Student visas offshore processing resumes but borders remain closed; COVID-19 affected students to renew for free and other benefits

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Student visas offshore processing resumes but borders remain closed; COVID-19 affected students to renew for free and other benefits

To shore up the education sector and to reassure existing and prospective international students, offshore student visa processing will re-commence despite Australia’s borders still closed to most if not all international students. Furthermore, current and future student visa holders who require a further student visa because of COVID-19 will not be required to pay an application fee. Other benefits for COVID-19-affected 485 visa applicants including counting online study, the ability to lodge their application while offshore and additional time to provide evidence of English language ability.

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Australia’s permanent migration places remain at 160,000 for 2020-21…for now

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Australia’s permanent migration places remain at 160,000 for 2020-21…for now

The Department of Home Affairs (Home Affairs) has released an FAQ to confirm among other things that the number of permanent migration places allocated for this program year (2020-21) is the same as for the last program year. This is not set in stone and is likely to change when the Federal Budget is handed down in October.

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Special visa arrangements for Hong Kong passport holders; new skilled occupation lists coming soon?

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Special visa arrangements for Hong Kong passport holders; new skilled occupation lists coming soon?

The prime minister has set out a plan for certain Hong Kong passport holders who hold Australian visas to extend their stay in Australia for up to 5 years. Additionally, new student graduates and temporary work visa applicants will also have access to a 5-year visa, with a pathway to a permanent visa available. The government has also set its sights on attracting Hong Kong’s best a brightest workers and businesses.

But perhaps the biggest announcement may be that revisions to the skilled occupation lists are coming sooner rather than later.

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ImmiAccount system outage from 7 pm on 30 June, credit card and PayPal surcharge increases from 1 July 2020

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ImmiAccount system outage from 7 pm on 30 June, credit card and PayPal surcharge increases from 1 July 2020

ImmiAccount and other major online services provided by the Department of Home Affairs will be down for scheduled maintenance from 7 pm (AEST) 30 June 2020 until 9 am (AEST) 1 July 2020. While there has been no news on any changes to visa application charges or other migration- and citizenship-related fees, the surcharge for Visa and Mastercard payments and PayPal will increase, with an important warning for any applicant seeking to avoid surcharges altogether by using BPAY.

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