Archive for category Australian Working Holiday Visas

On 1 July the Australian Department of Immigration will be introducing the following legislative changes to the way visa application are dealt with and to the criteria that apply to visa applications:

1. There will be an increase in most visa and citizenship application fees (see our previous post for more details) of 4.4% to 20%. There will also be the inevitable form changes that usually accompany the DIAC’s legislative changes.
2. Contributory Parent visa applicant couples will both have to apply for their contributory parent visas together and at the outset, rather than trying to save money by applying individually and then via the partner/spouse visa route.
3. A change in sponsor for remaining relative and parent visa applicants will now be permitted anytime up until the time of decision on a visa application. Provided of course that the new sponsor can meet all sponsorship requirements.
4. All parent visa applicants will have to satisfy Balance of Family Test criteria at the time of making their visa application, rather then at the time of decision.
5. Retirement visa (subclass 410) holders will no longer be restricted to just 20 hours of work per week.
6. Work and Holiday (subclass 462) visa applicants (tertiary educated 18 to 30 year olds from Chile, Malaysia, Thailand, Turkey and the USA) will now have 12 months to enter Australia from the dates of their visa grants.
7. All applicants for 175, 176 and 475 skilled visas with a nominated trade occupation who are not UK, USA, Canada or NZ passport holders or otherwise meet the English Language requirements, will have to provide evidence of an IELTS score of 6.0 in each of the four parts of the IELTS test.
   
8. The Concessional Competent English level for sponsored 475 visa applicants has been raised from an average of IELTS 5.5 to an average of IELTS 6.0.

For full details of the above 1 July 2009 changes, and all other legislative changes to Australian migration law, please follow this link.