Following article is written by Rebecca Lim. I first visited Sri Lanka in 2003. I took leave from the Australian Department of Immigration and Citizenship for a short humanitarian stint with a Sri Lankan NGO during a Norwegian Peace Initiative-ceasefire. The civil war spanning over 25 years ended with the defeat of the Liberation Tigers […]

We all know that in applying for a visa, processing would take time, and we either become impatient in waiting for our visas to process, become to relaxed in getting the requirements for our visa (further delaying the processing of the visa), or become more and more anxious of what the results would be. To […]

According to DIBP, new visa arrangements came into effect on 31 March 2015. These affects non-citizens other than permanent residents intending to work in Australia's offshore oil and gas industry. People intending to work on resources installations should hold either a Subclass 457 Temporary Work (Skilled) visa or a Subclass 400 Temporary Work (Short Stay […]

The Department of Immigration and Border Protection (DIBP) has implemented a new minimum English language test scores for the following visas: Skilled - Recognised Graduate (subclass 467) Temporary Graduate (subclass 485) The changes were implemented and are applied to the lodged applications for the said visas on or after April 18, 2015. If you lodged […]

The Government has made changes on the Temporary Skilled (Subclass 457) based on their response to the  457 Integrity Review. You can view the Government's response here: https://www.minister.immi.gov.au/michaeliacash/2015/Pages/457-reforms-boost-integrity.aspx Below is the list of changes by the Government. The Government has expanded the list of English language providers, to include test of English as a Foreign Language […]

The Department and the Ministry for the Arts, Attorney-General’s Department are undertaking a review of the Temporary Work (Entertainment) visa (Subclass 420). The review is in support of the Australian Government’s commitment to reducing the burden and cost of unnecessary or inefficient regulation imposed on individuals, business and community organisations. The review invites comments from […]

DIBP has released the news that the charges for the Partner Visa application will increase by 50% starting January 1, 2015. The increase will affect the following visas: Permanent Partner Visa Subclasses (combined 309/100 & 820/801) Prospective Marriage Visa Subclass 300 The new fees will only take effect on the applications lodged on, or after January […]

Australia is seeing an increase in migration from Italy because of economic problems in Europe. The group Australia Solo Andata (Australia One Way) is keeping track of the numbers and trend from DIBP, and Spokesman Michele Grigoletti said "Italians are coming to Australia in numbers we could not expect." "We already have the first six months of data […]

Earlier this year, there's news that the DIBP will be accepting alternative English Language test scores for Visa Applicants in early 2015. The Department has now released the news that starting from 23 November 2014, they will accept test scores from alternative English Language tests for visa applicants. The following tests will be accepted by DIBP […]

DIBP says that the holiday arrangement of Australia with Portugal and Spain have commenced (started on November 23, 2014). 200 young adults from Portugal and 200 young adults from Australia can now apply to enjoy an extended holiday of up to 12 months in each other's countries. 500 young adults from Spain can also now […]