George Lombard

Hi Nicho, Many people do it themselves, others need agents to get through and a third category are those who seek agent support casually either at the beginning or during the process. Minimum stress probably involves using an experienced MARA registered agent from start to finish but as you note, that's relatively costly. The costs on http://www.border.gov.au are just government costs not including medical and police clearance costs unless otherwise stated. Cheers, George Lombard

Hi Richard, You're looking at business migration rather than skilled migration, most likely this could work, but if in a professional field the consultancy role might have put an end to that idea. If going down the skilled migration (and CSOL) avenue, then depending on what kind of work you do, it could definitely work with WA sponsorship so it would be worth asking the WA government if they're interested. Cheers, George Lombard

Hi Gerty Dependency of full-time students is allowed up to age 23 now in most cases. Apprentices are normally paid a wage so this might be a grey area, worth getting professional advice about it. Cheers, George Lombard

Hi Linda, See http://www.border.gov.au/Trav/Brin/Fami/Capping-and-queuing/Other-family-visa-queue. The good news is that they were quoting 56 years a couple of years ago so 50 years is an improvement. But FWIW this is only useful for people who happen to be here and can apply onshore. Even then, a 50 year bridging visa would be an exercise in futility. Happy New Year. Cheers, George Lombard

Hi Chid Pom, A bit hard on a virtual Christmas eve for asking us to second guess another agent :-) Visitor visa option might work, good luck! Merry Christmas! George Lombard

Hi Indigo, With the exception of a couple of bridging visa situations, a visa once "ceased" by the grant of another visa never revives. Your WHV is history, although if you had racked up enough regional employment you could possibly apply for another WHV If applying for a partner visa and wanting to escape your 457 visa conditions then you may want to consider going for a visitor visa OR cancelling your 457 after lodging the partner application. Above all I would suggest you get appropriate advice, both of those strategies could go horribly wrong. Cheers, George Lombard

Hi Andy and Georgina, There are about 15 reputable agents listed at the top of this sub-forum. I'm sure that any of them would be happy to talk this through with you in detail, and given the stakes involved I do think it's worth getting the advice you seek professionally. Particularly as you're already engaged with an agent it would be completely unprofessional for any of us to comment on the advice you have already received in a public forum. Cheers, George Lombard

Hi Andy and Georgina, It can't be the function of this sub-forum for agents to comment on the work of other agents but it does seem that you should be seeking appropriate advice on a permanent residence application as Westly suggests. Cheers, George Lombard

Hi Jane, A first point is that I don't recommend that you post here under your own name as the Department does monitor popular forums like this. You could ask a moderator for help with removing the post for example. On the question of proving your relationship, the Department and Administrative Appeals Tribunal have made an art form of the "four pillars" in reg. 1.09A(3) and 1.15A(3) of the Migration Regulations and the short answer is that if you meet those criteria then periods spent apart, either on a weekly cycle or as a part of your migration arrangements, will be ok. Cheers, George Lombard

Hi Jamie, I think your Vetassess assessment ought to confirm that you have received an Australian Certificate III qualification. Try that. Cheers, George Lombard

Hi Jamie, Yes you should be entering your qualifications correctly as your Vetassess assessment should confirm a relevant qualification. Good luck! Cheers, George Lombard

Hi Elizabeth, The critical issue here is that although the Department might approve an RRV, it's discretionary and on balance from your description I don't think it will necessarily work out, therefore you should be getting appropriate professional advice and be prepared to have them all arrive before the visa expiry. There is a short-term extension available in situations like this but you can't be sure that it will be offered. Cheers, George Lombard

Hi Cattie, Medical issues are determined according to quite precise costing contained in the Department's internal documentation known as the "Notes for Guidance". If you're only taking warfarin then it might be ok but impossible to confirm without considering the precise details of your condition as against what it says in the Notes for Guidance. Cheers, George Lombard

Hi BL, No you wouldn't find that kind of document on the internet unless you went to reg. 5.19 of the Migration Regulations through either Austlii or a commercial legal resource such as the Department of Immigration's Legend or LexisNexis or equivalent. FWIW it might be sensible to seek professional advice about this since work undertaken overseas may not count and you probably already meet the two out of the last three years requirement, ie you should be able to take the pay cut after all. Cheers, George Lombard

Hi Princess, Good luck with NSW, their policy is to take the cream of the pool rather than everyone. But one you have an invitation you will have two months to lodge the application. Processing time after that is irregular but a three month wait is quite likely; you would normally then have up to 12 months from the date of your medical and police clearances to validate the visa but recent policy changes seem to have extended that window for general skilled migration applicants. So you were wrong on just about every count, hopefully that's not an omen :-) Cheers, George Lombard

Hi Dhiren, There are so many variables in this situation that I would recommend that you find an RMA who you feel comfortable with - perhaps one recommended by this forum - and take professional advice. Urgently :-) Good luck! George Lombard

Hi Ferrets, Look at the Code of Conduct on the MARA website - RMAs are subject to stringent confidentiality conditions. Worth noting however that only lawyers can claim legal professional privilege against otherwise enforceable legal requests for information held (eg subpoenas, court discovery orders, etc). Cheers, George Lombard

Hi Mick, Leanne's probably right, but it might also depend on the visa category you're aiming at. Impossible to apply for a prospective spouse visa for example if still married to someone else. FWIW if determined to get free advice then you could also visit Salvos Legal in Sydney which still offers a drop-in service. Cheers, George Lombard

Hi Gibbosl, Assuming that you haven't made some terrible error with your Immi Account it seems pretty clear that they're checking your documents - short of getting a human in the Department to confirm that, which might be challenging, the best you could do at this stage is just lodge an online 651 application which would be good enough for a Christmas trip (without work rights) and might provoke the Department into processing the WHV application. The only risk with having two applications lodged at the same time is that they might grant the 651 after granting the WHV, in which case you'd lose your WHV. Good luck with it. Cheers, George Lombard

We've had such clients approved - it really depends on what risk of relapse is assessed and what current medication if any is in play. Good luck! Cheers, George Lombard

Hi Aisha, Many people do go for a 489 - ultimately you have to hope to find work but that's why you're coming anyway, I assume. Worth investigating whether there are DBA jobs in the NT. FWIW I think that the cloud would be more popular there than standalone data servers so you might want to show mastery of the appropriate technology given the isolation etc. Cheers, George Lombard

Hi Aisha, The sad reality is that the NT is a small place in terms of population and that they're just not going to approve you without some justification. Better to research the job market in Sydney or Melbourne where the employed population is about 100 times larger. Come over on a recce if you need to find an employer or consider retraining, as many do. Cheers, George Lombard

See http://www.border.gov.au/News/Pages/member-of-the-family-unit-changes.aspx . These changes won't affect people whose applications are lodged before 19 November or those in a transitional process already: Member of the family unit of applicant for a new visa on the basis of earlier status as member of the family unit (5) In addition to subregulation (2), a person is a member of the family unit, of an applicant for a visa (the new visa) described in column 1 of an item of the following table who seeks to satisfy the primary criteria for the new visa, if, at the time of the application for the new visa, the person: (a) is included in the application for the new visa; and (b) holds a visa (the old visa) described in column 2 of the item granted on the basis that the person was a member of the family unit of a person who held a visa of the same kind as the old visa. [TABLE] [TR] [TH=colspan: 3]Members of the family units of applicants for new visas [/TH] [/TR] [TR] [TH] [/TH] [TH]Column 1 New visa applied for [/TH] [TH]Column 2 Old visa person holds at time of application for new visa [/TH] [/TR] [TR] [TD]1 [/TD] [TD]Contributory Parent (Migrant) (Class CA) visa [/TD] [TD]Contributory Parent (Temporary) (Class UT) visa [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]2 [/TD] [TD]Contributory Aged Parent (Residence) (Class DG) visa [/TD] [TD]Contributory Aged Parent (Temporary) (Class UU) visa [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]3 [/TD] [TD]Business Skills (Residence) (Class DF) visa [/TD] [TD]Business Skills (Provisional) (Class UR) visa [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]4 [/TD] [TD]Business Skills (Permanent) (Class EC) visa [/TD] [TD]Business Skills (Provisional) (Class EB) visa [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]5 [/TD] [TD]Employer Nomination (Permanent) (Class EN) visa [/TD] [TD]Subclass 457 (Temporary Work (Skilled)) visa [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]6 [/TD] [TD]Regional Employer Nomination (Permanent) (Class RN) visa [/TD] [TD]Subclass 457 (Temporary Work (Skilled)) visa [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]7 [/TD] [TD]Skilled (Residence) (Class VB) visa [/TD] [TD]Any of the following visas: (a) Skilled—Independent Regional (Provisional) (Class UX) visa; (b) Bridging A (Class WA) visa or Bridging B (Class WB) visa granted on the basis of a valid application for: (i) a Skilled—Independent Regional (Provisional) (Class UX) visa; or (ii) a Skilled (Provisional) (Class VC) visa; or (iii) a Skilled—Regional Sponsored (Provisional) (Class SP) visa; © Skilled—Designated Area‑sponsored (Provisional) (Class UZ) visa; (d) Subclass 475 (Skilled—Regional Sponsored) visa; (e) Subclass 487 (Skilled—Regional Sponsored) visa; (f) Skilled—Regional Sponsored (Provisional) (Class SP) visa [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]8 [/TD] [TD]Subclass 457 (Temporary Work (Skilled)) visa [/TD] [TD]Subclass 457 (Temporary Work (Skilled)) visa [/TD] [/TR] [/TABLE] Cheers, George Lombard

Hi All, Yes I have confirmed with the MIA this morning that the change will effectively remove parents, other aged relatives, and children over 22 from the definition of "Member of the Family Unit". See http://www.border.gov.au/News/Pages/member-of-the-family-unit-changes.aspx . FWIW there was a complete absence of consultation on this one, perhaps they thought that they'd get away with it with all the publicity over the US solution for refugee resettlement. This might be the kind of regulation which the Senate chooses to disallow, but until then it's going to be the law from midnight on Friday. Cheers, George Lombard

Hi Ben, The Department's calculations for some cancers are based on a tool known as Adjuvant Online, see https://www.adjuvantonline.com/ . The main issue is normally the risk of relapse, something which decreases over time but is quite specific to the condition. We can help you with some of this research but there's a gap in the publicly available information so that most people in your situation are just taking informed guesses, there's never a guarantee. Cheers, George Lombard