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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457/TSS: Priority processing no more; all 457 applications expected to be finalised by end of year

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457/TSS: Priority processing no more; all 457 applications expected to be finalised by end of year

The Department of Home Affairs have ceased considering any request for priority processing for Subclass 482 - Temporary Skill Shortage visas and Subclass 457 - Temporary Work Skilled visas yet to be finalised. It is expected that all outstanding 457 visa and related applications will be finalised by the end of the calendar year. Processing times for labour agreement applications will also drop due to a new processing model.

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