Senate next week: Integrity of Partner Visas Bill

According to the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, the Migration Amendment (Family Violence and Other Measures) Bill 2016 is scheduled to be debated in the Senate on 19 September 2018, at 9.30am.

According to the explanatory memorandum:

12. [Item 10 of the Bill] inserts new subsections (2) and (3) into section 140AA [of the Migration Act] to set out the purposes of Division 3A, to the extent it applies in relation to the sponsored family visa program and to identify how these purposes are to be achieved.

13. New subsection (2) provides that the purposes are:

(a) to strengthen the integrity of the program; and

(b) to place greater emphasis on the assessment of persons as family sponsors; and

(c) to improve the management of family violence in the delivery of the program.

14. New subsection (3) provides that the purposes referred to in subsection (2) are to be achieved by establishing a framework that:

(a) requires the approval of persons as family sponsors before any relevant visa applications are made; and

(b) imposes obligations on persons who are or were approved family sponsors; and

(c) provides for sanctions if such obligations are not satisfied; and

(d) facilitates the sharing of personal information in accordance with this Division.

The proposed amendments to s 140ZH(1) of the Migration Act authorise the Minister to disclose personal information of visa applicants to sponsors and vice-versa.

 


Disclaimer: the above is a mere tentative analysis of a Bill. The law or policies might have changed between the writing and reading of this article. The author of this article and Migration Law Updates disclaim any liability for any action (or omission) on their part based on any information provided (or not provided) in this article and are under no obligation to keep the general public nor practitioners informed about the matters discussed in this article or any other matters, or any future changes to any of those matters. It is the responsibility of each practitioner to obtain access to primary sources of law and policy by themselves and to carry out their own research and come to their own conclusions on legislation, case law, policies and more. This article is not intended for the general public.


Sergio Zanotti Stagliorio is a Registered Migration Agent (MARN 1461003). He is the owner of Target Migration in Sydney. He can be reached at sergio@targetmigration.com.au

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