persons who may be granted permission to work while holding a BVE visa..."

The article recently published on the changes made to s 338(2) of the Migration Act has prompted industry discussions, with some practitioners arguing that those changes will not affect the AAT eligibility of TSS applicants. The writer respectfully disagrees, as s 57 not always applies.

Schedule 1 extends subclass 476 (Skilled – Recognised Graduate) visas whose holders were outside Australia during the COVID-19 related travel restrictions. "Schedule 2 facilitates the ability to apply for an Electronic Travel Authority visa using a recently launched ... Schedule 3 facilitates short-term skilled visa holders accessing a pathway to permanent residence (currently generally only available to longer-term visa holders), by enabling them to apply for..."

The new instrument increases Visa Application Charges (VACs) starting on 1 July 2025. The new Migration Amendment (Visa Application Charges) Regulations 2025 commences on 1...

The new regulations "provide appropriate flexibility for the Schedules to the SOFA Regulations to commence when the Agreements covered by the SOFA Regulations come into force for Australia"

From 1 July 2020, credit card surcharges relating to visa and citizenship applications will be increased, as detailed in this update. It is important to know the precise amount of charges and fees to be paid by clients in order to comply with cl 2.20(a) of the Code, which reads as follows: A registered migration agent must ... find out the correct amount of any visa application charge and all other fees or charges required to be paid for a client’s visa application...