A few legislative instruments were recently registered that will implement changes to business skills visas announced at the end of last year on 1 July 2021 along with other changes, along with the customary visa application charge increases, and an almost doubling of AAT and citizenship application fees.

Visa amendments

Amendments to the Migration Regulations 1994 (Cth) see changes to a few visas, most of which were previously foreshadowed.

After the 2020 Business Innovation and Investment Program (BIIP) review, the Minister for Immigration, Citizenship, Migrant Services and Multicultural Aff​airs previously announced the closure of the subclass 132 – Business Talent visa on 1 July 2021, and the increase in minimum asset and turnover requirements for the subclass 188 - Business Innovation and Investment (Provisional) visa under the Business Innovation stream and Investor stream. It was also announced that the Premium Investor stream would also close.

The instrument gives effect to these policies, and includes related amendments to the business skills points test. Provisions have been made to allow visa applications lodged prior to 1 July 2021 to be processed according to current regulations.

For working holiday makers (WHM) who were granted a visa, either a subclass 417 – Working Holiday visa or a subclass 462 – Work and Holiday visa, and were unable to enter Australia or left Australia earlier than planned and could not return, will be able to apply for another WHM visa for free.

They will be able to do so only if they apply between 1 July 2021 and 31 December 2022 and meet the age requirement, which may vary depending on their country of passport. They must, however, meet the definition of a COVID-19 affected visa. This is defined as a WHM visa granted before 20 March 2020 (the date Australia’s borders slammed shut) and ceased or will cease between then and 31 December 2021. If their visa has ceased, or their visa was cancelled at their request, they must have been outside Australia at the time. They must apply for a new WHM visa while outside Australia.

Lastly, in the era of social distancing, bridging visa applicants and holders may not need to attend face-to-face interviews and in-person reporting to an office of the Department of Home Affairs. This affects Bridging visas D, E, F and R. With the exception of Bridging visa Es, there are unlikely many holders of the other visa subclasses if previous years are anything to go by.

A change will give discretion for the Department of Home Affairs to specify when and how mandatory reporting is to occur for those subject to visa condition 8401.

For Bridging visa E applicants, compulsory interviews were required in some situations such as on the grounds that the applicant is making, or is the subject of, acceptable arrangements to depart Australia. From 1 July 2021, there will be a discretion to waive the interview requirement. This is likely to be based on the applicant’s immigration history, for example, when they already hold a Bridging visa E, they are applying for another one, their circumstances have not materially changed, and they have a history of compliance with migration laws.

Visa application charge increases

Visa application fees will increase marginally for most visas on 1 July 2021. The money grabs previous to the 2017-18 Budget Measure which would only increase fees in line with the forecast Consumer Price Index seems to be over. Some visa application charges increased by the minimum amount of $5.

The exception is the 188/888 business skills visas, which have increased by over 10 per cent. This was implemented after the business skills visa review conducted last year.

AAT application fee up 70 per cent to $3000

A separate instrument will index the fee payable to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) from the current $1764 to $3000, an increase of 70 per cent.

The reason for the hike is to afford additional resources to process the ever-growing backlog of applications. According to the Explanatory Statement, as of 30 April 2021, there were 14,000 migration matters on hand at the Federal Circuit Court (FCC), and a whopping 58,000 active applications in the Migration and Refugee Division (MRD) of the AAT.

This follows the almost four-fold increase in filing fees to the FCC at the end of 2020 from $690 to $3,300, which was criticised as exorbitant and may hinder access to justice.

Both the AAT and FCC, unlike the Department of Home Affairs, do have fee waivers and subsidies based on financial hardship.

Citizenship application fees almost double

The Minister for Immigration, Citizenship, Migrant Services and Multicultural Aff​airs announced last week that citizenship application fees will increase on 1 July 2021. Unlike visa application charges, it has been four-and-a-half years since the last time citizenship application fees have changed, back on 1 January 2016.

These fees have increased by much larger percentages than most visa application charges. The justification for this is so applications can better meet the cost of allocating government resources to processing these applications.

Even though the change is significant in proportion to visa application charges, the total cost is nowhere near as expensive. The most expensive citizenship application is an application for Australian citizenship by conferral, likely the most popular application. This application fee will increase from $285 to $490 on 1 July 2021. Compare this to visa application charges, which can run into the thousands of dollars, this price hike seems bearable.

Furthermore, these revised fees have been considered reasonable compared to the fees in similar countries such as New Zealand, the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom.