To minimize the COVID19 impact on visa holders, the Department of Home Affairs has been offering a number of concessions to visa applicants and visa holders to overcome the difficulties and challenges during the COVID19 crisis.  

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Highlights

• Concessions for certain family visa applicants affected by COVID19 travel restrictions
• The Priority Migration Skilled Occupation List (PMSOL) was updated to include Social Worker (272511)
• Concessions and changes from 19 September 2020

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Changes to ENS 186 and RSMS 187 for 457 & 482 visa holders affected by  COVID-19 Pandemic.

The Department of Home Affairs has recently announced new changes to the COVID-19 pandemic.

This is good news for 457 and 482 visa-holders who are looking to apply for a permanent employer-sponsored visa through the Temporary Residence Transition stream.

On 17 November 2020, NSW has announced new Subclass 491 state nomination requirements for the remainder of the financial year.

The number of quota has been exhausted for the interim nomination arrangement in NSW. NSW is awaiting the allocation of places from the Home Affairs for the rest of the financial year.

What changes have been made? 

During the COVID 19 pandemic, Australia government has placed a series of restrictions and taken measures to halt the spread of the disease, including international border closure and imposing travel restrictions between states.

To recover Australia economic and public health response to the COVID-19 Pandemic, the Department of Home Affairs has announced 17 occupations on Priority Migration Skilled Occupation List (PMSOL) which will be prioritised more quickly than other occupations. The occupation nurse is also in PMSOL (See below list), and 254499 Registered Nurses nec has received the most invitations for the latest invitation round.

254111 Midwife

254412 Registered Nurse (Aged Care)

254415 Registered Nurse (Critical Care and Emergency)

254418 Registered Nurse (Medical)

254422 Registered Nurse (Mental Health)

254423 Registered Nurse (Perioperative)

254499 Registered Nurses nec

From 14 November 2020, the Subclass 124 visa has been closed and the Subclass 858 visa has been expanded to include offshore applications instead.

Some changes have been made to the Distinguished Talent Visa, which makes applying under the GTI visa program easier for both offshore and onshore visa applicants. These changes also apply outside of the Global Talent program, to people applying directly for a Distinguished Talent visa.

Importantly, Subclass 124 and Subclass 858 visas submitted before 14 November 2020 will not be affected by the changes, and continue to be subject to the requirements and criteria in place at the time of application.

全球人才独立计划（GTI）是澳大利亚内政部的一项新签证计划，旨在吸引目标行业的高技能工 人前往澳大利亚。

GTI是获取澳大利亚永久居留权（PR）的捷径, 尤其对于高技能工人是一个很好的签证途径。
GTI计划的签证代码是124和858（124签证是澳洲境外申请，858签证是澳洲境内申请）

无论你是澳洲公民，澳洲永久居民，临时居民还是纯海外人士都可以在澳洲置业。临时居民和纯海外人士在澳洲购房前，需要额外满足一些条件。

澳洲临时居民/纯海外人士与澳洲公民/永久居民的购房要求区别？

对于购房要求， 澳洲永久居民与澳洲公民享受着相同的待遇。澳洲公民/永久居民不受到FIRB的购房限制。

而对于澳洲临时居民和纯海外人士，在澳洲购房会受到各种规则和法条的限制。

移民局发布了最新2020年9月一轮的邀请函，涉及技术独立签证（189签证）和偏远地区技术（临时）签证（491签证。

On 17 September 2020 (Australian Citizenship Day), the Australian Government announced that Australian citizenship test will be updated and revised. This is the first time change in more than one decade, adding questions that focus on Australian values. After 15 November 2020, the candidates will take the updated citizenship test with new changes.  

WHAT ARE THE CHANGES

The focus of the changes is to add questions of Australian values ​​to the test. Applicants are required to have a deeper understanding and recognition of Australian values, and understand the importance of democracy and the rule of law before making a final commitment to Australia. The changes will be officially implemented on November 15, 2020.

These changes have no impact on applicants' English language and residence requirements.

The revised citizenship test will comprise of 20 multiple choice questions with 5 questions on Australian values. Applicants who take the test on and after 15 November 2020 must correctly answer 5 questions regarding "Australian Values".

The 2020 United States Presidential election commenced on 3 November 2020. While the election is still ongoing and everyone is anxiously waiting for the outcome, this makes us think what would Trump or Biden’s impact on Australian migration?