Immigration Lawyer Sydney

It is no secret that the Covid-19 situation has left the health sector understaffed, though there are certainly also shortages in other employment sectors. Amid other demands, the health sector is especially in need of qualified nurses.

This shortage of nurses is due to several factors, the most significant two being the border closures during the pandemic, and the lower number of locally trained nursing students coming through the education system.

In this situation, not enough nurses and too many positions are needed have to lead to wages increasing in the short-term employment market. This does attract some workers with in-demand skills. It is quite likely that the permanent market will soon see a similar pattern, increasing wages that attract skilled employees. The contract market situation often foreshadows what will happen in the permanent employment market.

An important consideration here is the location of the shortages. Unsurprisingly, the outback and rural areas rather than the cities are looking for nursing staff. About 70% of the advertised nursing jobs are outside of the cities.

Immigration will partially fill these required medical positions. So qualified nurses and other medical staff will do well to apply for immigration if they are interested in moving to Australia.

Immigration Lawyer Sydney

Lockdown and Covid have created several employment opportunities in Australian rural areas. We can help those interested in immigration.

Parliamentary Report and Immigration Lawyer Sydney

A recent parliamentary report claims the family visa system is inefficient, overly complex and about 30 years out-of-date. Amid other issues, the immigration applicants endured extremely long waiting times and an unreasonably high financial cost.

Migration lawyers familiar with this recent report have called for its demands to be heeded. The family visa system needs a long-term strategy for updating its processing. The present human cost shows the system is failing. People spent many years in Limbo, waiting for possible Visa approval, or refusal. Changes need to be made urgently.

The report says that family reunions needed to be presented as an essential aspect of a successful Visa program. The past debate over immigration, even recently, has tended to see the issue as a balance of family reunions versus social, economic, and humanitarian interests. This has overlooked the experiences of individual people within the migration program. The report shows how poor those experiences were. The migration process was long, expensive, and difficult to navigate.

Both the law and the migration process have been criticised as hard to follow. They include processes and definitions that are difficult for lawyers to follow. It is even more difficult for non-specialists and those who only know English as a second language. Apparently, the IT system used by the Department of Home Affairs is also poor, only making matters worse.

Immigration Lawyer Sydney

Immigration law and processing is complex. But there are several paths to legal immigration. Talk to us about the best options.

Migrant workers, Permanent residency, and the Immigration Lawyer

The incumbent Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has made a pledge to create 1.3 million jobs in the country over the next 5 years. A similar promise has been made before by previous Liberal Party leaders. But this is not grounds for mockery. When the promise of 1 million jobs over 5 years was made by former Prime Minister Tony Abbott the plan actually worked; there really were a million new jobs created between 2013 and 2018. A similar promise in 2019 quite probably would have been equally successful, except the pandemic held us back.

The pandemic is now a situation we are largely recovering from. This is reflected in the employment statistics. We presently have a mere 4% jobless rate. Unemployment is at the lowest point in 14 years. People are back at work, and this helps the economic recovery.

These two figures, low unemployment and a promise of 1.3 million new jobs pose a simple question – if most people in the country are already working then who will be doing the 1.3 million new jobs? The answer mostly lies in immigration. The new jobs will bring more people into the country.

The figures for unemployment were apparently inaccurate over the past few weeks, at least when quoted by the Leader of the Labour Party. But Labour will make immigration a part of their policy for the election on May 21st. They seek to encourage and increase permanent residency for foreign workers and decrease the foreign workers on short-term visas. Simply, there will be more foreign workers, and they will be encouraged to stay for further work, rather than leave after a year or two when the temp job is over.

Prior to the pandemic, we had the second highest number of temp migrant workers in the world, behind only the US. This was not and is still not considered ideal. As Australian businesses want more workers to help get their operations back to healthy functioning so many jobs will exist for immigrants who will then be eligible to become permanent residents.

Immigration Lawyer

There are employment opportunities in Australia for migrants as the country recovers from Covid. Often they are eligible for permanent residency.

Immigration Lawyer Sydney

Australia is one of the highest Immigration destinations, the other being New Zealand, Canada, and the USA. In the last 75 years over 7.5 million immigrants have entered the country. This means that over one-quarter of the population was born overseas. This is high compared to almost any other country.

There are two distinct paths of immigration into Australia. The better know is the Migration program for skilled workers and their families. The other path is the humanities program for refugees. Each year the government allocates a quote in advance for the number of individuals coming in via each of the pathways. For the 2022 – 2023 financial year there will be 160 000 places in the migration program. The number of refugees is uncertain, but there are plans to bring in 16 500 individuals just from Afghan. Refugee numbers vary according to the political situation in other countries.

For many years the highest number of immigrants came from England. This changed around 2010, with more people coming from China and India. Perhaps the reason for this is the government’s change of policy. Where the government once looked for general migrants they now look for skilled and economic immigrants. So people with good employment skills and decent English have good prospects when applying for visas in Australia.

Australia also has a temporary migration program, which has had increasing numbers over the last 20 years. On some occasions, the temporary migrant number exceeded the numbers for permanent VISAS. These temporary migrants are students at the tertiary level or workers with temporary Skilled VISAS (subclass 457). The numbers for temporary VISAs do not really have a preset government quota but vary according to the demands of employment. There has been a recent (late 2021) increase in temporary positions after the removal of Covid Lockdown. This followed the decrease in numbers during the lockdown itself.

Individuals with temporary VISAs (457) are eligible for permanent residency if they have been studying or working in the country for several years. Students can often apply for permanent residency once they have graduated.

Immigration Lawyer Sydney

There are many migration paths to Australia for skilled workers. Temporary Visa holders may apply for permanent residency after a few years in the country.

Immigration Lawyers Sydney

Recently announced in the 2022 Federal budget, applicable to at least the middle of 2023, is a plan to bring in 160 000 migrants over the next financial year. This is hardly a surprise. Rather it is a confirmation, maintaining the level that was previously planned.

The 160 000 migrants are divided into a few distinct categories.

• Skilled migration will be allocated 109 900 places. This is approximately 70% of the permanent migration program.
• The humanitarian program is set at 13 750 individuals.
• The 10 000 unused partner places will be now reallocation to skilled visa places.
• Partner visas are estimated at 40 500 places
• Parent visas are set at 6000 places.
• Child Visas are estimated at 3000

Cheaper Visas, Immigration Lawyers Sydney

As an incentive to attract International students and backpackers there will be some cost reductions. This is to help boost the numbers that fell during the COVID-19 lockdown.

• There will be a refund of Visa fees for students who arrive by the 19th of March 2023.
• There will be a refund of fees for working holiday visas who arrive by the 19th of April 2023.
• The number limit for work and holiday visas will increase by 30%. This allows an additional 11 000 backpackers.

The additional migrants hopefully brought in by these changes will relieve the staff shortages in the hospitality industry.

Immigration Lawyers Sydney

The immigration situation and laws have changed as lockdown has relaxed. Get the best migration representation from us.

Immigration Lawyer Sydney

From the 1st of July, there will be an additional pathway to Permanent Residency in Australia. The details are still being finalised, but the pathway applies to holders of the TSS VISA.

The Temporary Skills Shortage VISA (TSS) is designed to supply individuals with jobs that are presently understaffed. This type of job shortage has been significantly affected by the Covid Situation, with skilled workers needed in agriculture and medical positions.

Those who have held the TSS VISA for 12 months between February 2020 and December 2021, and who meet the requirements for the subclass 186 Employment Nomination Schemes should now have a pathway to Permanent Residency.

Furthermore, Employers can nominate members of their staff with subclass 482 VISA holders for this same PR program if:

• The Immigrant employee is in a two-year occupation.
• Has been in Australia for 12 months or more between 1 February 2020 and 14 December 2021.
• The Immigrant employee meets the general 186 visa criteria.

Permanent Residency offers many advantages:

• Live and travel in Australia
• Study at the tertiary level and apply for some education loans
• Eligible for Social security benefits, after two years in the country
• Access Medicare
• Apply and hold most government jobs

Eligible for PR requires a certain number of points, including English proficiency, age, Work experience, Education, niche skills, and skill eligibility of a spouse.

Immigration Lawyer Sydney

There are new paths to immigration and Permanent Residency opening up as the Covid situation changes.

Temporary Visas and Immigration Lawyers Sydney

The government has made some visa changes to support Australia’s economic recovery after the Covid restrictions. This includes providing work rights to temporary Visa holders who were kept out of the country while borders were closed.

The 408 Visa, the Temporary activities Visa which allows an individual to work on government-endorsed events, is available to basically any Visa holder. Anybody with work rights on their Visa or any Visa holder who has an employment offer from a government-funded service may be granted this 408 Visa.

This 408 Visa is available to any temporary Visa holder in Australia from the 21st of February 2022, and temporary Visa holders who were previously in the country before this date. So offshore applications should be possible for those who left Australia recently.

There will be a 12-month Visa for those working in critical sectors:

• Agriculture
• Food processing
• Health care
• Aged care
• Disability care
• Child care
• Tourism and hospitality

For other sectors, expect a 6-month Visa.

Immigration Lawyers Sydney – 408 Visa Applications

Applicants need to apply for this 408 Visa within the last 90 days of their present visa’s expiration date. Applications might be accepted in the 28 days after the previous Visa expires, but this is risky.

Immigration Lawyers Sydney

Borders have reopened, and Visa criteria are temporarily altered. Talk to an Immigration Lawyer in Sydney for Visa advice.

Immigration Lawyer Sydney

The Australian borders reopened to fully vaccinated Visa holders from the 21st of February 2022. This means business administrators, skilled labourers and tourists will be welcome back to the country. A few unvaccinated individuals will be exempted from vaccination if they have a legitimate medical reason.

This reopening of the borders comes after two years of isolation and severe restrictions. It should help to boost the strained economy by bringing in labourers and some business opportunities. While some workers were brought into the country during lockdown restrictions, having been vaccinated, the numbers were moderate. More people are needed for essential services, including agriculture and transport. The lifting of restrictions should provide considerable help.

There was, understandably, a significant decline in temporary Visas during the pandemic. The local economy has started to pick up as the 80% vaccination target was reached, but the absence of help from foreign workers, skilled and otherwise, has meant that businesses struggle to fill at least some positions.

The Australian Government expects migration to increase to 190 000 in 2023. The migration target after this is 235 000 per year. The migration has actually been negative over the last two years, during the pandemic. But we should not need to compensate for this. The Government will cap permanent arrivals at 160 000, which is the same as pre-pandemic limits.

While we did have lower foreign labour numbers over the past few years there were a significant number of Australians returning to the country. These people did fill some of the positions in the workforce. It remains to be seen if they will remain in Australia or return to their overseas careers.

Immigration Lawyer Sydney

The immigration situation is always complex, even more so during the pandemic. Talk to our immigration lawyer for Visa and residency advice.

Opening Borders and Immigration lawyer Sydney

From February 21st Australia will reopen its borders to all fully vaccinated Visa holders, according to a Press statement issued on the 7th of February. This will include those travelling for business, study and for general tourism.

These changes should improve the economic situation without compromising the health conditions. With the 80% full immunisation goal being reached in the general population, and a recent 23% decline in COVID Hospitalisations, the Australian health system has demonstrated considerable resilience.

Individuals who are not fully vaccinated may be able to enter the country if they have a valid Visa and are granted travel exemption. They will be subject to various quarantine laws when arriving in the country.

Prior to the Covid situation Tourism generated about $60 billion annually for Australia. The tourism industry also entailed approximately 660 000 jobs in the country.

Since the Australian borders were partially opened in November 2021 there have been 580 000 arrivals in the country. These arrivals were individuals with study or work Visas, and occasionally those being reunited with family. The further opening of borders will greatly increase these total number of people arriving in the country, as tourists can enter for any reason as long as they are fully vaccinated.

Talk to Our Immigration lawyer in Sydney

Visa requirements have changed during the pandemic. Talk to our immigration lawyers about Visa issues and Permanent Residency.