Immigration Lawyers and Migration Agents

Your Australian Visa Our Focus

The latest global visa processing times published by the Department of Home Affairs show some interesting trends amongst commonly used visa products. 

On 15 March 2016, the Department of Immigration and Border Protection (DIBP) introduced new provisions that allow priority processing of visitor visa applications for Chinese nationals. This program is being run as a trial for the moment, and may expand to include applicants of other nationalities at a later date.

The following are further details:

• The priority processing is only available to passport holders for the People’s Republic of China
• The request for priority processing is only available for applicants of the Visitor Visa Tourist or Business Visitor streams
• The fee for priority processing is A$ 1,000 in addition to the original visa application fee
• The method to request for priority processing differs according to your visa application lodgement method

While you can request for priority processing, there is no guarantee that the visa will be granted quickly. The DIBP repeatedly reminds you that the finalisation of the visa application also depends on factors such as the applicant meeting the health and character requirements. You cannot ask for a refund of the priority processing fee unless the visa application fee is refunded.

Therefore it is best that you prepare all necessary documents and complete all health and character checks before requesting for the priority processing.

Comments by Chris Johnston – Principal Lawyer and Registered Migration Agent at Work Visa Lawyers

The introduction of the priority processing looks positive in encouraging more visitors from China. It also demonstrates the improving bilateral ties between Australia and China. The option of priority processing may also facilitate travel plans for tourists and business visitors from China.

However it will be interesting to observe if the normal processing timeframe gets slower, inevitably forcing more applicants to choose the priority processing option. Furthermore the additional A$ 1,000 spent on applying for a visa may be perceived as a barrier to visit Australia, and may also reduce the amount of travel allowance available while visiting Australia. This means that the spill-over benefits to local Australian businesses and vendors will be reduced.

This information is accurate on 24 March 2016

Source:

https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/F2016L00295/Download

Do you need help with an Australian visa application?

At Work Visa Lawyers we are experienced in assisting applicants in all matters relating to Australian visa applications. Our areas of expertise include Skilled Migration visas, Business Skills Migration visas, Employer Sponsored Work Visas, Partner and other Family Migration visas as well as Migration Review Tribunal, Judicial Review and Ministerial Intervention.

If you require further information regarding your Australia visa options you can contact us through:

(08) 8351 9956 or +61 8 8351 9956

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Applicants for the 190 and 489 visas may have received the following email notification from case officers in the past few days:

I am writing to you regarding your application for an Australian skilled visa (subclass 190).

The visa for which you have applied is part of the Skilled Nominated category. The Migration Programme determines the maximum number of visas that can be granted in each visa category. Applications for this visa are processed in line with Migration Programme planning levels. These planning levels have precedence over indicative client service standard timeframes.

The Migration Programme planning level for the Skilled Nominated category now has limited number of places left for the 2014-15 program year. This means processing times will be longer and that once the remaining places are used, the Department cannot grant further visas in this category during this programme year.

As planning levels affect all applications, including those in the final stages of processing, I cannot give you an indication as to the likely timeframe for finalisation of your application.

In the meantime, I encourage you to continue checking the department's website (www.immi.gov.au) for any updates regarding application processing or changes to the Skilled Migration Programme which may affect you.

I appreciate your patience in this matter.

What Does This Mean?

Once planning numbers are met for the programme year, visa applications of that particular category will be deferred until the next programme year. While this delays the migration plans for applicants, it is important to know that the visa applications in progress will still be considered for processing for the next programme year.

More updates to follow...

This information is accurate on the 22 March 2015

Do you need help with an Australian visa application?

At Work Visa Lawyers we are experienced in assisting applicants in various Australian visa applications including General Skilled, Employer Sponsored, Business Skills, Family, and Migration Review Tribunal applications.

If you require further information regarding your Australia visa options you can contact us through:

(08) 7225 5091 or +61 8 7225 5091

or   This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Under a Ministerial Direction that becomes effective on the 1 July 2011 the processing priorities for permanent residency skilled visas are:

1. Applications for Regional Sponsored Migration Scheme (RSMS) and Subclass 887
2. Applications for Employer Nomination Scheme (ENS)
3. Applicants nominated by a state / territory government and nominated skilled occupation is on the relevant State Migration Plan (SMP)
4. Applications with a nominated skilled occupation on the 2011 Schedule 1 Skilled Occupation List (SOL)
5. All other applications.

The effect of processing priorities is that applications with a higher priority are generally processed faster. For example DIAC estimates that the majority of RSMS applications which are priority 1. are being processes in 5-8 months, while some GSM visas in priority 5. are currently not progressing and can take several years.

At a practical level, the processing priorities mean, that if you qualify for an Employer Sponsored Visa, it may lead to permanent residency much faster that other visa options.

Source on processing time estimates:

http://www.immi.gov.au/about/charters/client-services-charter/visas/8.0.htm

Contact Work Visa Lawyers if you want to know more about Employer Sponsored Visas.