Monthly Archives: July 2022

The Global Talent Visa (Subclass 858) is a streamlined visa program for highly skilled professionals to move to Australia. There is no points testing and it grants immediate Permanent Residency. If you meet the criteria for this visa, please make an appointment to speak with us today. There are 2 pathways under the Global Talent visa:

1. the Global Talent visa pathway – an opportunity for highly skilled people in the target sectors; and
2. the Distinguished Talent pathway – a pathway for exceptional and outstanding individuals who do not fit into any Global Talent sector. Some examples are international cricketers, musicians.

If you do not work in one of these sectors but you are a highly talented person, you may be eligible under the Distinguished Talent pathway, but the standard you must meet is significantly higher. Please make an appointment to talk to Work Visa Lawyers if you need help understanding which pathway suits you best.

Tasmania is awaiting confirmation from the Australian Government on the nomination allocation for the 2022-23 program year. Once the allocation is received the 2022-23 Tasmanian Skilled Migration State Nomination Program will open with some different requirements and processes. Key features of the new skilled migration program will include: For graduates in Tasmania (Living and working in Tasmania requirement may apply) No course or occupation restrictions or mandatory employment requirements. Tasmania remains one of the easiest and most generous states in Skilled Visa 491 and Visa 190 nominations with no mandatory work experience requirements.However, you may need to satisfy other factors like living and studying in Tasmania and especially positive skill assessment required for the Visa 491 and 190 application   Permanent pathway for PhD students. This is a very new pathway for PhD students in Tasmania. We have currently received a lot of PhD students who would like to get PR in Australia through Global Talent Visa program. This new stream opens up a new option for clients who are studying PhD in Tasmania.   For skilled employees

• An expanded list of occupations and employment eligible for permanent subclass 190  visa nomination.
• No occupation requirements for subclass 491.
• Inclusion of part-time employment to meet work experience requirements.
• Subcontractors with a related skills assessment included in skilled employment pathway.

  For business operators Extension of qualifying business operation time from 6 to 12 months for business operations that commenced after 15 April 2022. This may affect current Small business owner who seeks for state nomination. You may operate the business to reach 12 months required from the state. For applicants who already lodge a nomination application, this change may not be applied. Please wait for further announcement to be updated in this page. Introduction of a new personal business income requirement, set at a minimum 80% of TSMIT (i.e., $43 120).   For long-term residents

• A new nomination pathway for candidates who have lived in Tasmania for an extended period and established themselves in employment or business.
• Qualifying residence period of at least three years for permanent subclass 190 visa nomination, or two years for the provisional subclass 491 visa.
• Business operators will be eligible for subclass 190 nomination if they have lived in Tasmania for two years, and run their eligible business successfully for two year

For overseas candidates

• No occupation restrictions where a candidate has a job offer.
• More invitations to apply for nomination from Skillselect where candidates have skills needed by Tasmanian businesses.
• New industry skills-needs profiles to help potential candidates tailor their Skillselect EOI to increase chances of invitation.

For all candidates

• Simplified eligibility requirements.
• Invitation only – candidates will be able to register interest in Tasmanian nomination in the Migration Tasmania Gateway if they meet the minimum eligibility requirements, and the most competitive will be able to apply for nomination.
• More clearly defined exclusions and exceptions regarding employment and business roles and location of dependants.
• Clear sets of published priority attributes, describing the additional characteristics needed to be competitive. Only those candidates that meet the competitive threshold will be invited to apply for nomination. These attributes will include:
  • duration and industry of employment
  • employment in skilled roles which are critical to the Tasmanian economy
  • connections between employment, skills assessment and study
  • rate of salary compared with the Australia average and median
  • nature, level and duration of Tasmanian study
  • completion of work placements related to study
  • graduate employment offers
  • duration and success of business operation
  • level of business investment, turnover and local employment
  • length of residence in Tasmania
  • English language ability
  • location, length of residence, employment and skills of dependants.

Once we hear more updates on Tasmania, Falcon Migration will update all.

When applying for visas it is important to provide to assessing authorities and the Department of Home Affairs, the documents in English. If your application documents are not in English, you must also provide an English translation of the documents. Always ensure that the documents carry both the original in the other languages and the English translation. Translating documents if you are in Australia Acceptable translations of documents in Australia can be obtained from translators accredited with the National Accreditation Authority for Translators and Interpreters (NAATI). A list of approved translators can be found on NAATI’s website https://www.naati.com.au/. Translations must include the translator’s name, NAATI identification number and accreditation status. Translating documents if you are outside Australia If you have documents that were translated outside Australia, the translator must be approved by the authorities in the country where the translation was made. Overseas translations must be on the organisation’s letterhead and include an official stamp. The translator’s name (all in block letters), signature and contact telephone number must be legibly printed below the signature.

Falcon Migration conducted a very well-attended webinar for Mining and Mineral Engineering Association of Sri Lanka on 3^rd July. More than 70 mining professionals attended this covering General Skilled Migration and Employer-Sponsored Migration. Currently, the mining professionals can apply under the following categories;

• The Mining Engineer
• Engineering Technologist
• Mining Production Manager
• Mine Deputy
• Building and Engineering Technicians (other categories)

In order to apply under general Skilled Migration, they need to fulfil the following minimum criteria.

• Below 45 years
• Minimum IELTS 6 for all bands
• A positive skills assessment
• Need 65 points

The presentation touched on the above points in detail and also discussed how employer-sponsored visa can also be an option for mining professionals. The very engaging questions delved into areas such as; English exam options, how to get additional points for partners’ skills, time period and the best strategy to adopt when preparing to lodge the visa.

The Credentialed Community Language (CCL) test is an assessment of a candidate’s language abilities for General Skilled Migration.

This test is taken by the applicants who are looking to lodge a point-based visa application. On successfully passing the test, applicants are awarded five points toward the Skilled Independent visa (subclass 189), Skilled Nominated visa (subclass 190), or Skilled Regional (Provisional) visa (subclass 489). NAATI CCL tests are delivered online, Monday to Friday. The test consists of two dialogue recordings. Each dialogue represents a conversation between a native English Speaker and a native Language Other Than English (LOTE) speaker. Each dialogue is approximately 300 words, with about half in English and half in the LOTE. The dialogues are divided into segments of 35 words or less. The dialogues used will reflect real-life situations in Australian society. They are designed to examine a candidate’s ability to understand both languages and communicate in them. The topics may include: A minimum of two examiners will assess a candidate’s ability to communicate effectively in English and a LOTE. Two significant factors that contribute to assessment are:

• Language Quality – competency in both English and LOTE
• Language Register – the level of formality with which a candidate transfers the meaning

Marks are deducted for errors.  Examiners consider the types of errors in your performance and how these impact on your overall communication. Errors for which the examiners deduct a candidate’s score are:

• Accuracy (correctness of information)
• Distortions (misrepresentation of information)
• Omissions (removal of information)
• Insertions (addition of information)

Each examiner awards your results individually. In situations where the examiners disagree about the performance of a candidate, additional examiners will assess your test to help determine your final result. The test comprises of two dialogues; each worth 45 marks. In order to pass the test, a candidate requires at least 29 marks in each dialogue and an overall score of 63 out of 90. The result for the CCL test will be given as:

• Pass: 63 or higher (marks out of 90)
• Marginal Fail: between 58 and 62.5 (marks out of 90)
• Clear Fail: less than 58 (marks out of 90)

In situations where a candidate achieves 23 out of 45 in Dialogue 1, 41 out of 45 in Dialogue 2 and an Overall Score of 64 out of 90, the result given will be CLEAR FAIL as the candidate hasn’t achieved the required score in Dialogue 1 (i.e. 29). Results are sent via email within 4-6 weeks of the test date and are valid for three years from the date of issue. Clear Fail results are unable to apply for a review of their test due to the statistical improbability of the result being overturned. To apply, you will need to register in our customer portal, myNAATI and lodge your application via your myNAATI account.

From July 6 2022, the way you ​travel to and from Australia has changed.

• People entering Australia do not need to provide evidence of vaccination status
• People entering Australia do not need to complete the Digital Passenger Declaration or Maritime Travel Declaration
• People leaving Australia will not be asked to provide evidence of their vaccination status
• Unvaccinated visa holders do not​ need a travel exemption to travel to Australia
• Masks are still required on flights travelling to Australia.

Of course remember that airlines, vessel operators and other countries may have specific requirements that travellers need to comply with. If you are traveling to or from Australia hope you have a wonderful flight.    

Applications for the COVID-19 Temporary Graduate replacement stream visa opened on 1 July 2022. The Temporary Graduate replacement stream visa will give current and former visa holders impacted by COVID-19 travel restrictions the same length of stay as their original visa. The COVID-19 replacement stream is a replacement for the initial Temporary Graduate visa. It is only available for Temporary Graduate visa holders impacted by the Australian travel restrictions. This means people who could not stay in Australia for the full period allowed by their previous Temporary Graduate visa. The replacement Temporary Graduate (subclass 485) visa will recognise the commitment made by international students to Australia. It will acknowledge the disruption to plans that COVID-19 and the associated travel restrictions caused.   Eligibility To be eligible, applicants must:

• currently hold, or have held a Temporary Graduate visa that expired on or after 1 February 2020; and
• have been outside Australia at any time between 1 February 2020 and 15th December 2021.

In normal circumstances, applicants can only be granted one Temporary Graduate visa, and a further visa is only available on the basis of regional work and study.  

The easing of COVID vaccination restrictions has gone much further, as Australia has said it will open borders to all travellers regardless of Covid-19 vaccine status.  From Wednesday the 6th of July those travelling to Australia will no longer need to fill in a DPD (Digital Passenger Declaration) before they fly.

Until now unvaccinated visitors were barred from entering the country, although Australian residents were able to travel regardless of vaccine status. The Australian Government said that the removal was a sign of confidence in the country’s ability to manage Covid-19 and to reduce delays at airports.

“As more and more of us travel internationally and we get more confident in managing our risk of Covid, our airports are getting busier,” said the minister.