Julie T Heller Immigration Planning Consultants

Running a business in Australia?

Provided you have a suitable business background, there are a number of business migration options.

For instance, the subclass 845 visa is a good option for those who have already been in Australia on temporary visas (students, visitors, subclass 457s etc) for at least 272 days and owned 30-51% of a successful business for at least 18 months.

Business skilled applications can also assist those over 45 years of age to migrate to Australia.

If you have been running a business in Australia or are interested in business migration in the future, please contact us at info@jtimmigration.com.au or 03 8060 2457.

Will my application be affected by the new skilled occupations list?

On 17 May 2010 the Minister for Immigration announced the new skilled occupations list.  As expected, around 300 occupations have been removed, leaving only those in short supply in Australia in sectors such as health, IT and engineering.

Many applicants will now only be able to migrate using other visas.  However, some can still apply for visas using the old skilled occupations list. The table below sets out which list may apply to you.

For those affected by the changes, please contact us for advice on (+613) 8060 2451.

Top Tips To Protect Your Business From Migration Penalties

See our article as published recently in Human Capital Magazine: human-capital-magazine-top-tips-to-protect-your-business-from-migration-penalties

If you have any questions about the article, or about compliance plans for your organisation please contact one of our consultants.

Prospective skilled migrants take note: many now ineligible for application or visa grant

Immigration Minister Chris Evans announced major changes to skilled migration, without warning, effective today (8 February).

If you are not an engineer, doctor, nurse, IT specialist or have work experience in sustainable technologies it is recommended that you have your situation reviewed and if possible, lodge your skilled migration application before the skilled occupations list is expected to change in June 2010.

To migrate to Australia as a skilled person you need to have an occupation on the current “skilled occupations list”. From June, this list will be overhauled and will reflect only occupations that Australia currently has in short supply. Some occupations in trades, retail, business and professional services below managerial level are likely to be affected and may be removed from the list.  If your occupation is removed from the list, you will be ineligible to apply for a visa.

Pre-September 2007 applicants who are eligible to do so and whose occupation may be removed from the skilled occupation list, may want to consider relodging their visa application, as pre-September 2007 applications exceeding a new quota will not be assessed and they will be returned to applicants together with the visa application fee paid.

Applicants can no longer obtain additional points for having an occupation on the Migration Occupations in Demand List, which was revoked today.

Skilled workers who are unable to apply for a visa following these changes may need to rely on employer-sponsorship to migrate to Australia. For more information about this you should contact us.

Nominating existing 457 visa holders

One of the many changes to the law made on 14 September 2009 was to allow for a transfer of the remaining time left on a 457 visa to a new sponsoring employer provided a new nomination is approved.

If you are intending to nominate person who already holds a 457 visa linked to another sponsor, you should be mindful of their intended start date.  Once the nomination is approved, the 457 visa holder is required to commence working for your organisation.  The only exception is where they need to serve a notice period with their previous employer.  From the date of the nomination approval your organisation will be responsible for the sponsorship obligations, including health costs if the 457 visa was granted prior to 14 September 2009.  However, health costs may be avoided if you require your visa holder to apply for a new 457 visa (even if their current visa is still valid for some time).

Reusing medical tests

From 9 November 2009 it will no longer be possible to “upgrade” health examination reports. Under the current system people who had sat components of a medical could undertake any missing tests and update their medical results e.g. just undertake a HIV test. To avoid duplicate testing, it may be advisable to undertake full permanent residency medical testing for temporary visa applicants who need to do some, but not all, of the medical checks. Whether this is advisable in individual cases will vary, particularly as medical test results do not remain valid forever.

English testing for student visas

Following a recent decision of the Full Federal Court in the case of Minister for Immigration and Citizenship vs Kamal [2009], student visa applicants may be eligible for visa grant if they sit an IELTS test and receive the requisite score after applying for the visa and before the date of decision.  However, students should beware of submitting an application without IELTS information as an unfavourable decision could be made if DIAC is unaware an IELTS test will be sat in the future.

Customers can now contact us on our UK numbers: 08700 687 786 or 07031 900 858

New discretion for health waiver

Visa applicants or their families who are applying for a limited range of employer sponsored visasin the ACT or Victoria may now be eligible for discretionary visa grant. Please contact us for more information if you may have difficulty passing the standard health tests.

Skilled migrant quota reduced

The 2010 quota for skilled migration to Australia has been cut by around 15%. The impact of quota reductions is impossible to control. However, other visa options, particularly employer-sponsored visas remain unaffected. Contact us for more information about eligibility for these other visa types.