LATEST UPDATE MIGRATION NEWS IN 2023
LATEST NEWS: 01/07/2023
Increase the visa application fee
From 01 July 2023, the Federal Government will increase the application fee for certain types of visas, including visitor and temporary visas.
– Visitor visa application fee (600) will increase from $150 to $190.
– Student visa application fee (500) will increase from $650 to $715.
– Working holiday visa application fee (462) will increase from $510 to $640.
– Business and investment visas have the highest increase: 40%.
– Other visas have an increase of at least 6%.
Particularly, the Pacific Engagement Visa and Pacific Australia Labor Mobility programmes will not be affected.
The government said it would use the $665 million raised from the fee increase over five years to improve visa processing times and “other government priorities”.
Changes to the Student Visa (Visa 500)
To address the labor shortage, restrictions on working hours for international students were eased during the COVID-19 pandemic and lifted in January 2022. This allows international students to work more than 40 hours per fortnight.
But from 1/7/2023, these limits will be applied again, and the number of working hours will increase to 48 hours per fortnight.
International students working in aged care will be exempt from the limitation until December 31, 2023.
Also, from July 1, some students holding a 485 visa (Temporary Graduate visa) will be able to stay in Australia longer.
The length of stay increased from 2 years to 4 years for graduates of a Bachelor’s degree, from 3 years to 5 years for graduates of a Master’s degree, and from 4 years to 6 years for graduates of a Ph.D.
LATEST NEWS: 11 FEBRUARY 2022
From 21 February 2022, all fully vaccinated visa holders will be able to travel to Australia without needing to apply for a travel exemption. This includes Bridging, Visitor, and any other visa types that allow travel to Australia not currently listed as eligible visa holders. Unvaccinated visa holders will still need a valid travel exemption to enter Australia.
LATEST NEWS: 07 JUNE 2021
– The Australian Visa Application Centres in Vietnam (VFS centre) remains open for Biometrics collection, strictly by appointment.
Current operational days and timing for the AVACs, except public holidays, are:
- Operational days: Monday-Wednesday-Friday
- Operational timings: 09:00 am to 01:00 pm
– Types of visa holders can enter Australia:
- an Australian citizen
- a permanent resident of Australia
- an immediate family member of an Australian citizen or permanent resident (visas subclass 309/100, 820/801, 101, 192, 117, 445)
- a New Zealand citizen usually resident in Australia and their immediate family members
- a person who has been in New Zealand or Australia for 14 days or more immediately prior to arrival by air in Australia
- a diplomat accredited to Australia, including their immediate family members (each member of the family unit must hold a valid subclass 995 visa)
- a person transiting Australia for 72 hours or less
- airline crew, maritime crew including marine pilots
- a person recruited under the Government approved Seasonal Worker Program or Pacific Labour Scheme
- a person who holds a Business Innovation and Investment (subclass 188) visa.
- temporarily visa holders with travel exemption.
– From 22 January 2021, if you are travelling to or transiting through Australia you must provide evidence of a negative COVID-19 (PCR) test to your airline, taken 72 hours or less before your scheduled departure, unless you are travelling on a quarantine-free flight from New Zealand.
Masks must be worn on all international flights, including at airports.
Before you travel to Australia, you should complete the Australia Travel Declaration within 7 days and at least 72 hours before your departure for Australia at https://www.health.aero/au/
Unless arriving on a quarantine-free flight from New Zealand, all travellers arriving in Australia, including Australian citizens, must quarantine for 14 days at a designated facility, such as a hotel in their port of arrival.
LATEST NEWS: 29 OCT 2020
The Australian Visa Application Centres (VFS) in Vietnam has resumed limited operations from 28 October 2020 for Biometrics collection, strictly by appointment.
The Priority Migration Skilled Occupation List
The 17 occupations (ANZSCO code) are:
- Chief Executive or Managing Director (111111)
- Construction Project Manager (133111)
- Mechanical Engineer (233512)
- General Practitioner (253111)
- Resident Medical Officer (253112)
- Psychiatrist (253411)
- Medical Practitioner nec (253999)
- Midwife (254111)
- Registered Nurse (Aged Care) (254412)
- Registered Nurse (Critical Care and Emergency) (254415)
- Registered Nurse (Medical) (254418)
- Registered Nurse (Mental Health) (254422)
- Registered Nurse (Perioperative) (254423)
- Registered Nurses nec (254499)
- Developer Programmer (261312)
- Software Engineer (261313)
- Maintenance Planner (312911)
Travel exemptions
While Australia’s border restrictions remain in place, temporary visa holders must obtain a travel exemption before travelling to Australia. For more information about the travel exemption process see: Critical skills and sectors
Visa subclasses
Priority processing of nomination and visa applications for PMSOL occupations applies to these employer sponsored visa subclasses:
- Meet Health requirement
- Never committed crimes / had a criminal record
- Achieve a minimum of 65 points on the Australian scale
- There is an invitation letter/guarantee letter from a certain Australian state
- English proficiency is good enough to live, study and work in Australia
- Free travel and immigration to Australia, move to 140 countries around the world without applying for a visa
- Sponsor for relatives to come to Australia when you have lived in Australia enough time as prescribed
- Get free health care for the whole family
- Tuition exemption if there is a child under 18 years old, tuition reduction or loan policy if the child is over 18 years old
- Getting Australian citizenship when living enough time in Australia, while retaining original citizenship
- Applicant’s documents: local certified resume, criminal record, passport photo, documents related to marital status (marriage certificate, divorce certificate, etc.), passport, visa application, health certificate, related documents
- Sponsor’s documents: documents verifying sponsor’s information, documents proving financial ability, certified local CV, passport photos, passports, related documents
- Documentation of the applicant’s children: parent’s bond for the children to settle in Australia, birth certificate, passport photo, certificate of celibacy if the child is over 18 years old and proof of custody if children under 18 years old
- Documents relating to the sponsor’s relationship with the applicant: evidence of the communication between the two persons such as letters, invoices, emails, photos, etc.
- Some advice before applying for an Australian immigrant visa
For a working visa, you should find out in advance the priority occupations according to the Immigration Department’s regulations to take advantage of the visa application. - Visa interview: should answer briefly, concisely, honestly and clearly define your target to come to Australia. You should refer to frequently asked questions and practice answering at home to become more confident when participating in the interview.
Do not use false information or contradictory information in the application because if the visa is refused because of this reason, the applicant will not be able to submit any other visa for 3 years. - If a parent or dependent is over 18 years old with a disease on the Ministry of Home Affairs list that does not meet the requirements of the Ministry, even if the family has a commitment to pay the cost of treatment, the Visa Application Center Australian visa still reserves the right to refuse to issue visa under guarantee.
- For a skilled work visa, you are required to have a minimum of IELTS 6.0 (all skills) and a work certificate issued by companies that have worked before.
Hopefully, with the information shared above, it will partly help you prepare more carefully the Australian immigration documents. If there are still many doubts, hesitations and to avoid unfortunate mistakes, please contact Newland Travel – the leading reputable Australian travel and migration company in Vietnam for experts consultant and support.
For further advice, please contact Newland-Travel & Immigration
Office in Australia:
Address: Level 1, 42-44 Arthur Street, Cabramatta, NSW 2166
Hotline: 61-417 422 849 & 61-2-97257922
Office in Vietnam: Tan Dai Loi
Address: 448/3 Le Van Sy, Ward 14, District 3, Ho Chi Minh City
Hotline: 028-39310614
Email: tandailoi888@gmail.com