In the pre-Covid-19 economy, Australia's services sector has expanded by an annual 3.6 per cent since 1992, well above the goods sector's annual average of 2.1 per cent. ICT, professional, scientific and technical services and financial and insurance have continued to see solid annual growth rates of above 4.5 per...
Changes to Citizenship Test from November 15th 2020
Prior to being accepted as an Australian Citizen most applicants, who were between the ages of 18 and 59 years at the time of application, are required to pass a Citizenship Test. An appointment for this test will be offered following an initial interview. It is a test designed to...
Outcomes of the 2019 – 2020 Migration Program
On September 16th, the Acting Minister for Immigration, Citizenship, Migrant Services and Multicultural Affairs, The Hon Alan Tudge MP, released published outcomes from the 2019-2020 Migration Program. For the given period, this release illustrated a total permanent migration intake of 140,366. Seventy percent of these visas (95,843 in total) were...
IMMIGRATION NEWS UPDATE – Interim Allocations List
To be reviewed upon release of Federal Budget on October 6th 2020 The Department of Home Affairs has released its schedule of the current interim allocations for each State and Territory, covering visa subclasses 190, 491 (489) and the Business Innovation and Investment Program (BIIP). These allocations will remain in...
New Priority Skills List and Strengthened Labour Market Testing Requirements
The Australian Department of Home Affairs via its operational arm, the Office of the Migration Agents Registration Authority (OMARA) has announced the introduction of a new Priority Skills List, together with strengthened labour market testing requirements.Released on September 2nd 2020, upon joint instruction from the Acting Minister for Immigration, Citizenship,...
Victoria’s Skilled Nomination Program Opens September 8th 2020
Recently announced by the Victorian government, with detailed information available through its “Live in Melbourne” website, the state will be opening its 2020/21 Victorian Skilled Visa program (subclasses 190 and 491) from Tuesday 8th September, 2020. The ongoing coronavirus pandemic has however necessitated some changes to acceptance criteria, which will...