Visa Capping - Senate Inquiry

[Guest jigish]

Is your parent all right, hun? That is a million times more important than anything else. Where is your parent? In Oz or in your home country, please?

He's back in my home country, India. But he's a lawyer by profession, so he knows this legal mumbo jumbo and that we can't do much if govt really wants to do what they want to do.

 

But still, blood pressure still plays quite a role, you know. I still remember, even giving him good news of me passing my masters with distinction, made him shiver full of happiness and I had to tell him to sit down. Sweet memories. :cry:

 

But don't be misunderstood, I'm still angry with this aussie govt.:realmad:

[Guest jigish]

Hey Gill, did you have a look at that PDF document link that I posted here?

[Guest Aussie2B]

Hi All

 

The National Interest - About

 

Peter Mares is the journo in the link above.

 

Following the changes of 23rd September 2009, Peter Mares was - I felt - the only journo who really took the predicaments of the prospective migrants to Oz seriously and who listened to - and aired - what they wanted to say.

 

Migration applicants stuck in two-year limbo - The National Interest - 30 October 2009

 

Mr Mares then invited the Sinister for Immigration onto the program, to tell his own side of the story as well. The Sinister wriggled. He got DIAC to send a written reply:

 

Response from the Department of Immigration and Citizenship - The National Interest - 6 November 2009

 

Mr Mares persisted, politely but firmly, and got the Sinister on to the program in the only interview that the Sinister has ever given about GSM visas to anyone who might not lap it up and write it down obediently instead of nailing the bloke's feet to the floor:

 

Immigration Minister responds to backlog concerns - The National Interest - 13 November 2009

 

Tcillic and everyone else with rellies in Oz, I would URGE all of you to contact Peter Mares as soon as you can. Please tell him what you have said on Poms in Oz.

 

People like SHANOZ - I reckon that you should contact Mr Mares as well. Tell him about the distress that the situation and the uncertainty are causing to loved ones in your home countries as well as other people telling him about the distress being caused to the loved ones in Oz, as well as to the visa applicants themselves.

 

Say something else in your submissions to the Senate Inquiry, in the same way as yc1ten has done. If the Sinister can split a few hairs then so can I and so can all of you, frankly.

 

I'm watching to see what else comes out of this thread and then I will start drafting my submission.

 

Cheers

 

Gill

 

 

Thanks for this, Gill! Great suggestion. I just wrote an email to Peter Mares.... Let's hope we will 'hear' from him soon!

[Guest 885]

Thanks for this, Gill! Great suggestion. I just wrote an email to Peter Mares.... Let's hope we will 'hear' from him soon!

 

what is peter mares's email address?

[Guest Aussie2B]

what is peter mares's email address?

 

I clicked on the link Gill gave us and then used the Email Form on there.. If you click on the link below, it'll take you straight there:

 

The National Interest - Contact Us

[Guest 885]

I clicked on the link Gill gave us and then used the Email Form on there.. If you click on the link below, it'll take you straight there:

 

The National Interest - Contact Us

 

thank you. i am going to write a letter too.

[Guest 885]

has anyone thought about making a video and putting it on youtube?

[Guest stillwaiting79]

has anyone thought about making a video and putting it on youtube?

 

video of what? us speaking about our visa plight?

[Guest Jane1991]

video of what? us speaking about our visa plight?

 

Yeah of course ! But that wouldn't accomplish much ... most the Gen Y users don't care about domestic politics let alone immigration law ... Wouldn't hurt though ... as it would be easy to pass it onto peers through facebook ...

 

Sounds like an idea

[sidharthd]

Just a question...I was on the CLS list (IT Professional). Application filed...was requested medicals and police clearance and that has also been done. Medicals finalized on 2nd April.

 

Will applicants at this stage also be capped, burnt & decapitated:no: ?

[Guest lost pom]

i have filled in all the forms ect i cannot belive that this is where i will end up on a cap and cease list !!!

i came here with my family in sept 2006 on a student visa to study hairdressing yes i know alot of people frown upon this occupation but since i qualified i have been working in this occupation, my experience was i paid $12,000.00 to a certain college and after 6 months i took it upon myself to leave as it was a visa college !! i started again from scratch $17,000.00 cost passed all my exams have been quite happy in my job and cannot see myself doing anything else...... i applied for 886 visa in january 2009.

my question is before they cap and cease will they let people put there case accross or will it just be there bridging visa cancelled make sure you are out of oz in 28 days ????

i like most people do not like to count up what we have spent over the first 2 years when on the student visa it is crazy that the powers of above can just make a decission like this do they realise how many peoples life's they are going to destroy ?? i just cannot get my head around this situation they want the students in as it is a good money earner for the country then they are doing things like this.

 

:cry::SLEEP::cry::arghh::cry::arghh: so up and down

[Guest Jamie Smith]

This was sent to Senator Humphries and Peter Speldewinde today:

 

I am very concerned about the damage that rapid and frequent change is bringing to the marketplace and the industry.

 

I am sure you are aware of many organisations and even politicians that have failed because they have been unable to walk the market/public along with them during the process of change.

 

The market, and the people, are now in a real tailspin, not knowing what is coming next, whether they will be able to make a valid application at all, who to listen to or what to do. We have skills list that have been added and removed in two years or heavily pared back, points tests that may or may not apply to occupations that may or may not still be acceptable in one to two months time.

 

As you know, people often start the migration process months if not years ahead of the date of their actual visa applications.

 

Then there is the risk of being demoted or fired if an overseas employer finds out one's intentions. Many form the northern part of the UK are taking a bath with property sales, as the average price has fallen around 20% so a lot of equity that would have found its way to Australia has been lost, along with currency fluctuations.

 

Comparing a migrant from say 2 years ago with one from now, if they both had similar equity and assets 5 years ago, the modern day migrant would be up to $200,000 worse off than the earlier migrant if they were to arrive in Australia now.

 

For those on temporary visa hoping to become permanent, their children will be rated as overseas students for primary and secondary school, so add perhaps another $15,000 per year outlay for two kids.

 

Consider adding health insurance, no medicare or welfare safety blankets, and once can see the commitment that a migrating family makes to get to Australia. Legally, without recourse to floating death traps or document fraudsters.

 

This is the right character for a migrant, they need to be committed, persistent and goal minded.

 

Against this we have a head spinning rate of reforms. I don't doubt their need but I do question their blanket application, retroactive effect and actual legal foundation (pretending an application had not been made when an applicant has already outlaid around $8,000 not including migration agent costs, if any.

 

With these ongoing and frequent structural changes The market has to be given time to adapt.

 

Some notice should be given of change even if it is only a week or two. That gives those people who are $8,000 worse off and a day away from lodgement the chance to finish what they started. It also gives migration agents the chance to lodge cases that are on their desks - many agents only get paid on proof of lodgement to DIAC, and many months of work and expenses would be lost if they cannot get paid.

 

I know of several migration agents who have sacked staff and retrenched themselves even, as in a smallish agency that handles a limited range of visas there is little prospect of work for the next several months.

 

The larger agents have also retrenched. I know of several of the larger UK agents, a key market for skilled migration, who have cut their head counts by half and are only just staying afloat.

 

The shonky agents are known to be defrauding clients with misleading information because their genuine and usually well paying market has suddenly dried up. Bad agents are shifting clients to other inappropriate visa classes, arranging "marriages" and fake employment letters and other such scams.

 

The major driving force behind a rise in these scams has been the series of rapid changes, essentially driving these shysters to multiply their nefarious activities. DIAC don't have enough resources to verify all applications and documents, so the risks are seen as acceptable if a client pays an agent on lodgement, the agent then disappears before DIAC can find the problems.

 

On the other side are the very many good agents that undertake marketing on behalf of DIAC, creating consumer interest and educating the market. They filter out the dross, and discourage those who cannot make the grade from wasting DIAC's time, and they prepare decision ready applications that save tax payer dollars in processing costs. Yet those applications get treated the same as self completed applications that are incomplete and may even be for the wrong category of visa.

 

Surely there must be some way to do triage on receipt of file, to sort applications lodged by good agents into piles for less experienced DIAC staff to handle, leaving the more skilled DIAC officers more time to work on poorly prepared files or high risk applications?

 

Anyway, I am very concerned that if the Minister manages to force through his cap and cease changes without proper recognition and recompense, then the UK and other skilled markets will be severely affected and may not recover by the time the backlog of applications has been cleared and we once again face very low unemployment rates and have a high incidence of labour shortages too.

 

Not only would be not have enough skilled migrants coming through, but the lack of family members coming in would also exaggerate the labour shortages in less skilled areas as mum and the kids won't be available to be the bookkeepers, shop attendants, mine workers, sales people, clerks etc that we still need.

 

Australian skills migration is seen from the outside as nothing short of a huge mess at present.

 

The new SOL should be signed off now along with the first drafts of the States' sponsoring lists, they can be revised and trimmed later. The ENSOL list should be set in stone for at least one year. The revised points test should be similarly frozen in whatever recommendations are accepted.

 

Equally, Skills Australia should be firmly chastised. They were trusted with conducting a full review of the skills needed in Australia and yet their level of consultation was limited to large organisations and State chambers of commerce. This was admitted to at a recent Skills Australia presentation to MIA's migration agent seminars.

 

They admitted to there being NO consultation with township and city level chambers of commerce, or rural skilled employment agencies, or businessmens associations in smaller towns where the skills and labour shortages are the most acute. My observation was met with .... a shrug. I suspect it was one of indifference.

 

Skills Australia effectively only consulted with major metropolitan organisations that use recruitment agents, and these organisations and agencies only handle one quarter of all vacancies.

 

Essentially, Skills Australia only surveyed one quarter of the market in forming their list of needed occupations. This is almost as shonky as some of the work done by the many unregistered migration agents that DIAC refuse to pursue.

 

Anyway I could go on for hours and have already. I hope you can help bring some sense to the headlong rush for change that will only create further loopholes and inconsistencies in an otherwise well intentioned programme.

 

I hope that you subscribe to view that when you retire you can look back at the good things you have done for the country, not go with guilt about the tens of millions of dollars that were stiffed from applicants with expenses that are not being recognised by DAIC as being relevant to an application - despite the fact that skills assessments, state sponsorship fees, valuations and medicals are only being done for the migration application.

 

The Government can take a lot of heat from the argument if it diverted the wasted millions used on Government TV advertising into a proper refund offer.

 

I leave you with some very human quotes from Poms In OZ, a busy migration forum PomsInOz Australia Migration & Expat Forum

http://www.pomsinoz.com/forum/migration-issues/87060-visa-capping-senate-inquiry.html

 

(I had copied some 15 comments, thank you all)

Kind regards

Jamie Smith

[ramot]

Have just got back from several days away, so only just catching up with the latest potential draconian immigration changes.

Will make our own submission later.

Please add this case to the general submission from POI.

Four and a half years in Australia.

Three years study + one and a half working.

PR applied for March 2009, now on bridging visa A.

Made a commitment to stay in Australia through study and work, paid all due taxes.

Parents live in Australia.

[ramot]

Gill, Thank you for your continuing support for all of us caught up in this new nightmare. Several Australian friends also want to lodge their disgust at the prospective new changes, I assume that they should go through their local MP, and or the Prime Minister etc, rather than the Senate committee, if they are not directly affected. Can any one confirm this please.

Again thank you Gill, your hard work is really appreciated.

[Guest gmac]

Hi Gill,

 

This is fantastic that you should take responsibility for the flagship on our behalf.

 

I can't believe what I've been reading to be honest with you. The GSM programme appears to have developed into a crisis, which needs managing through these turbulent times. Unfortunately there doesn't seem to be anyone in Australia that recognises this.

 

As it stands the solution is to make applications null and void, and to treat them as though they never applied. That makes jolly good sense! You can talk about Skills Australia identifying strategic targets, in reality it is what happens on the ground that matters.

 

I fear that rather than them "cherry picking" they may adopt what George Lombard suggests their "discriminatory powers." In other words they will decide that an application is now unsuitable because of someone's IELTS score, or their age, or because they are a chef or hairdresser. I was horrified when I discovered that pre- September 2007 applications were to be culled, and I am now equally horrified that the same may apply to ALL GSM applications.

 

I will have lots of patience over the next day or two before deciding whether to submit anything myself, considering that timescales are tight. I expect you will let everyone know what you submit in due course.

 

Cheers and thanks once again,

 

Gary

[Guest Wannabeoz]

I'm kind of at the end of my teather with this, I don't have any fight left in me! At the end of the day, the minister can do what he wants, and there's nothing we can do about it.

 

Sorry to be so negative... even of we get capped and killed, how is it fair that we only get our application fees back (no doubt at a less favourable exchange rate)? It's not like we paid for state sponsorship, agent fees, vetassess and IELTS for fun is it? Not sure I even want to be part of this sham anymore. Oh if I could turn back the clock!!! Trouble is, as much as I say I'll give up and forget about it, I can't stay away from PIO to find out what the next bit of bad news is that's coming our way!

 

I think I'm slowly going insane!

[Guest Gollywobbler]

Gill, Thank you for your continuing support for all of us caught up in this new nightmare. Several Australian friends also want to lodge their disgust at the prospective new changes, I assume that they should go through their local MP, and or the Prime Minister etc, rather than the Senate committee, if they are not directly affected. Can any one confirm this please.

Again thank you Gill, your hard work is really appreciated.

 

Hi ramot

 

I reckon that anyone who wants to object to the idea of the Minister for Immi getting too much power into his own, solo hands should voice their objections to the Senate Inquiry as well as to their local Federal MP. Krudd won't take any notice of a private individual but he cannot ignore his Federal MPs.

 

To be heard quickly, though, people should voice their opinions direct to the Inquiry in order to save time. You are directly affected because a loved one of yours is potentially affected, hun. Time is too short to beat about the bushes because the Inquiry has to report to the Minister by 15th Lune 2010 apparently.

 

Cheers

 

Gill

[Guest Gollywobbler]

i have filled in all the forms ect i cannot belive that this is where i will end up on a cap and cease list !!!

i came here with my family in sept 2006 on a student visa to study hairdressing yes i know alot of people frown upon this occupation but since i qualified i have been working in this occupation, my experience was i paid $12,000.00 to a certain college and after 6 months i took it upon myself to leave as it was a visa college !! i started again from scratch $17,000.00 cost passed all my exams have been quite happy in my job and cannot see myself doing anything else...... i applied for 886 visa in january 2009.

my question is before they cap and cease will they let people put there case accross or will it just be there bridging visa cancelled make sure you are out of oz in 28 days ????

i like most people do not like to count up what we have spent over the first 2 years when on the student visa it is crazy that the powers of above can just make a decission like this do they realise how many peoples life's they are going to destroy ?? i just cannot get my head around this situation they want the students in as it is a good money earner for the country then they are doing things like this.

 

:cry::SLEEP::cry::arghh::cry::arghh: so up and down

 

Hi Lost Pom

 

I believe that you should make your own Submission to the Inquiry and spell it out to them in much more detail than in this post. Please do not name the allegedly dodgy college (unless it has closed down since you went there.)

 

You have to reveal your identity to the Inquiry Committee but if you ask the Inquiry Sectretary to ensure that your name etc remain confidential, the staff will ensure that nothing about you will be said on the website where your submission will be published.

 

If you prefer, you can arrange for the whole thing to remain confidential between you and the Cimmittee so that even your submission would not be published. These Senate Committes would much rather that you shoul speak to them in confidence than that you should zip your concerns and say nothing, so they do ensure absolute confidentiality if you day that this is what you want.

 

Cheers

 

Gill

[Guest Gollywobbler]

I'm kind of at the end of my teather with this, I don't have any fight left in me! At the end of the day, the minister can do what he wants, and there's nothing we can do about it.

 

Sorry to be so negative... even of we get capped and killed, how is it fair that we only get our application fees back (no doubt at a less favourable exchange rate)? It's not like we paid for state sponsorship, agent fees, vetassess and IELTS for fun is it? Not sure I even want to be part of this sham anymore. Oh if I could turn back the clock!!! Trouble is, as much as I say I'll give up and forget about it, I can't stay away from PIO to find out what the next bit of bad news is that's coming our way!

 

I think I'm slowly going insane!

 

Hi there

 

It sounds to me as if you are having a bad day today, hun. Feeling emotionally drained and exhausted by the on-going battle is completely understandable and nobody would blame a visa applicant or prospective applicant for feeling fed up in the same way as you do.

 

However tomorrow is another day and you have till midnight AEST on Friday 4th June to describe your feelings of despair to the Senate's Inquiry Committee. Your feelings are 100% legitimate and you are 100% entitled to describe them to the Committee - which you can do in complete confidence and non-publication of your description if you so wish.

 

For my own part and that of many others on this thread, I am not prepared to give in to Senator Evans without a determined fight. If he wants a war of attrition, I'll show him what one of those is.

 

Peter Mares, the journo, is also an extremely sensible man. Last time everybody complained to him about the changes that were suddenly announced on 23rd September 2009, Mr Mares said that no other programme on the National Interest series has ever provoked so many e-mails and so much concern before. He might well find that the Minister's Slash & Burn Bill might well surpass the earlier record......

 

Keep your chin up, hun. I'm not prepared to have that thug of a Minister tickling my tummy whilst I simply roll over meekly and let him do it. Sod that idea for a game of soldiers. I'll fight him and so will dozens of others.

 

Cheers

 

Gill

 

PS: TTNT = This Tummy is Not for Tickling. I quite like that slogan!

[Guest lost pom]

hi gill, i have mentioned the dodgy college have i done the wrong thing here ? i did tell immigration at that time when i changed courses......... let me know your thoughts on this one

[Guest Gollywobbler]

hi gill, i have mentioned the dodgy college have i done the wrong thing here ? i did tell immigration at that time when i changed courses......... let me know your thoughts on this one

 

Hi LP

 

No - you done NOTHING wrong, so please do not worry.

 

You have not named the dodgy college on PiO. Even if you had, one of the Mods would have replaced the name with some asterisks. It is not a big deal.

 

The Minister claims that there are/were lots of dodgy colleges. I have no idea which specific colleges he meant or meant because he has not said which ones he has in mind.

 

Please - just don't worry about it. It is a non-problem.

 

Cheers

 

Gill

[User Name]

Have a read of this:

Immigration Minister Responds to Concerns over GSM Backlog - Applications May Take 30 Years to Process

 

Immigration News RSS

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by Mark Webster, Acacia Immigration Australia, 19 November 2009 The Minister for Immigration, Chris Evans, has responded on the Radio National program the National Interest to concerns over the slowdown of processing of General Skilled visas.

 

 

 

• Response: Immigration Minister responds to backlog concerns, 13 November 2009
  
• Original report: Migration applicants stuck in two-year limbo, 30 October 2009
  

 

The Minister said that some applicants could be left waiting 20 or 30 years for grant of their applications, depending on the Migration Program levels for the next couple of years. He also suggested that some might never have their applications processed at all. The Minister rejected the premise that applications had been put on hold. Hundreds of thousands of applicants, many of whom have now been in the system for over 18 months, may disagree. The Minister confirmed that there are now 30,000 onshore applicants and 105,000 offshore applicants who are awaiting grant of their general skilled visas. Of these applications, we estimate that 75% are not in CSL (Critical Skills List) occupations - this would equate to some 100,000 applicants who have no clear idea how long their applications will take to be processed.

The Minister did not take up an invitation to apologise to applicants who had been disadvantaged by his changes to processing priorities. Many applicants were advised by the Department of Immigration to provide their final health and police checks for grant of their applications, only to now be advised that their applications might take another 2 years to be granted. The hardest hit applicants were those sponsored by state or territory governments - such applicants were previously at the highest level of priority, but are now much further down the list. Health and police checks would cost in the order of $350 per applicant, so people affected by the changes have every right to feel aggrieved.

Significantly, Minister Evans indicated he was not satisfied with the current arrangements which allow international students to apply onshore for general skilled migration after completion of their courses. Whilst he did not fully embrace Kelvin Thomson's suggestion that students return home for at least 2 years before applying to return to Australia, he did indicate that there will be a review of the current rules. Issues with the education-immigration link have been common knowledge in the migration industry for years. These concerns were raised by the Migration Institute of Australia in response to the Birrell Report in 2006, but then duly ignored by the Department of Immigration.

Minister Evans suggested that the review of the MODL (Migration Occupations in Demand List), which is due to be completed in a few months, will reduce the number of applicants lodging for General Skilled Visas.

There are a number of serious concerns with the Minister's comments:

Rule of Law and a Fair Go

The Minister indicated that applying for migration does not give the right to migrate to Australia. However, the Minister is obliged under the Migration Act to process visa applications if validly lodged. If the application meets the criteria for the visa, the Minister is must grant the application and issue a visa.

The Rule of Law is long established as a central principle of Australian society - that laws are open and transparent, and don't apply retrospectively. In this case, many applicants have been affected retrospectively and it is definitely of concern to hear that some applicants might not receive visas, even though they meet the required criteria.

Many Australians would that managing a migration program by administrative delay is just not acceptable - you need to give people a fair go and make the rules clear upfront. Anything else is un-Australian.

Integrity of Skilled Migration Process

The General Skilled program was reformed in 1999 - the resulting system was very objective and transparent. Pre-application skills assessments made it possible to have a fairly good idea whether an applicant would be eligible.

However, the integrity of the system has been gradually eroded over time, mainly to link education to immigration outcomes, the system has now sunk to such a level that even the Minister admits that it is "not serving us well". In reality, the main issue may be the skills assessment settings rather than the visa requirements.

The most glaring example is in the trade sector - international students need only complete a 1-year certificate III in Australia, and show 900 hours of work experience in the occupation. Australians would need to complete a 4-year apprenticeship to be qualified tradespersons, and overseas applicants need to show at least 4 years of work experience in the field to get a positive skills assessment. This loophole has, not surprisingly, led to massive growth in the vocational education sector for international students. The introduction of the job ready test from 1 January 2010 is an acknowledgement that the skills assessment settings for trade occupations are not appropriate.

The Minister's recent changes lead to all sorts of problems - see our article on this topic. It is hoped that the CSL is only a temporary "band aid" solution, but I fear that the CSL and its consequences will be with us for some time.

The Minister suggested that he may look at allowing lodgement without application fees. This would be a fatal blow for the integrity of the GSM program. Applicants would effectively be entering a "lottery" to get their visas with even higher numbers in the pipeline and very little indication of who will be able to migrate to Australia.

Application Fees

There are probably in the order of 100,000 applicants in the GSM pipe line who have very little chance of receiving visas in the next 2-3 years. Even at a conservative estimate of the average fee paid for lodgement being $1,000, this would represent some $100 million in fees paid to the Department of Immigration. This does not even include fees paid to Health Services Australia, a monopoly provider of health clearances to applicants applying from within Australia.

The Department of Immigration in July 2009 raised the application fee for General Skilled Migration from $2,105 to $2,525 - an increase of some 20% - for a service which for most applicants would agree is definitely not getting better. The fee increase is excessive, especially considering that more and more applications are being lodged electronically and so requiring less labour to process. Indeed, the Department has pulled DIAC officers from the skilled processing centres, despite the fact that the flow of applications continues.

The Minister may consider refunding the application fees paid by people who now no longer wish to proceed with their applications. It is within the power of the Minister to make a provision for refunds to be given in specific circumstances, and this would also be helpful in reducing the backlog.

Missing a Golden Opportunity

The Minister pointed out that the number of applicants is increasing from countries where economies are in trouble, for example, Ireland. Australia seems to have escaped the worst of the economic turmoil and is still experiencing skills shortages in some areas. Forecasts indicate that after 2011, the growth of working age population will slow significantly and that only a large migration program will enable Australia to avoid economic downturn.

Australia needs skilled employees - and what a great opportunity we have now to attract high quality migrants who would not otherwise be available. It could be a once in a generation opportunity that we are squandering. A highly skilled applicant facing a delay of 3 years or more if they apply to migrate to Australia would definitely look at which other countries have a more reasonable migration program. The Minister correctly points out that Australia can choose the migrants which it needs for economic growth, but a manifestly unfair or capricious system is not going to attract quality applicants.

Urgent Need for Reform

The Minister suggested a number of times that the reform of the MODL will solve many of the problems with the GSM system. However, it is not necessary to have an MODL occupation to apply for skilled migration and this is only one of the factors affecting a person's points score. Changes introduced in September 2007 giving MODL points only where the applicant had work experience in the occupation have not had any noticeable affect in decreasing the number of applications.

The Minister must conduct a thorough review of the General Skilled Program. Consideration must be made of the following issues:

 

 

 

• What are the objectives of the GSM program
  
• How should it relate to other temporary and permanent visa options
  
• What should be the mix between international students and offshore applicants - which advantages to give international students studying in Australia, if any
  
• Skills assessment settings
  
• English requirements
  
• Points for Work Experience
  
• MODL - selection of occupation and points available
  
• Points for spouses and children likely to be of working age in the near future
  
• Maximum age for application
  

 

The GSM program needs urgent review and reform to restore confidence in it as soon as possible. Then we can work to attract the migrants we need for the growth of the country.

Let's have a public debate and get the GSM program right this time.

 

 

SOURCE: http://www.acacia-au.com/immigration_minister_response.php

 

Visa applications without fees - he has absolutely no idea. You cant rally fix the GSM with incompetent, unskilled minister.

[User Name]

It makes no sense delaying onshore applications, we are already in the country and part of the population.

[Guest marul]

hi everyone.

i am silent reader of this forum. 2 days ago i was reading capping bill 2010 and also Gills suggestionabout enquiry. straight up i made and enquiry to the senate committee as well as the ABS journalist. i am in australia more than 5 years. finished my cookery course and applied 886 visa 28/02/08. got my IELTS 6 in all band nad avrege 6. 5. last 2 years i hav been working as fulltime chef in 4 and half star hotel. with me another 3 of the chef are here on bridging b visa. 27 months i have been waiting and found my self i am in no mans land. i did everything i could to be a loyal applicant. now i am married and my wife is overseas. i spend all my money, time and everythin here so if the minister pass this bill we all the applicants will be trouble. so my erge request to everyone pls make an enquiry if u think you will be next victim of this capping bill 2010. pls spek we have only 4 th june in our hand. and thanks specially Gill for the information about the jornalist and all other information.

[cjdrum]

it's occurred to me that the suspension of GSM applications in May (which prevented my application going in from the agent to DIAC) may have actually been a considerate step by the authorities who, having decided that cap & kill provisions were to be put in place, wanted to limit the number of people who would be affected. The best option therefore was to put a suspension on the applications (infuriating though it was at the time).