Author Archives: Chris

Website Whoops!

Category : Business News

As some may know, we run and manage our own website, and we recently had an issue where the theme wouldn’t update due to an incorrect php version, which probably means as much to you as it did to me!

Having worked out how to update the php we then got an error about our sql. Having worked out how to fix that, it appears we then broke our theme a little bit, so the headings look nasty, and probably some other stuff is broken too!

Rest assured, we are much better at lodging visas than we are managing our own website! 🙂

Touch wood, it will be sorted soon, and perhaps will run faster once it’s fixed!

Website Woes

Category : Business News

Unfortunately we have been having some intermittent problems with our website.

We developed the site ourselves using WordPress, and for the first few years it has been largely trouble free, but for some reason it’s been having multiple problems this year. The main issue seems to be our fancy-dancy home page breaking, but we have also noticed things like our contact details and number resetting.

Please bear with us, the developer of the original theme is doing a great job dealing with their hundreds of annoyed clients, and while they seem to be fixing the theme, some of those fixes seem to break things further!

Working from Home

Category : Business News

After using a couple of offices in the city for the last 5 years we have decided that it make no sense to pay thousands in rent when we really only need the offices for meetings. If we keep on working in the city offices we will need to put up our fees, which we don’t want to do.

There are some positives from this plan.

We now don’t spend as much on public transport, and we are reducing the crowding on the trams and in the city centre.

We also are able to spend time with our two cats. I can’t emphasise enough the sanity balancing properties of the cats, when you have a difficult case there’s nothing like a happy cat to make you forget the dramas!

There are also some negatives.

It’s been harder to arrange meetings with clients. Right now we are using a friendly office in the city centre for some meetings, as well as meeting in coffee shops, and sometimes visiting our clients at their offices.

Hopefully we can make it work, as if we can’t then we need to put up our fees to cover the costs of the offices.

Back for 2020

Category : Business News

We are officially back, and will be working through our caseload in this first week back to focus on urgent cases and time critical cases. We hope to clear up the backlog from the holidays this week and be back to normal by Monday the 13th.

We have a few news stories to follow this year, including a report on last year, some predictions for this year, some assessment of current pathways, and best of all our upcoming birthday party for our existing clients!

Please also note, our website seems to have lost some of it’s images and functionality. While we will be fixing it, we need to focus on our clients and their visas for now! 🙂

All the best for now, and we hope we can help more people get their temporary and permanent visas this year, and for a lucky few, their citizenship.

Changes to Occupation Lists

Category : Uncategorized

The latest changes to the occupation lists in March 2019. Please note, the lists can be confusing, an occupation can be on MLTSSL for one visa but not for another, so please be careful when using this information. We accept no liability for any decision to make a visa application based on this information.

Added to MLTSSL

Telecommunications network planner (ANZSCO code 313213)
Pressure welder (ANZSCO code 322312)
Environmental Manager (ANZSCO code 139912)
Musician (Instrumental) (ANZSCO code 211213)
Statistician (ANZSCO code 224113)
Economist (ANZSCO code 224311)
Mining Engineer (excluding Petroleum) (ANZSCO code 233611)
Petroleum Engineer (ANZSCO code 233612)
Engineering Professionals nec (ANZSCO code 233999)
Chemist (ANZSCO code 234211)
Food Technologist (ANZSCO code 234212)
Environmental Consultant (ANZSCO code 234312)
Environmental Research Scientist (ANZSCO code 234313)
Environmental Scientists nec (ANZSCO code 234399)
Geophysicist (ANZSCO code 234412)
Hydrogeologist (ANZSCO code 234413)
Life Scientist (General) (ANZSCO code 234511)
Biochemist (ANZSCO code 234513)
Biotechnologist (ANZSCO code 234514)
Botanist (ANZSCO code 234515)
Marine Biologist (ANZSCO code 234516)
Microbiologist (ANZSCO code 234517)
Zoologist (ANZSCO code 234518)
Life Scientists nec (ANZSCO code 234599)
Conservator (ANZSCO code 234911)
Metallurgist (ANZSCO code 234912)
Meteorologist (ANZSCO code 234913)
Natural and Physical Science Professionals nec (ANZSCO code 234999)
University Lecturer (ANZSCO code 242111)
Multimedia Specialist (ANZSCO code 261211)
Software and Applications Programmers nec (ANZSCO code 261399)
Horse Trainer (ANZSCO code 361112)
Physicist – no longer restricted to medical physicist

Added to STSOL

Visual arts and crafts professionals (nec) (ANZSCO code 211499)
Textile, clothing and footwear mechanic (ANZSCO code 323215)
Watch and clock maker and repairer (ANZSCO code 323316)
Chemical plant operator (ANZSCO code 399211)
Library technician (ANZSCO code 399312)

Moved from STSOL to MLTSSL

Arts administrator or manager (ANZSCO code 139911)

Dancer or choreographer (ANZSCO code 211112)
Music director (ANZSCO code 211212)
Artistic director (ANZSCO code 212111)
Tennis coach (ANZSCO code 452316)
Footballer (ANZSCO code 452411)

Removed from STSOL

Visual Arts and Crafts Professionals (ANZSCO code 211499)
Textile, Clothing and Footwear Mechanic (ANZSCO code 323215)
Watch and Clock Maker and Repairer (ANZSCO code 323316)
Chemical Plant Operator (ANZSCO code 399211)
Library Technician (ANZSCO code 399312)
Arts Administrator or Manager (ANZSCO code 139911)
Dancer or Choreographer (ANZSCO code 211112)
Music Director (ANZSCO code 211212)
Artistic Director (ANZSCO code 212111)
Footballer (ANZSCO code 452411)
Aquaculture Farmer (ANZSCO code 121111)
Cotton Grower (ANZSCO code 121211)
Fruit or Nut Grower (ANZSCO code 121213)
Grain, Oilseed or Pasture Grower (ANZSCO code 121214)
Mixed Crop Farmer (ANZSCO code 121216)
Sugar Cane Grower (ANZSCO code 121217)
Crop Farmers nec (ANZSCO code 121299)
Beef Cattle Farmer (ANZSCO code 121312)
Dairy Cattle Farmer (ANZSCO code 121313)
Mixed Livestock Farmer (ANZSCO code 121317)
Pig Farmer (ANZSCO code 121318)
Sheep Farmer (ANZSCO code 121322)
Livestock Farmers nec (ANZSCO code 121399)
Mixed Crop and Livestock Farmer (ANZSCO code 121411)
Dentist (ANZSCO code 252312)
Anaesthetist (ANZSCO code 253211)
Tennis Coach (ANZSCO code 4542316)

Added to Regional Occupation List

deer farmer (ANZSCO code 121314)
goat farmer (ANZSCO code 121315)

Added to Regional Occupation List, removed from STSOL

aquaculture farmer (ANZSCO code 121111)
cotton grower (ANZSCO code 121211)
fruit or nut grower (ANZSCO code 121213)
grain, oilseed or pasture grower (Aus) / field crop grower (NZ) (ANZSCO code 121214)
mixed crop farmer (ANZSCO code 121216)
sugar cane grower (ANZSCO code 121217)
crop farmers (nec) (ANZSCO code 121299)
beef cattle farmer (ANZSCO code 121312)
dairy cattle farmer (ANZSCO code 121313)
mixed livestock farmer (ANZSCO code 121317)
pig farmer (ANZSCO code 121318)
sheep farmer (ANZSCO code 121322)
livestock farmers (nec) (ANZSCO code 121399)
mixed crop and livestock farmer (ANZSCO code 121411)
dentist (ANZSCO code 252312)
anaesthetist (ANZSCO code 253211)

Removed from Regional Occupation List moved to MLTSSL

arts administrator or manager (ANZSCO code 139911)
dancer or choreographer (ANZSCO code 211112)
music director (ANZSCO code 211212)
artistic director (ANZSCO code 212111)
tennis coach (ANZSCO code 452316)
footballer (ANZSCO code 452411)
telecommunications network planner (ANZSCO code 313213)
pressure welder (ANZSCO code 322312)

Skilled Migration Points Increase

Category : Immigration News Skilled Migration

Home Affairs have increased the base points required for skilled migration.

This affects any applications lodged after 1st of July 2018. Any applications lodged before that date will be under the old points (60).

The relevant visas affected are the 189, 190, and 489 visas.

Please also note, the Minister may at any time change the points required, so for example, current (June 2018) points requirements are at:

  • 189 – 75 points
  • 190  – 60 points
  • 489 – 80 points

Added to the above, the Minister may also specify the points cutoff for a specific occupation, so even if the global requirement drops from 75 in the 189 to 65 after July the 1st 2018, your occupation may still require higher points. For reference, you can check it out at the skill select page.

For information on the above legislative changes, go here.

Reg 2.08E – Getting Married without a Prospective Partner Visa granted?

Category : Partner Visa

I thought it would be fun to share this one, as we stumbled on it today.

If an applicant applies for a prospective marriage visa (300), and marries before it is granted, then they no longer qualify for the prospective marriage visa (kind of obvious, you can’t get a visa to get married if you are married!).

However, if you notify the department about your wedding, they can convert your 300 visa application into a partner visa application. Neat huh? Obviously it’s not as easy as that, we don’t recommend you try to do it yourselves without professional advice, but it’s an odd bit of the law.

Following on from that, if your PMV 300 is refused, and you appeal, you can also get married while waiting for the appeal, inform the Tribunal, and they will remit your case back to the Department for consideration for a Partner Visa. Also pretty cool.

Just bear in mind, one reason we may advise a PMV over a partner visa is that there’s less evidentiary requirements. A partner visa requires you to prove various aspects of your relationship that a PMV may not, so it may not always be the best move to marry when waiting for your PMV.

Further to that, our understanding (not confirmed), is if you convert your PMV to a partner visa application, it may reset your time in the queue for processing. Given current waiting times, that may be a bad thing.

Flagged Occupation Comparison 2016-17 vs 2017-18

Category : Immigration News

Doing a quick review of the flagged occupations list (those that are flagged for removal from MLTSSL).

Production Manager (Mining), Anaesthetist were both on the list in 2016, and were moved from MLTSSL to STSOL for the 2017-2018 year.

Psychotherapist, Ship’s Engineer, Ship’s Master, and Ship’s Officer were on the list in 2016, and were removed altogether in 2017-2018.

Surveyor and Chef were on the list in 2016, but are no longer on the list, so in theory both are safe this year….in theory!

Newly added to the list of flagged occupations this year are all Medical Professions:

Medical Administrator, Specialist Physician (General Medicine), Clinical Haematologist, Medical Oncologist, Neurologist, Renal Medicine Specialist, Rhuematologist, Thoracic Medicine Specialist, Specialist Physicians NEC, Emergency Medicine Specialist.

All the rest on the list are occupations that were also flagged last year, including many of the Engineering Professions, Accounting, Legal, and some other Medical Professions.

Flagged Occupations 2017 – 2018

Category : Immigration News

As the DIBP have been making some arbitrary changes to the occupation lists this year it remains to be seen how useful the list of flagged occupations are for this year, but still, it’s an advance warning of potential changes to the occupation lists.

As always, if you qualify and your occupation is on the flagged list, you should get on with the process before your pathway disappears.

You should be able to check the Flagged Occupations on the government site but last time we checked that had taken the info down, so her it is as follows, and for your convenience they are searchable:

ANZSCO CodeOccupation
134211Medical Administrator
221111Accountant (General)
221112Management Accountant
221113Taxation Accountant
224111Actuary
224511Land Economist
224512Valuer
232213Cartographer
232214Other Spatial Scientist
233111Chemical Engineer
233211Civil Engineer
233212Geotechnical Engineer
233213Quantity Surveyor
233214Structural Engineer
233215Transport Engineer
233411Electronics Engineer
233511Industrial Engineer
233512Mechanical Engineer
233513Production or Plant Engineer
233911Aeronautical Engineer
233912Agricultural Engineer
233913Biomedical Engineer
233914Engineering Technologist
233915Environmental Engineer
233916Naval Architect
234611Medical Laboratory Scientist
234711Veterinarian
251211Medical Diagnostic Radiographer
251212Medical Radiation Therapist
251411Optometrist
252111Chiropractor
252411Occupational Therapist
262611Podiatrist
252712Speech Pathologist
253111General Practitioner
253311Specialist Physician (GeneralMedicine)
253312Cardiologist
253313Clinical Haematologist
253314Medical Oncologist
253315Endocrinologist
253316Gastroenterologist
253317Intensive Care Specialist
253318Neurologist
253321Paediatrician
253322Renal Medicine Specialist
253323Rheumatologist
253324Thoracic Medicine Specialist
253399Specialist Physicians NEC
253912Emergency Medicine Specialist
253913Obstetrician and Gynaecologist
253999Medical Practitioners nec
271111Barrister
271311Solicitor
272399Psychologists nec
342211Electrical Linesworker
399111Boat Builder and Repairer
399112Shipwright

 

Queensland Updates their Business Talent and QSOL

Category : Immigration News

For those multimillionaire entrepreneurs out there, Queensland have announced some changes to their Business, Innovation and Investment Programme:

 

SUBCLASS 132 BUSINESS TALENT (SIGNIFICANT BUSINESS HISTORY STREAM)

Net Business and Personal Assets of AUD$1.5 million to be transferred to Queensland within 2 years after visa is granted including:

  • minimum AUD$1million investment in a business
  • minimum AUD$500,000 settlement costs
  • must reside in Queensland.

SUBCLASS 188 BUSINESS INNOVATION AND INVESTMENT

  1. Innovation Stream: Net Business and Personal Assets of AUD$800,000 to be transferred to Queensland within 2 years after visa is granted including:
    • minimum AUD$200,000 investment in a business
    • must reside in Queensland
  2. Investor stream:
    • Existing criteria remains the same
    • must reside in Queensland
  3. Significant Investor Stream (SIV):
    • current Austrade Complying Investment Framework
    • commitment to Queensland.

 

For the rest of us lesser mortals wanting to get state sponsorship for skilled migration, the new list will come into effect on Monday the 25th of  July 2016, and Queensland still have the three main streams:

  • For those working in Queensland
  • For those who have studied in Queensland
  • For everyone else

Skilled migration to Queensland

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