News

Within the last year the Department has been closely scrutinising the genuine need for nominated occupations under the subclass 457 scheme. In particular, focus has been on the following occupations:

On 14 December 2015, the Australian Government introduced new criminal, civil and administrative sanctions, and visa cancellation provisions as part of a framework that makes “payment for visas” behaviour illegal.

Due to the difficulties faced by prospective applicants in the lodgement of online nomination applications for the subclass 190 visa, the NSW Department of Trade and Investment introduced a new invitation process from February 2015.

The most common pathway for an Australian permanent resident to become an Australian citizen is by making an application for citizenship by conferral. 

The Australian government has proposed the creation of a new visa subclass, which will allow for entry into Australia for up to 12 months to complete specialised work, including intra-company transfers and foreign correspondents

On 11 December 2014 Migration Amendment (Character and General Visa cancellation) Bill 2014 became law which makes some significant changes to the character requirements and general visa cancellation provisions in the Migration Act 1958 (the Migration Act).