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DAMA program can access either the Labour Agreement stream of the 482 visa, or the Labour Agreement stream of the 494.
For the purposes of this article, I will focus on the DAMA 482 programs and comparing it with TSS 482 Medium Term stream and TSS 482 Short Term Stream.
For anyone who has been on TSS 482 Short term in Australia during the pandemic, you might be eligible for a PR Pathway to 186 Visa. Read TSS 482 Short to PR here !
Global Talent Visa program in Australia can be a whole different process comparing to other programs like Skilled Migration Visa 491/190 or Employer Sponsored Program Visa 482 or visa 494.
For other programs, you only need to meet the criteria of each streams you are aiming toward and apply for the visa. As long as you provide all supporting documents required by the Department of Home Affairs, you will just need to wait for the result.
It is not like that in Global Talent Visa Australia.
Through the process of expressing your interest in the Global Talent Independent program, you have to make sure the documents show your best aspect of your expertise in the Targeted Sectors.
As of 1 March this year, the new Migration (Migration Agents Code of Conduct) Regulations 2021 (“Code of Conduct”) came into effect, setting out the ethical obligations of RMAs with respect to their clients, their profession and other practitioners.
Maintenance of a high ethical standard across the migration law profession is essential to maintaining faith in the system, obtaining positive and consistent results for clients, and facilitating timely and efficient interactions with the Department of Home Affairs, the Administrative Appeals Tribunal, the courts, and any other stakeholders and beneficiaries of the migration law industry.
The 2014 ‘Kendall Review’ provided impetus for a revised and reworked code of conduct to update the previous iteration that it found to be overly long, clumsily structured, overly prescriptive, and with certain provisions onerous, confusing and inconsistent with consumer and practitioner expectations and modern business practices.
With the stated aim of creating a world class migration advice industry the new Code of Conduct is twice as long as the previous iteration and remains full of prescriptive, highly specific provisions. It is written in denser ‘legalese’ language, rather than ‘plain English’, it imposes a greater compliance and administrative burden on practitioners, and seems to remain, in some parts, inconsistent with consumer expectations.
That said, the Code of Conduct enshrines the key ethical responsibilities that RMAs have to their clients, the profession, and other practitioners. While we have both RMAs and lawyers (who are technically not subject to the Code of Conduct) at Work Visa Lawyers, such considerations are to always be kept front-of-mind. As a migration law firm one of our highest priorities is the maintenance of a very high standard of service and we gladly accept our accountability to our clients, the Department, and our fellow practitioners for the quality of the service we provide.
The explanatory statement of the new Code of Conduct sets out the purported aim to
“…clarify and revise a migration agent’s obligations including obligations to notify certain events… enable migration agents to more clearly understand their obligations and implement best practices followed in comparable industries, including obligations relating to advertising, managing clients’ accounts, managing conflicts of interest and working in a business with others who may not be RMA’s”
The Code of Conduct itself provides its purpose at section 5 as being to:
The most useful way to get a sense of the ethical obligations set out in the Code of Conduct is by way of a brief look at the section titles of the six Divisions of Part 2 of the Code of Conduct.
13.......... General duty to act professionally, ethically etc
14.......... Duty to treat all persons with appropriate respect
15.......... Duty not to make false or misleading statements
16.......... Duty not to threaten to contravene this instrument
17.......... Duty to comply with migration law
18.......... Duty not to undermine the migration law
19.......... Duty not to give futile immigration assistance
20.......... Duty to avoid making false or misleading statements etc. to government officials
21.......... Duty relating to correcting false or misleading statements etc
22.......... Duty to maintain skills and knowledge
23.......... Duty to ensure that immigration assistance is given only by registered migration agents
24.......... Duties relating to work or services performed by persons other than registered migration agents
25.......... Duties relating to MARN
26.......... Duties not to make false or misleading statements in promoting business etc
27.......... Duty to hold professional indemnity insurance
28.......... Duty to notify Authority and clients of material changes in matters shown in Register
29.......... Duty to notify Authority of changes in circumstances relevant to agent’s continued registration
30.......... Duty to notify clients, Department and review authority if registration suspended
31.......... Duty to notify clients, Department and review authority if registration expected to lapse
32.......... Duty to respond to requests from Authority for information or documents
From this brief look at some of the core duties dealt with by the Code of Conduct we can get a sense of the key areas that RMAs must look to fulfil their ethical obligations. RMA’s have obligations to their clients; to the migration laws of Australia, the Department; and to themselves and their profession.
The ethical obligations as set out in the new Code of Conduct supports the stated aim of creating a world class migration advice industry in which integrity is paramount to obtaining a fair, legally sound, and justifiable decision. These ethical standards create equity for all applicants and practitioners before the law and ensure a level playing field.
Requirements on practitioners to ensure that they maintain a high level of skills and knowledge of the ebb and flow of migration law, alongside those duties relating to practice management, compels RMA’s to only take on matters which they are skilled and knowledgeable enough to conduct well and can give clients comfort that any RMA that they engage to assist with a migration law matter will have the skill, knowledge, and expertise to provide assistance.
These expectations are clearly set out in section 13 of the Code of Conduct, which reads as follows:
13 General duty to act professionally, ethically etc.
(1) A migration agent must act:
(a) professionally; and
(b) competently; and
(c) diligently; and
(d) ethically, honestly and with integrity.
Note: The other provisions of this instrument supplement, but do not limit, the general duties in this subsection.
(2) A migration agent must not engage in conduct (whether in the agent’s capacity as a migration agent or in any other capacity) that is reasonably likely to damage the reputation of migration agents or the immigration advice industry.
Lochlan Reef MacNicol, Lawyer & Registered Migration Agent at Work Visa Lawyers
Book an appointment with one of our experienced Immigration Lawyers and Registered Migration Agents here.
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Read our latest Australian Immigration updates in April 2022 here >
Are you planning to study or work in Australia for its Permanent Residency?
Are you curently in Australia and seeking Australian PR pathway with your skill?
Today’s topic is talking about the best state for skilled visa and employer sponsorship program.
Our opinion about the best state for each stream will be illustrated in the conclusion.
We have recently discussed the comparison of each state regarding its study life in Australia by the “where should I study” series.
Today we are going to look at the comparison of each state sponsorship program (Visa 491, Visa 190), and the employer-sponsored visa options (Visa 482, Visa 186...) for those who are working in Australia.
Read our latest Australian Immigration updates here >
During Australia’s border closure and travel restrictions in 2020 to late 2021,
visas such as the Skilled Independent (subclass 189) visa, Skilled Nominated (subclass 190), and the Skilled Work Regional (Provisional) (subclass 491) were not processed as quickly as the GTV and fewer invitations were extended.
The Global Talent Visa (GTV) on the other hand has gained popularity as it was an attractive option for several skilled and talented individuals because it was designed to be a streamlined pathway to permanent residency for those who are considered as high-calibre, outstanding global talents.
So how would you know whether the Global Talent Visa or another skilled visa is suitable for you? Below are some of the considerations
What a great start of the first quarter of 2022!
We have received a total of 11 invitations and visa grants from the Global Talent Visa program in just 6 weeks.
The period is from 18 February until 7 April 2022.
As usual, DigiTech is the most popular sector in the GTI program in 2022 which takes more than half of the invitations.
Following that are Financial Services and FinTech, and Infrastructure and Tourism.
Scroll down to each photo for its details of the 4 core requirements of Global Talent Visa program and how successful applicants achieve that.
Learn more about Global Talent Visa Updates in 2022 here>
Overall, the 4 core requirements of Global Talent Independent program has been met as:
- Target Sector: DigiTech, Infrastructure and Tourism, FinTech
- International Recognized: yes working and leading projects that are world-wide recognized, PhD Publications...
- High income threshold at $156,800 AUD: yes all are over the threshold
- Nominator : High quality nominator who is familiar with applicant's achievement and knowledge.
Read our latest Australian immigration updates April 2022 here>
Australia has a strong education system and is considered one of the best in the world, which makes it very attractive to students across the world.
Most of the students once they complete their studies want to get settled in Australia because of the livability factor.
They may get a decent lifestyle including physical and mental wellbeing, which makes them want to get settled here.
Obtaining Australian Permanent Residency Visa is getting more and more competent, and the visa system is vast and complex.
Many times, people do get confused about how to get it
Here we are discussing a few common pathways to Australian PR for you
Two big events have influenced the news this month.
The Australian federal budget was handed down on Tuesday, 29 March
This is provided a lot of details about what to expect in the migration program year.
The second big event is that on 10 April Prime Minister Scott Morrison called the day for the federal election.
The federal election will be held on 21 May 2022.
Just prior to the election being called there is often a frenzy of activity and announcements.
This is because once the election is cold then the government often goes into what’s called caretaker mode. Parliament no longer sits and there is no further opportunity to pass new legislation.
Another factor relevant to this month’s news is that Australia has very low unemployment rate at 4%.
However, there are severe skills shortages in many industries.
There are a lot of essential updates during March and April 2022.
Changes have been made to bring benefits to skilled workers in Australia.
However, there is still a focus on other streams like Business and Investment Visa or Global Talent Visa.
Today’s video will cover:
The general skilled migration program in Australia has been the most popular program used by migrants to obtain permanent residency status.
Visas represented for this program can be named subclass 189 (skilled independent visa), subclass 190 (skilled nominated visa), and 491 (skilled regional) (the previous visa for 491 is 489 visa)
The skilled migration program attracts skilled migrants worldwide and onshore graduates and workers as its benefits that the country can bring to each family.
Not surprisingly, Australia receives thousands of applications every year under the skilled migration program, which is highly competitive.
Those who are not highly skilled in their occupation might consider the Small Business Owner (SBO) pathway to aim for permanent residency.
Queensland was the first state to launch this program, and it has been increasingly popular over the years.
As of July 2021, four states in Australia, Queensland, Tasmania, Canberra, and South Australia, have this program officially in place.
You may not be aware that South Australia even has this stream. Very few articles talk about the small business owner skilled migration stream in South Australia.
This blog will give you full details of the South Australia small business owner stream.
Before that, watch out video for the quick overview of the Small business owner stream South Australia 491/190
Migration planning levels 2022-23 – a clear focus on Skilled Migration with 30, 000 more allocations and less than 30,000 for Family and partner visas.
This shows the significant impact of covid-19 to the labor shortages of Australia now the government is trying to attract more skilled migrants, driving innovation and investment as part of the 2022-23 budget.
The 2022-23 permanent Migration Program ceiling will be capped at 160,000 places.
The Morrison Government’s Migration Program will focus on skilled migration, with a return to a pre-pandemic composition of roughly two-thirds/one-third across the Skill and Family streams.
The Skill stream will increase to 109,900, more than 30,000 places above 2021-22 planning levels.
There have been significant growth in number of quotas for each stream in Skilled Migration such as:
Employer Sponsored Visa: 8,000 more allocations
Skilled Independent 189 Visa: roughly 10,000 more allocations for the new program years 2022-2023. This is published to deal with the current huge backlog in the Department of Home Affairs
Skilled nominated Visa 190: 8,800 more allocations
Skilled Regional visa 491 or visa 494 will more than double to 25,000 places to support growth in regional Australia.
Business Innovation and Investment (9,500 places), Global Talent (8,448 places) and Distinguished Talent (300 places) are experiencing a modest reduction in the allocations.
This may not be as bad as it sounds for Business Innovation and Investment Visa, because the processing of those business visas have been slow and may not have reached allocations.
The drop in Global Talent visa allocations looks dramatic, but it is useful to remember, that in 2021, while there was an allocation of 15,000, just over 9000 was granted.
Australia is still proven to be the most favorable destination in the world for highly skilled workers and investors.
Occupation lists will be reviewed and updated in early 2022-23 to reflect changes in Australia’s labor market, based on advice from the National Skills Commission.
As part of the Government’s migration program, the Family stream will provide an estimated 50,000 places to support family reunion.
The Partner and Child visa categories are estimated to deliver 40,500 and 3,000 visas respectively (delivery of Partner and Child visas will be subject to demand and visa processing requirements); while 6,000 places will be available for Parent visas; and 500 places for Other Family visas.
This sounds bad, but the Partner visa allocation was nearly doubled during the covid pandemic.
From 2022-23, Partner visa processing will move to a demand driven model.
Granting Partner visas on a demand-driven basis will provide the flexibility to meet the demand for Partner visas in a given program year, and assist in mitigating future growth in the Partner visa pipeline while maintaining immigration integrity.
There is an increase in the cap for Working Holiday Maker – the 462 visa
11,000 additional WHM visas will be available for prospective backpackers.
This is reasonable when Australia is pushing their programs which support significantly on labor shortages in critical sectors such as the Agriculture Visa program, Working Holiday Makers.
Humanitarian Visas
The 2022-23 Humanitarian Program will be maintained at the current ceiling of 13,750 places
an additional 16,500 places will be available for Afghan nationals under the Humanitarian program and will be equally allocated over the next four years.
There will be 4000 places available for Ukrainians under the Temporary Humanitarian visa. Minister Hawke has commented that Ukrainians will be considered displaced persons that may return to their homeland in the future. They will have access to Medicare and work rights.
The budget has released decreased funding for the Department of Home affairs Immigraiton services over the next five years. Funding will go down each year.
2021-22: $3,917m
2022-23: $3,335m
By 2024-25: $2,848m
So how achievable are the targets, with cutting the Department.
Looking at the breakdown of the expenditure can is quite revealing:
Australia spends twice as much, over 2 billion a year, on the management of unlawful non-citizens. While it spends less than a billion, 822 million, on managing the entire skilled and immigration program.
So, the obvious way to improve the budget on Immigration is to spend less on detention and then you have more for visa services and Citizenship.
The best way to do this, is to give those in detention, that can safely be released, Bridging visa and work rights. This will save millions and possibly billions.
Greater funding for the skilled part of the Immigration budget could boost Australia’s post covid recovery and help with skills shortages.
