DIBP announced that changes for the Visa Application Charges (VAC) will take effect in 1 July 2015 and these changes will be will fund investment for improvements to support stronger border and national security initiatives. You can find more details about the changes in VAC here. They also announced that The Department of Immigration and […]

27 May 2015, DIBP has announced that a Work and Holiday Memorandum of Understanding has been signed between Australia and the Slovak Republic. This means that Slovak Republic and Australia now have a reciprocal arrangement for Work and Holiday Visa (subclass 462) for the 2 countries. This would allow 200 young adults from each other's […]

Starting 1 July 2015, the Government is introducing a price increase to a few Visa Application Charges. The price increase will be used to fund for improvements to support stronger borders and national security initiatives. Permanent Migration Stream, Skilled Graduate, Temporary Long Stay Business (Subclass 457), Visitor and Student visa streams. 2.3% increase. Temporary Resident Short Term Business […]

DIBP posted an update that starting 22 May 2015, they will start collecting biometrics from applicants who are in Hong Kong at the time of making a visa application for Australia, unless exempted or excluded based on Australian Government Policy. Exemption: Holders of Hong Kong SAR, Macau SAR, British National Overseas, and People's Republic of […]

Following article is written by Rebecca Lim. I first visited Sri Lanka in 2003. I took leave from the Australian Department of Immigration and Citizenship for a short humanitarian stint with a Sri Lankan NGO during a Norwegian Peace Initiative-ceasefire. The civil war spanning over 25 years ended with the defeat of the Liberation Tigers […]

We all know that in applying for a visa, processing would take time, and we either become impatient in waiting for our visas to process, become to relaxed in getting the requirements for our visa (further delaying the processing of the visa), or become more and more anxious of what the results would be. To […]

According to DIBP, new visa arrangements came into effect on 31 March 2015. These affects non-citizens other than permanent residents intending to work in Australia's offshore oil and gas industry. People intending to work on resources installations should hold either a Subclass 457 Temporary Work (Skilled) visa or a Subclass 400 Temporary Work (Short Stay […]

The Department of Immigration and Border Protection (DIBP) has implemented a new minimum English language test scores for the following visas: Skilled - Recognised Graduate (subclass 467) Temporary Graduate (subclass 485) The changes were implemented and are applied to the lodged applications for the said visas on or after April 18, 2015. If you lodged […]

The Government has made changes on the Temporary Skilled (Subclass 457) based on their response to the  457 Integrity Review. You can view the Government's response here: https://www.minister.immi.gov.au/michaeliacash/2015/Pages/457-reforms-boost-integrity.aspx Below is the list of changes by the Government. The Government has expanded the list of English language providers, to include test of English as a Foreign Language […]

The Department and the Ministry for the Arts, Attorney-General’s Department are undertaking a review of the Temporary Work (Entertainment) visa (Subclass 420). The review is in support of the Australian Government’s commitment to reducing the burden and cost of unnecessary or inefficient regulation imposed on individuals, business and community organisations. The review invites comments from […]