The Backpacker Tax will be 15 per cent after the Greens sided with the government on the last parliamentary sitting day for 2016. Throughout the week various proposals from multiple parties were floated to bring about a resolution. Thursday 1 December was the last Parliamentary sitting day making the need for a resolution dire. If no resolution is sought then the original 32.5 per cent tax rate would be applied from 1 January 2017.
Affinity Migration is 90% paperless, meaning you can populate forms and sign them all from the comfort of your own home, tablet or smart phone. Affinity Migration has invested heavily in Technology to ensure geographical boundaries no longer exist and to move towards operating a greener business. Greener businesses means we are doing our bit for the environment and saving the trees which give us Oxygen. The remaining 10% of paper is imposed upon us by the Immigration Department and various other regulatory bodies. And we are hoping they will also catch up with technological advances (fingers crossed).
Are you from Luxembourg or San Marino? Are you between the ages of 18-30? And do you want to experience life in Australia? If you answered YES to all three questions, then congratulations because it has just become easier for you to visit Australia. Australia has signed two new Work and Holiday visa arrangements in the past week. The Memorandum of Understanding signed with San Marino on 23 September 2016 and with Luxembourg on 28 September 2016 establish a reciprocal Work and Holiday visa (subclass 462) arrangement with each country. Each arrangement will allow up to 100 young adults from Australia and the partner country to enjoy a holiday in each other’s country, during which they can undertake short term work and study.
The long awaited Entrepreneurs Visa has finally arrived! And this is what has been revealed so far: This visa is for those who have an Innovative Idea which will lead to the commercialisation of a product/service or development of an enterprise/business in Australia; Total amount of funding secured for the Innovative Idea is at least AU$200,000; There is a sound Business Plan; The Immigration Visa Application Fee is $3,600; The Entrepreneur has not turned 55 years of age; The Entrepreneur can score an IELTS equivalent of 6 in an English Language test; The Innovative Idea has been nominated by a State or Territory government. This visa begins as a 4 years Temporary visa with the option of applying for a Permanent visa once all requirements have been satisfied. More to come in the following days or weeks! Do you have an Innovative Idea? Call Affinity Migration today to see how we can help make your dream a reality!
Facebook can be your best friend or your worst enemy when applying for an Australian visa. A Bangladeshi national who applied for a Protection Visa in Australia found this out the hard way when the Immigration Department cancelled his visa based on “Contradictory information” found on his Facebook page. The applicant claimed he was persecuted due to his Christian faith in Bangladesh, however, his Facebook page suggested he is still a practising Muslim. The case made it all the way to the Federal Circuit Court of Australia whereby the Judge ruled that information on Facebook can be considered “evidentiary material”. What does this mean? If you are applying for any type of visa which includes Partner visas or Protection visas, then ensure your Facebook page does not contain material which could contradict your claims. For example, when applying for a Partner visa as a De Facto couple, check to ensure your relationship status is updated and the person you are in a relationship with is the correct person. It’s always the little things which create the biggest problems down the track.
A police warning has been issued in Australia about scammers phoning people claiming to be immigration officials and demanding fines be paid or they will face deportation. Visa holders in Australia are usually aware that they should not breach the conditions of their visa and it can be stressful when a so called immigration officials contacts them. The current scammers call and say they are from the Department of Immigration and Border Protection (DIBP) and state that the person’s visa, or a relative’s visa will be cancelled and they will be deported unless they pay a fine. They give them an option of buying a number of gift cards to provide the caller with the verification numbers and several people have been scammed out of considerable amounts of money. They seem to be operating in the Woolgoolga area and particularly targeting the Indian community, according to a police spokesman who said anyone receiving a call out of the blue supposedly from a government department should be aware. In this instance if the call relates to purchasing gift cards it should be reported to the police, but anyone worried about a scam caller can contact the DIBP. The immigration department normally sends you a letter to your email or mailing address to notify you of a pending cancellation of your visa. They may follow it up with a phone call, however, there should always be something in writing given to you. Therefore, do not pay anyone over the phone claiming it will resolve your visa issues. First published on Australia Forum.
Are you from New Zealand? Do you currently hold a Special Category Visa (SCV)? Read how one lucky New Zealander gained Australian Permanent Residency status, even though under normal circumstances he would not have been eligible. The story below was initially published on the Australian Forum. “I am a New Zealand citizen who moved to Australia in 2010. After a few years I began to get angry that there was no real possibility for me to become a permanent resident and thus ever apply for citizenship as I did not have the skills necessary for a skilled permanent visa, nor was in a relationship with an Australian so the partner visas were also out of reach for me. In May 2013, Norfolk Island relaxed its immigration laws. The new laws which came in quickly now allowed for Australian citizens and New Zealand citizens to apply to be declared as a Norfolk Island resident immediately on arrival. They did this as an attempt to boost population levels. One of my Australian friends who was researching Migration for his degree sent me a me a message on Facebook alerting me to the new law. He then linked me to a page on the immigration website that I had seen once before, the “Permanent resident of Norfolk Island Visa”. It’s a permanent visa which is granted to any non-citizen who enters Australia and can show a passport endorsed with proof of their Norfolk Island residency, automatically making you a permanent resident. Realizing this “loophole” in the laws I quickly made some phone calls to the Island to get a sense of what life would be like for me there. Within two weeks I was on a plane over there. I walked into the Norfolk Island Immigration office on my second day there and filled out & submitted my application, paid the $120 and then waited while it was processed. However, during its application I became unwell and was forced to leave and return to New Zealand for treatment. I left the island and spent a few years recovering in New Zealand thinking that surely my application would have been declined or lapsed. In early 2016 I read some updates about how Norfolk Island was losing its autonomy and self-governance and that a “Norfolk Islander” would no longer exist, and neither would the Permanent Resident of Norfolk Island Visa. Sometime later I read a transitional rule which basically stated any person who had Norfolk Island residency at any time, would be transitioned to an 808 Confirmatory Residence Visa. So I rang Norfolk Island Immigration and they confirmed that I was indeed accepted as a resident, and my residency would be in force on 30 June 2016 when the transition would take place. I wasn’t sure if I had to be physically present on Norfolk Island at midnight on 30 June, and I was ready to fly back there to secure my new visa, but at the last minute immigration emailed me and said it was likely I would just be granted it. I waited a few days and on 4 July 2016 I got an email from immigration stating that I was finally a permanent visa holder in Australia, with a 5-year travel authority. Unfortunately since 1 July 2016 this avenue is no longer possible.”
Lucky Kiwi becomes Australian Permanent Resident Read More »
SBS Dateline explores China’s Millionaire Migration and poses the question of whether it is beneficial or not to the recipient countries. What do you think? Watch the video below.
An Irishman living in Perth is pleading to be released from a Northam detention centre after being ‘wrongly’ detained by armed police on Monday over a visa ‘bungle’. This case was first reported by WA Today and highlights the importance of providing immigration with a correct and current postal address. Bernard Lee, 26, has lived in Perth lawfully for the past seven years. Bernard Lee has been in a detention centre since Monday. Photo: Facebook On Friday, he remained in Yongah Hill Immigration Detention Centre, after armed police and immigration officers swooped on his Highgate home on Monday night and arrested him. The authorities claimed Mr Lee had been issued a letter refusing his application for a resident’s visa and cancelling his current business visa, and that he was in breach of the 28-day period to leave the country. Usually the best way for immigration to contact you is via email, however, if you provide immigration with a few different ways of contacting you, they can use whichever method they choose and ONLY ONE of them. Therefore, if you have moved houses recently you can use Form 929 to notify immigration of your new address. Simply fill it out and return it via email to your Case Officer or at your nearest immigration office. Remember, always retain the original copy as proof.
The Department of Immigration and Border Protection (DIBP) will extend an amnesty of sorts to visa overstayers in Queensland’s regional towns to help them avoid detention or a three-year re-entry ban from Australia. The DIBP visited Bundaberg and Gladstone last week and will visit Mount Isa on Thursday as part of the Community Status Resolution Service (CSRS), a community outreach program which encourages people living or working illegally in Australia to come forward voluntarily. A Departmental spokesperson said the idea behind the service, which has been around for many years, was for overstayers and people with a bridging visa E to work with the Department to establish their visa status. “It is always preferable for unlawful non-citizens to voluntarily come forward and work with the Department to resolve their immigration status issues,” said the spokesperson. “There are significant penalties including lengthy exclusion bans for people who are removed from Australia. “The Department generally does not detain people in Australia who approach the department, it will generally grant a Bridging Visa E (BVE).” The spokesperson said CSRS officers provided clear and personally relevant information about a person’s situation and their visa or departure options, so that they could make informed decisions sooner. The Department regularly conducts busts to detect people living and working illegally in Australia, often with harsh consequences. The DIBP’s website says: “If you are found in the community without a visa, you could be detained and removed from Australia. You could face a three-year re-entry ban from visiting Australia again. You have a choice – do something about your situation now.” The spokesperson said more visits were planned to other regional centres in Queensland over the next few months, with a focus on industries such as agriculture and construction.