Retirees pathway to a permanent visa begin 17 November 2018 but only for 8 May 2018 visa holders

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Retirees pathway to a permanent visa begin 17 November 2018 but only for 8 May 2018 visa holders

The anticipated pathway to a permanent visa for Subclass 405 – Investor Retirement visa and Subclass 410 – Retirement visa holders have been released. A permanent visa will only be eligible to those who held a retirement visa on 8 May 2018 and who have not held another substantive visa since that date other than a retirement visa. Instead of creating a new subclass, existing Subclass 103 – Parent visa and Subclass 143 – Contributory Parent visa subclasses will be amended to accommodate.

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Designated Area Migration Agreements slated for Cairns, Orana, and Warrnambool

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Designated Area Migration Agreements slated for Cairns, Orana, and Warrnambool

The Minister for Immigration, Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs, in a recent speech, has said that the progress of a number of Designated Area Migration Agreements (DAMAs) made between state and territory authorities and the Department of Home Affairs (Home Affairs) may be finalised in the coming months. DAMAs are a type of labour agreement that are utilised for chronic shortages in mostly semi-skilled occupations and that can carry concessions over the standard requirements for a Subclass 482 – Temporary Skill Shortage visa.

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Annual report season: Processing woes; permanent migration places to remain at 190 000

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Annual report season: Processing woes; permanent migration places to remain at 190 000

The Department of Home Affairs and the Administrative Appeals Tribunal released their 2017-18 annual reports. Both provide good insights into their performance over the last year and their shortcomings, namely that processing of certain applications have slowed.

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The regional visa debate

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The regional visa debate

This week saw debate by federal and state politicians on Australia’s population and immigration, with an emphasis on migration to regional areas. Current regulations, however, does not lend itself to this policy aim, except for General Skilled Migration visas, which already has one visa subclass requiring holders to live, study and work in a regional area. Could we see greater scrutiny on this suite of visas?

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