George Lombard

Senator Hanson-Young's disallowance motion against the Migration Amendment (Repeal of Certain Visa Classes) Regulation 2014, as contained in Select Legislative Instrument 2014 No. 65 [F2014L00622], made under the Migration Act 1958 was successful. The cessation of non-contributory parent and other family visas ​has been disallowed and these visas can now be lodged again.

Good news. Details to come....

Disallowance motion now scheduled for 11.50am today. If the matter has been predetermined then it will go through as a formal motion without a vote - most likely it will involve a vote, in which case there will be some debate. You can watch the fun by clicking on the "live" button on the Senate side of this website: http://www.aph.gov.au/ . The link to what's going on generally is http://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Chamber_documents/Dynamic_Red . Good luck everyone. Cheers, George Lombard

Have just checked with the Senate. The matter is still in the queue and hasn't yet reached the point of being determined; it might reach consideration in the next hour, or be held over until tomorrow morning. Apparently Senate scheduling is a "dark art" :-) You can see from http://www.aph.gov.au/Home/Parliamentary%20Business/Dynamic%20Red what matters have been finalised today or held over. Cheers, George Lombard

Tomorrow the Australian Senate will vote on the disallowance motion concerning the abolition of the above four visa categories on 2 June. If the disallowance motion is successful, the Department has advised there will be a six month window to again lodge these applications. A new Regulation that has the same effect as a disallowed Regulation cannot be made within the six months following the disallowance. The Department has advised that If the disallowance motion is successful, then all the Parent and Other Family visa categories will be open to applications from that moment. Paper applications for these visas could be accepted tomorrow, however, they would not be receipted immediately, because it will take 24 hours to bring those systems back online. Personally I think the Department is taking a very responsible line to allow these visa categories to run for six months if the disallowance is successful. Fingers crossed, everyone. If anyone wants to lobby the Senate crossbench, now would be the time :-) Cheers, George Lombard

The government has announced that three occupations are being added to the Skilled Occupation List, Chefs, Tilers and Bricklayers, and none are being removed. This announcement means that these three occupations can now be the subject of a points tested skilled occupation without needing state sponsorship. Not needing state sponsorship also means losing state sponsorship points, so good luck with your IELTS tests guys. Source: http://www.minister.immi.gov.au/media/mc/2014/mc215271.htm Cheers, George Lombard

Thanks Alan, In fact the explanatory memorandum is quite chilling: In particular, the Regulation amends the Principal Regulations to: repeal the Aged Dependent Relative visa classes and subclasses. These visa categories cater for a person who is single, meets the aged requirements and both is, and has for a reasonable period been, financially dependent on their Australian relative; repeal the Remaining Relative visa classes and subclasses. These visa categories cater for a person whose only near relatives are those usually resident in Australia; repeal the Carer visa classes and subclasses. These visa categories cater for a person to care for a relative in Australia with a long-term or permanent medical condition or for a person to assist a relative providing care to a member of their family unit with a long-term or permanent medical condition; repeal the Parent and Aged Parent visa classes and subclasses. These visa categories cater for a person who is the parent of an Australian citizen, Australian permanent resident or eligible New Zealand citizen and where the parent does not pay a significant financial contribution towards their own future health, welfare and other costs in Australia. With effect from 2 June. Cheers, George Lombard

Sorry for re-posting, I understand that many agents will not receive this information until later today; DIBP will not publicise this change today as it was announced post-budget without a timeline. Confirmation has come through today that the Department is ending eligibility for the carer, remaining relative, aged dependent relative and standard parent visa categories with effect from Monday. Given that these applications must all be paper lodged, this leaves very little time to make sure your application is lodged. Bear in mind that a faxed application - provided it includes appropriate payment - is still viable for the Other Family visa class, and at a pinch an offshore application can be lodged in any offshore office of the Department. Washington will still be available when others have closed. Onshore applications should be lodged in Perth, see http://www.immi.gov.au/Visas/Pages/835.aspx for example. Good luck to all. Cheers, George Lombard

Confirmation has come through today that the Department is ending eligibility for the carer, remaining relative, aged dependent relative and standard parent visa categories with effect from Monday. Given that these applications must all be paper lodged, this leaves very little time to make sure your application is lodged. Bear in mind that a faxed application - provided it includes appropriate payment - is still viable for the Other Family visa class, and at a pinch an offshore application can be lodged in any offshore office of the Department. Washington will still be available when others have closed. Onshore applications should be lodged in Perth, see http://www.immi.gov.au/Visas/Pages/835.aspx for example. Good luck to all. Cheers, George Lombard

The Department has confirmed to the Migration Institute of Australia that the Other Family (Aged Parent, Carer Visa and Aged Dependent Relative) and non-contributory Parent Visa will be ceasing very soon. It seems clear that the visas are unlikely to last until 30 June as has been the practice with most post-Budget visa category closures. This is of course very sad news for many families and represents a special incentive to get any application lodged as soon as possible. Regards, George Lombard

Update from the ACT - three and a half hours to go: Further clarification to the announcement below, the closure of the ACT 190 nomination program will only affect overseas clients seeking to lodge applications after COB today. Applications for ACT nomination already submitted before COB today will still be processed in queue order. Please note, the processing time for applications lodged in late February onwards is likely to be 4 to 6 months, due to the large number of applications received prior to the publication of the 2014 Occupation List Cheers, George Lombard

The ACT is about to close external nominations in another four and a half hours - see below. They now join NSW in having effectively frozen the subclass 190 program until July. Skilled Nominated (subclass 190) visa – Closure of ACT nomination program to overseas applicants for 2013/14 The Australian Capital Territory (ACT) is pleased to announce that program targets for the Skilled- Nominated (subclass 190) visa have been met for the 2013/14 financial year. Effective close of business today (25 March 2014), applications for ACT nomination from overseas residents will not be accepted. If your clients are living overseas, they will not be able to apply for ACT nomination of a Skilled Nominated (subclass 190) visa until the program reopens in July 2014. If your clients are living in Canberra and working in a skilled occupation, they are still able to apply for ACT nomination of the Skilled Nominated (subclass 190) visa providing they meet the current nomination criteria. Note that people living in the ACT are still able to apply. cheers, George Lombard

Onshore Alan so she has a bridging visa at least, but offshore applicants are going to go through hell when this starts to bite. Cheers, George Lombard

We received the following information in respect of one of our clients this week. Not good news for "other family" applicants - ie anyone who would have applied using form 47OF. Doing the mathematics leaves me with the conclusion that many remaining relative and aged dependent family applications may be waiting up to six years, if this policy continues, for their visa applications. Carers may be facing lengthy waits as well. Eventually I assume DIAC will introduce a Contributory Family Visa to complement the Contributory Parent Visa. Anyone counting on an "other family" visa should apply immediately, as the waiting periods will just balloon from this point forward. "I have received the documents you provided for Ms xxxx's application, however I am unable to process this application further at this time due to the reduced number of places in the other family visa class. For the 2010-11 program year the Government has allocated 55,550 places in the Family Stream, 7.9% fewer places than in the preceding year. Within the family stream the Minister for Immigration and Citizenship announced on the 11 May 2010 that number of places for the Other Family class (which includes Aged Dependent Relative, Carer and Remaining Relative) will be reduced from 2500 places to 750 places globally for the 2010-2011 program year. Within the global allocation 500 of the 750 Other Family places are allocated to Carer visas as they have the highest priority within the category. The Department has a responsibility to ensure that the numbers of visas granted overall and within each visa category are in accordance with the agreed planning levels. Departmental resources are allocated to ensure that the planning levels are met over the course of the program year. While this means that some cases may not be finalised as quickly as clients or the Department would want, it does help to ensure that visa grants within the Family Stream reflect the priorities set by the Government. The Department is currently reviewing the impact on service standards of the reduction in family stream planning levels. It is anticipated that there will be substantial increases in the processing times for Other Family visa categories. More information on processing times will be published on the Department's website when it becomes available. Given the dramatically reduced number of places in the Other Family visa categories globally, we are prioritising cases based on their lodgement date. While Ms xxxx's application was lodged on 8 October 2009 which was almost 1 year ago, we currently have a substantial number of applications lodged in 2008 that are still being processed and will be given priority given the age of these applications. I appreciate that you would like to have Ms xxx's application finalised as soon as possible and if I have any further information on this in the future I will contact you as soon as I know something." Cheers, George Lombard