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"This Bill will amend the Migration Act 1958 to require the Minister to replace the current Maritime Crew Visa with two new categories of Maritime Crew Visas under Schedule 2 of the Migration Regulations 1994"

"This instrument will ensure that when an applicant registers to participate in the ballot and makes payment for registration in the ballot by credit card, the applicant will be liable to pay the credit card surcharge..."

The revoked instrument "specified, for paragraphs 408.229(b) and (c) of Schedule 2 to the Regulations, the event known as Supporting Innovation in South Australia as an ‘Australian Government endorsed event’ (AGEE) and classes of persons in relation to the event who may be eligible for a Subclass 408 (Temporary Activity) visa"

The Pacific Agreement on Closer Economic Relations Plus (PACER Plus) came into force on 13 December 2020. As a result, a legislative instrument based on the PACER Plus exempting individuals from Labour Market Testing requirements has commenced on the same day.

In order to avoid situations where applicants, sponsors or visa holders can claim they have never in fact received a document from the Department, the Migration Act 1958 (Cth) contains provisions that deem receipt of that document. The time when the person is deemed to have received a document will depend on whether the document was given by hand, by handing it to a person at the recipient's last residential or business address, dispatched by post or email.

The purpose of the new instrument is to "include an exemption for New Zealand citizens who are unable to meet the income threshold requirements for the 2020-21 income year due to the economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic"

Sponsors "inherit" any outstanding public health debt incurred by visa applicants and the government can recover the debt from sponsors in court, which could add up to several thousands of dollars of out of pocket health expenses, not to mention legal costs. Practitioners might need to advise both visa applicants and sponsors about that liability. Otherwise, sponsors could seek compensation from, and/or complain against, practitioners on the basis that, had they been informed of the liability, they would not have applied for sponsorship.

"it was identified that further amendments were required to address gaps in the legislative scheme, to ensure that all intended eligible persons are covered..."

The new regulations "introduce a new permanent Subclass 192 (Pacific Engagement) visa (the Pacific Engagement visa). The Pacific Engagement visa will provide access to permanent residence in Australia for citizens of a number of Pacific island countries and Timor-Leste, and members of their family units"

Number of invitations reduced drastically from 1,500 to 110; invitation threshold raised from to 75 to 80 points for visa subclass 189 and threshold for visa subclass 489 remained the same at 80 points