Immigration

The United Nations working group on arbitrary detention has condemned Australia’s detention of three asylum seekers. The group, which reports to the UN Human Rights Council, on which Australia has a seat, has expressed concern about asylum seekers and immigrants being detained around the world, and highlighted 94 cases of arbitrary detention around the world,…

If you are living in Australia as a non-citizen on a temporary or permanent visa and you are found guilty of a crime, this may affect your visa. Depending on the sentence you receive and how long you have been living in Australia, together with a range of other factors, your visa may be cancelled,…

To be eligible to become an Australian Citizen, a person must have lived legally in Australia for the past four years. A person must have had permanent residency status for the four years prior to applying and must have lived in Australia for at least nine months out of the twelve months before applying. A…

The Queensland Coroner on Monday handed down his findings in the inquest into the 2014 death of Iranian asylum seeker Hamid Khazaei. The coroner found  that the young man’s death was preventable and that he would have survived had he received adequate medical care.  The findings indicated that the death was the result of a…

In March 2018, the Skilled Migrant 457 Visa was abolished and replaced with the Temporary Skills Shortage 482 Visa. The 482 Visa is a short-term work visa that allows employers to nominate positions to be filled by overseas workers in areas of critical skills shortages. To be granted a 482 Visa, the overseas worker must…

Visa cancellations are governed by Section 116 of the Migration Act, which gives the Minister and his delegates the power to cancel a visa in the following circumstances: i. Breach of visa conditions; ii. Failure to comply to visa conditions; iii. Purposely providing incorrect or bogus information; or iv. For the health, safety and good…

In February 2018, the Home Affairs Department introduced the Identity Matching Services Bill into parliament. This bill, if passed, will allow the Department of Home Affairs to collect, use and disclose information relating to the identity of individuals through biometric facial recognition software. Government departments and some private entities will be allowed to access and…

Refugees are persons who are outside their country of origin and who are unable to return due to a well-founded fear of persecution on the basis of any of the following grounds: Religion; Race; Nationality; Political opinion; Membership of a particular social group; The definition of a refugee is contained in the Refugees Convention 1951,…

What is the Department of Home Affairs (DoHA)? On 20 December 2017, the Federal Government formally re-established the Department of Home Affairs to replace the Department of Immigration and Border Protection. The whole-of-government change was announced by the Prime Minister on 20 July 2017. A Ministry of Home Affairs was originally created at Federation (1901)…

Written by Tanguy Mwilambwe On 18 April 2017, the Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Immigration Minister Peter Dutton announced that there will be no more Temporary Work (Skilled) Visas subclass 457. At the same time, they announced that from 19 April 200 occupations will be removed from the Consolidated Sponsored Occupation List for 457 visa…

Written by Tanguy Mwilambwe In case you have not heard, Trump’s immigration ban is dead, for now. But what about Australia? Can we implement a similar law preventing people from entering and remaining in the country on the basis of their passport or where they have recently travelled? As it turns out, Australia could see…

A skilled migrant visa allows skilled people to work and live in Australia. SkillSelect is Australia’s General Skilled Migration program. It is a points-based system and is the most popular visa application pathway for skilled workers. SkillSelect allows you to apply for a permanent Australian visa, such as a Skilled Independent Visa subclass 189. You…

For many visa applications, the Department of Home Affairs (DoHA) assesses visa applicants’ English language proficiency. Visas which require you to do an English language test include employer-sponsored and skilled migration visa program categories. In some circumstances, a visa applicant can satisfy the English language proficiency requirement without sitting a test. These are in circumstances if…

Bridging visas in Australia are simply transitory visas which permit you to remain in Australia for a certain period of time. Generally, bridging visas follow the expiration of your current substantive visa, such as a Student Visa, while waiting for an application for another substantive visa to be processed. Bridging visas can be granted in…

Judicial review of migration decisions is a process undertaken by the federal courts. It involves the court examining the lawfulness of a migration decision made by a decision-maker, usually the Administrative Appeals Tribunal or an inferior court. Judicial review is typically used to remedy errors of law which affect the authority of the decision-maker to…

International movement records are records which the Department of Home Affairs (DoHA) keep on all persons travelling into and out of Australia. Section 489 of the Migration Act 1958 creates a database which contains information kept concerning to the entry and departure of people to and from Australia. Access to your own international movement records…