In the media
Visa a barrier to Chinese visitation
The process for obtaining a visitor visa to Australia is
'onerous and in some cases demeaning' - discouraging
visitors from China, our strongest international tourism market,
according to ATEC Chairman. Chinese representatives have expressed
concern about the efficacy of Australia's visa system for
visitors coming from China (14 April 2014).
More...
Vegetable industry admits illegal worker
problem
The Victorian vegetable industry has been forced to defend itself
amid fresh allegations of illegal workers being employed on farms.
A former police officer says that too often when the issue of
illegal workers on farms is raised, the blame is apportioned to
labour hire companies or government agencies (16 April 2014).
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Anti-visa fraud rule survives Indian IELTS
challenge
A tough new measure against visa fraud has survived a court
challenge in which an Indian student protested she was
"horrified" to learn she had supplied bogus English test
results. It is believed to be the first ruling by the Full Federal
Court on the Immigration Department rule, known as Public Interest
Criterion 4020, which was applied initially to student visas to
stop document fraud (23 April 2014).
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Sydney migration agent jailed for fraud
The Federal Government said that the jailing of a former migration
agent for immigration fraud sent a strong message to the industry
that fraudulent and illegal behaviour will not be tolerated. Any
individual who provides immigration assistance in Australia must be
registered as a migration agent with the Office of the Migration
Agents Registration Authority (23 April 2014). More...
Sanctioned agent detailed by MARA
On 11 April 2014, the Authority decided to caution the agent for a
period of twelve months. Following its investigation, the Authority
was satisfied that the agent had breached the following clauses of
the Code of Conduct: 2.23, 8.1 and 8.2. The agent's lack of
appreciation of the impropriety of the conduct of signing on a Form
956 on behalf of another person without authority is of concern (11
April 2014).
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Expanded investor visa would open new opportunities for
business
A more expansive Significant Investor visa programme would help
innovative Australian businesses benefit from venture capital
funding to fuel future economic growth, according to a submission
recently lodged by the Australian Private Equity & Venture
Capital Association Limited (AVCAL) (14 April 2014).
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Published - articles, papers, reports
Migrant Statistics News, Apr 2014 (cat no.
3413.0)
Author: Australian Bureau of Statistics (16 April 2014).
More...
Legislation
Migration Amendment (Credit Card Surcharge) Regulation
SLI 39/2014
Notification 16/04/2014 Registered Commencement 19/04/2014 This
regulation commences on 19 April 2014. This regulation amends the
Migration Regulations 1994 to allow the department to recover the
cost of certain administrative fees, by charging a credit card
surcharge on applicants who pay an instalment, or part of an
instalment, of their visa application charge with a credit card. More...
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