Alan Collett

Hi nick72.

The latest I have is commentary received yesterday from our professional body, the Migration Institute of Australia:

"Following the MIA’s request for clarification of the 2014 Federal Budget’s announcement of the cessation applications for Other Family and Non-Contributory Parent visas, the Department has provided the following advice:

Applications can still validly be lodged. All valid applications will remain in the pipeline and be processed in due course. The cessation of new applications under the Other Family and Non-Contributory Parent visas will take place prior to the start of the 2014-15 programme year. The visa subclasses affected are:

Parent (subclass 103)
Aged Parent (subclass 804)
Aged Dependent Relative (114)
Remaining Relative (115)
Carer (116)
Remaining Relative (835)
Carer (836)
Aged Dependent Relative (838).

Specifics concerning the date the necessary regulatory changes will take effect have not yet been settled and we will get earliest advice to you and your industry colleagues once these details become clear. The announcement in the Budget papers concerns the cessation of new applications under the Other Family and Non-Contributory Parent visa categories and didn’t make reference to “capping at zero” or other measures, that would affect applications validly lodged prior to the cessation date.

Since the date the necessary regulatory changes will take effect has not yet been decided, it would be advisable to lodge any pending application as soon as possible."

Best regards.

BritInParis

It would make a lot more sense for the Department to simply grant all the applications in the queue after 1 July and save themselves administrating a defunct group of subclasses for years to come. However given the tough immigration stance of the current government and minister I think it more likely that zero capping will be introduced instead.

Alan Collett

The current Government doesn't have a tough immigration stance - at least not as far as I can see ... unless you are referring to its border protection policies and the announcement of this week that is the subject of this thread.

In any other regard I find the current administration accommodating, particularly in the content of skilled migration and employer sponsored visas.

As with all Coalition Governments over recent times the emphasis is more on skilled and employer sponsored outcomes than on family visas, but even then the family program is still significant in number terms.

Best regards.

Alan Collett

http://www.immi.gov.au/media/statist...ts/migrant.htm

Migration program details for the next year, with current and previous years as a comparison ...

Best regards.

nick72

Thanks Alan as always. Get your information from a Migration Agent not the internet !!

Would you agree that someone who lodges before June 30th will be included in the current legislation ?

After that if law is passed then its all over !

Cheers Nick

Alan Collett

Hi again Nick.

Not yet certain when this change will come into effect. It could easily be prior to 30 June 2014 => we are advising clients to lodge their applications as soon as it is possible to do so.

Best regards.

danec

Hi Alan,

With this imminent, will there be any issue for a recently arrived PR to sponsor their parents before the deadline? DIBP states sponsor needs to be settled in Australia for 2 years as a general rules. We've only been here for 1.5 years but both have been working for a while, would that be considered settled? If we wait until November then it'd probably too late.

Alan Collett

You could try - there is a risk, particularly in the case of an offshore application (eg a 103 visa) where you have no appeal rights.

There are onshore cases when sponsors/applicants have been successful on appeal where the Department has contended that the sponsor is not "settled." The 2 years of residence in Australia is ultimately only a guideline, no matter what the Department contend.

A couple of cases to consider regarding settled sponsors:
http://www.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/si.../2007/500.html

http://www.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/si...2004/7298.html

Best regards.

danec

Thanks Alan. What a nice way to gamble, 5k vs100k to lose.

Alan Collett

http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2...get-fine-print

SBS news article ...

danec

Hi Alan, sorry to bother you again but with the case you provided above, it looks like the applicant is applied for an offshore visa and he won through appeal though you mention that offshore visa doesnt have appeal right. Is this a new thing?

And it looks like DIBP is very quick in refusing visa application (if there's ground to refuse) no matter how long the queue for that visa is So in the case of winning through appeal, will the application go back to the queue or it get fast-track to visa grant?

Thanks heaps!

nick72

Thanks for your info Alan, looks like there will not be Zero Capping for 2014/2015 as per your link and still 8675 parent visa's for next year.

So one would assume your advice to get the application lodged as soon as possible would be spot on !

Wonder what the processing times are for both onshore 804 and offshore 103 ?

Cheers,


Nick

Alan Collett

http://www.immi.gov.au/Live/Pages/ce...s-closure.aspx

Added to DIBP website today ... (Thursday 22 May, 2014)

Best regards.

nick72

Interesting that they have posted this already on their website when the budget has not been approved by either the upper or lower house yet.

Tony obviously thinks that he will do, but can't see it happening before 30 June 2014.


Nick

Alan Collett

http://www.gm-parent-visas.com/contr...-parent-visas/

Blog post on the visa choices for parents following the end of parent and aged parent visas for new applicants.

Hopefully of help to some who are affected by the recent announcement.

Best regards.