By Leesha McKenny

Just one mistake on your Australian visa application could carry “devastating” lifetime consequences, experts say, under new regulations introduced by the Federal Government this month.

Anyone who submits false or misleading material as part of a visa application - even unwittingly - faces being effectively barred from making a new application for 10 years. The previous penalty was just 12 months.

The material targeted includes inaccurate statements, omissions of fact, or lodging bogus documents such as bank records, work experience claims or false English language proficiency scores.

“[It] would have quite a devastating impact on any migrant who breached their rule of perfection in any manner whatsoever,” said Mary Crock, an immigration law specialist at the University of Sydney.
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“If you’re denied that long then it’s going to become impossible to come to the country.”

An application lodged since November 18 may now be refused if fraud was detected on any earlier application made within the previous 10 years. 

This replaces a 12-month period that had applied to those who withdrew their application once notified of suspected fraud - a way to avoid a potential three-year ban if that visa was subsequently refused.

The measure covers a range of temporary visa classes, including student visas, family visas and skilled migration classes, as well as any applications made by members of a person’s family.

The Department of Immigration and Border Protection said the longer time frame was designed to target fraudsters who actively “wait out” the year-long exclusion period before trying again.

​Little room for error

The Greens will next week seek support to overturn the new measures in the Upper House, branding them another front in the Immigration Minister’s “relentless attack” on migrant groups including temporary visa holders.

“This is a punitive and vindictive proposal from Peter Dutton that really is cracking a walnut with a massive sledgehammer,” Senator Nick McKim told SBS News.

FOR FULL STORIES PLEASE CLICK THE LINK BELOW:
www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2017/11/24/one-strike-youre-out-visa-changes-could-leave-you-facing-10-year-ban

"I've seen friends go through depression. They would not use the terms we use here, like depression, because it's stigmatising for them.

"They feel you've gone to university for three to five years, you get your qualification and then all of a sudden, you come here and you can't get the job that you had or you know you were a manager before and all of a sudden you're being managed... it proves to be quite difficult."

Employment barriers have repercussions on mental health, both for the primary skilled migrant and secondary migrants, including family, who may feel isolated. ​

This is how one migrant describes their experience attempting to find work in Western Australia in 2017, and new research by Curtin University has indicated they are not alone.
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Released on Tuesday, the Minimising skills wastage: maximising the health of skilled migrant groups report revealed more than half of WA's skilled migrant workforce are working lower-skilled jobs than before they migrated, highlighting the long term effects on their mental health and well being as a result.  

According to a survey of 508 WA-based skilled migrants, 53.1 per cent said they had less-skilled jobs here than before they migrated.


In its examples, the report noted a former engineer who had migrated to WA who now works as a technician, a vocational school teacher turned cleaner and packer, a geologist now working in aged care and a mechanical engineer recently employed as a security officer.


A number of migrants anonymously spoke about their experiences attempting to find work in their field and detailed obstacles they faced when applying for a job.

FOR FULL STORY PLEASE CLICK THE LINK BELOW:
www.watoday.com.au/wa-news/was-migrant-workforce-how-we-are-wasting-our-best-minds-20171121-gzpqs9.html

Underpaying migrant workers has become a business practice for unscrupulous employers.

For some employers, it is an easy way to boost the bottom line with a low risk of getting caught — hence there is little incentive to comply with industrial laws.

It has even been described as a "business model" by worker advocates.

"There are employers out there structuring the cost of doing business through stealing wages," said Ged Kearney, president of the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU).

"They use very exploitable migrant workers, and use the sickle of [the workers'] temporary visa status to enforce that."

Out of the 900,000 temporary migrants in Australia with work rights, those in the 457 visa category are a particularly vulnerable group — as many are hoping to attain permanent residency.

Getting away with wage theftThe ABC was able to interview Ben, a Sydney-based technician who is on a 457 visa (and who wanted to use a pseudonym instead of his real name).

Unfortunately, he is working for an employer who commits wage theft by routinely blackmailing him.
However, Ben chose not to complain to the authorities because the employer also regularly threatens to "get him fired" and "deported".

"My boss deposits [my salary of] $1,500 into my account each fortnight, then I have to withdraw $500 from an ATM to give back to him," he said.

"I was never in a position to refuse — otherwise, he wouldn't offer me the 457 visa."

Ben is ultimately forced to survive on $500 per week in Sydney, the city with the most expensive real estate in Australia.

But he is worried about the consequences of getting sacked before he attains permanent residency.

Under Australian immigration laws, 457 visa holders are allowed to remain in the country for only 60 days from the date their employment ends.

"If I get fired, I have two months to find a new job — otherwise I'll have to leave the country," Ben said.

"The immigration department told me I just have to find another employer."

Back in April, the Turnbull Government announced it was abolishing the 457 visa scheme — and axing more than 200 jobs from the list of occupations that skilled foreign workers can apply for under the replacement scheme.

The silver lining for Ben is his occupation survived the cull, so he plans to apply for permanent residency after he completes two years of work with his employer.
Exploitation affects the economy"At least two-thirds of migrant workers are exploited with regards to their pay and conditions," Ms Kearney said.

"If an employer can access a temporary worker, employ them for half the minimum wage, exploit them to the degree we are seeing, that has to have an impact on the local employment market."

It also impacts other workers, forced to compete against those willing to work for less than the minimum wage — which is $22.13 for a casual worker.

Such practices place downward pressure on wage growth.

"Low wages in Australia has been a big issue over the past five years," economist Callam Pickering said.
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"It has actively undermined household spending, keeping it at record low levels.

FOR FULL STORY PLEASE CLICK THE LINK BELOW:
mobile.abc.net.au/news/2017-11-23/blackmail-business-plan-cheaper-wages/9177498?pfmredir=sm

​The Department of Immigration and Border Protection (DIBP) has announced from 18th November 2017, the arrangement to lodge parent and partner visas in Australia will change.

Department for Immigration and Border Protection (DIBP) has announced that from 18th November 2017, one will no longer be able to lodge an application in person at any offices of the Department for the following visa subclasses:

• Partner category visas (subclass 820, 801, 309, 100 & 300)
• Parent visas (subclass 804, 884, 864, 173, 143 & 103)
• Temporary Work (International Relations) visa (subclass 403).

You must lodge Partner visa (including Prospective Marriage visa) and Temporary Work (International Relations) visa applications online through ImmiAccount.

You must send Parent visa applications by post or courier to the following addresses:

Post application to:
Parent Visa Centre 
Locked Bag 7 
Northbridge WA 6865

Courier application to:
Parent Visa Centre 
Wellington Central 
Ground Floor 
836 Wellington Street 
West Perth WA 6005

New conditions for temporary visas

The DIBP has also announced new conditions for temporary visas

For those who applied and were granted temporary visas on or after 18 November 2017, will be subject to new visa conditions during their stay in Australia:

If your visa has - condition 8303, it prohibits activities that endanger or threaten any individual, or activities disruptive to, or violence threatening harm to, the Australian community or a group within the Australian community.

If your visa has - condition 8304, it requires temporary visa holders to identify themselves by the same name in all dealings with Commonwealth, state or territory government agencies. If you change your name, you must inform all government agencies of this name change as soon as possible. This includes the Department of Immigration and Border Protection.

If your visa has - condition 8564, it requires individuals not to engage in criminal conduct.
These conditions have been made mandatory for visas like student visa, partner visa, visitor visa, tourist visa, temporary graduate visa and many others. Check the full list here.

FOR FULL STORY PLEASE CLICK THE LINK BELOW:
www.sbs.com.au/yourlanguage/hindi/en/article/2017/11/20/planning-bring-your-spouse-or-parents-australia-important-changes-announced

A landmark study has found wage theft is endemic across Australia with a quarter of international students and a third of backpackers earning $12 or less per hour, around half the legal minimum wage.
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The new report presents the most comprehensive Australian research conducted into the systemic underpayment of international students, backpackers and other temporary migrants around the country. It paints a bleak picture of the conditions experienced by a high proportion of the more than 900,000 temporary migrant workers who represent more than 10 per cent of the Australian labour market.

Two in five people surveyed for the report by law academics from the University of Technology Sydney and University of NSW received their lowest rate of pay while working in cafes, restaurants and takeaway food outlets. Almost a third of these workers were paid $12 per hour or less.

Almost one in seven working in fruit and vegetable picking and farm work – which the study found to be the worst paid – earned $5 per hour or less, and almost a third (31 per cent) earned $10 per hour or less. 

Belgian Laurent Van Eesbeeck, 25, told Fairfax Media he was paid as little as $5 per hour to pick cherry tomatoes in Bundaberg, Queensland in June this year and $60 for eight hours of work picking strawberries in Caboolture, north of Brisbane in August.

He made $100 a day after tax for picking mandarins near Childers in Queensland, but said he had to live in a run-down caravan in a caravan park as a condition of the job.

He is currently based in Melbourne and plans to return to Belgium where he completed a degree in mathematical engineering after one year in Australia. He no longer wants to clock up the 88 days of farm work required to stay longer.

"I've had a couple of disappointments with Australian farms," Mr Van Eesbeeck said.
"For me it's exploitation …. I don't want to be part of it.

"When you answer an ad online you are never sure whether it is going to be a good or bad job. You only know when you arrive there if the pay is decent."

FOR FULL STORY PLEASE CLICK THE LINK BELOW:
www.smh.com.au/business/workplace-relations/wage-theft-endemic-across-australia-20171119-gzol3l.html

Australia runs one of the largest immigration programs in the world, adding nearly 200,000 migrants each year.
This year in April, the Government overhauled the temporary sponsored visas system and changed the list of eligible occupations for both permanent and temporary visas, which are now called the 'short-term skilled occupation list' (STSOL) 'and medium and long-term strategic skill list' (MLTSSL).

The Department of Employment is responsible for undertaking a regular review of the occupation lists used for skilled migration to meet short-term and long-term needs of the Australian economy. It was earlier done by the Department of Education and Training.

Though the medium and long-term strategic skill list is likely to remain the same, the STSOL which is a list of occupations nominated for temporary and short-term visas may see some changes that are likely to affect migrants from South Asian communities.

The department has flagged the occupations of Accommodation and Hospitality manager, Hair or Beauty Salon Manager, Recruitment Consultant and Building Associate for removal from the Short-term Skilled Occupation List.

At the same time, it proposes to add University Tutor, Psychotherapist, Property Manager, Real Estate Agent and Real Estate Representative to the list.

Melbourne-based migration agent Sooraj Handa says the changes in the occupation list will affect many Indian and South Asian students and migrants.

“A large number of Indian students are currently enrolled in courses related to hospitality and beauty occupations because they had a pathway to residency. Now, these students will either lose that pathway or enroll in other courses that are likely to get them a chance at the permanent residency,” he told SBS Punjabi.

Mr Handa says the occupations flagged for inclusion in the list are a good news for the South-Asian community.

“If you go to the outer west or outer southeast of Melbourne, you will see many Indians working in the real estate industry. The inclusion of occupations related to real estate shows more workers are required to meet the need of the industry. If these occupations are added to the list, we will see a rise in the number of students enrolling in courses related to these occupations."

Taney Jain, a real estate agent in Melbourne's outer west, says the move will open doors to more migrants wanting to work in the industry. 

"It's good for prospective migrants and it's definitely good for the government as real estate transactions contribute immensely to the economy. But unlike IT or some other fields, those wanting to work in this industry in Australia will be required to reskill themselves because of difference in laws and regulations," he says. 

The Department of Employment hasn’t proposed any changes to the medium and long-term strategic skills list due to the “substantial changes” in the skilled migration occupation lists in April and July this year.  It says the Government has “prioritised continuity and stability”.

The department is currently holding a public consultation on the potential changes to these lists and is seeking feedback on the flagged changes. The review is open until 1st December. 

FOR FULL STORY PLEASE CLICK THE LINK BELOW:

www.sbs.com.au/yourlanguage/punjabi/en/article/2017/11/21/these-occupations-may-change-next-years-skilled-occupation-list

The problem with an excellent speech covering something as broad as the Australian economy is that valuable bits are overlooked when they deserve greater attention.


So it was with Luci Ellis' speech on Wednesday, titled "Where will the Growth Really Come From?".  Aside from being swamped by the marriage equality result, the Reserve Bank assistant governor was guilty of covering too much too well with that unfortunately rare thing outside the RBA, perspective.


While the headline from the speech was about growth, there also were valuable warnings about the folly of our apparently rising political tide of popularist/protectionist/anti-immigration ratbaggery.


As befitting the Stan Kelly Lecture, Ms Ellis delivered a brief and updated primer on the folly of protectionism. A single graph says much – it took the unwinding of protectionism to get Australian manufacturers out there, to make them world class.

FOR FULL STORY PLEASE CLICK THE LINK BELOW:
amp.smh.com.au/business/the-economy/one-plus-one-makes-more-than-two-our-overlooked-immigration-benefits-20171116-gzmo1p.html

The Australian government is considering a proposal to introduce a mandatory provisional visa before migrants are granted permanent residency in the country.


The Immigration Department, in its Visa Simplification: Transforming Australia’s Visa System discussion paper, released in July this year, sought views on whether  a prospective migrant should “spend a period of time in Australia before becoming eligible for permanent residence” and What requirements should underpin a migrant’s eligibility for permanent residence?”


Shadow Minister for Immigration and Border Protection, Shayne Neumann, said the discussion paper’s language is “pejorative” and that he’s concerned about what the Government is attempting to lead to with the visa simplification.


“Labor won’t sit-by silently if there are any moves to erode or undermine the non-discriminatory nature of Australia’s migration program or make it harder for certain migrants to become permanent residents or citizens,” Mr Neumann said while speaking at the Migration Institute of Australia’s National Conference on Thursday in Melbourne.

FOR FULL STORY PLEASE CLICK THE LINK BELOW:
www.sbs.com.au/yourlanguage/punjabi/en/article/2017/11/10/labor-will-not-sit-silently-move-introduce-mandatory-provisional-visa-permanent

New rules are coming into effect that will bar an applicant for ten years if they provide false or misleading information in their visa application.


The changes to the migration regulations are being introduced by promulgating the Migration Legislation Amendment (2017 Measures No. 4) Regulations 2017, which will take effect on 18thNovember 2017.


Under the existing regulations, section 4020 of the Public Interest Criterion targets applicants who supply false documents or false and misleading information to the Australian Government in the last 12 months before an application is made.  


However, this period is now being extended to ten years before making a visa application, effectively barring those applicants for ten years who have allegedly engaged in providing false information or visa fraud.


According to the Immigration Minister, the intention behind this amendment is to prevent applicants from circumventing the rules by way of withdrawing their applications “once notified by the Department of suspected fraud, only to re-attempt their visa application after the period of 12 months has elapsed.”


Under the new rules, any applicant who has provided bogus documentation or false or misleading information within the last ten years to the Immigration Department, Migration Review Tribunal or the Administrative Appeals Tribunal, may be locked out of the visa process for ten years for their failure to meet the Public Interest Criterion.


The Immigration Department says visa applicants providing false information are likely to provide false and bogus information to other government departments as well. It says currently, such applicants are able to “actively wait out” the 12-month exclusion period and then immediately re-apply.


The Immigration Minister said a 10-year review period is a “necessary, reasonable and proportionate” measure to protect the integrity of the visa framework.


Migration agent Jujhar Bajwa says the new rule will have profound implications for many visa applicants.


“Many people knowingly provide false information. Earlier they were able to reapply after a one-year period. Now that’s being extended to ten years which effectively means they have been shut out of Australia,” Mr Bajwa tells SBS Punjabi.


He says many applicants inadvertently end up supplying wrong information which may have them banned now.


“You are asked if you were refused a visa before and if you go to a different migration agent and he ticks ‘no’ instead of ‘yes’- if you were actually refused a visa, your prospects of getting a visa for the next ten years are gone,” says Mr Bajwa.


The department says officers will have discretion to determine whether or not the visa applicant has deliberately submitted fraudulent documents and applicants who accidentally provide false or incorrect information will not be subject to refusal. 

FOR FULL STORY PLEASE CLICK THE LINK BELOW:
www.sbs.com.au/yourlanguage/punjabi/en/article/2017/11/08/new-rules-impose-10-year-visa-ban-providing-false-information

Atlassian co-founder Scott Farquhar has warned the government's proposed changes to modernise the visa system could stunt the growth of local tech companies, and are already causing harm, ahead of the expected release of the official report next week.


The tech billionaire said Australian-based technology companies needed to bring in specialist top level managers to grow their operations and train up local staff, but that the government's plan to remove a clear path to permanent residency meant most would no longer consider coming.


Earlier this year the government called for submissions to a review of the country's visa schemes, which it said would make the system more responsive to economic, social and security interests.


It caused controversy in the business community by abolishing skilled 457 visas, and removing a clear pathway to permanent residents for immigrant workers, who would now need to prove their eligibility to stay in Australia after spending time on provisional visas.



After taking submissions on its proposals in a review, which closed in mid-September, The Australian Financial Review understands the government is poised to unveil its report early next week.


Mr Farquhar, who currently shares the title of AFR Business Person of Year with his Atlassian co-founder Mike Cannon-Brookes, has previously spoken about the need for Australia to increase its immigration of top senior technology executives in order to meet a shortfall in the country and help local companies go global.


However he told The Financial Review that the government's proposed changes would be disastrous for the local tech scene, and said even the fact that the changes had been proposed had already caused harm.


"The Australian government has gone a long way towards damaging our reputation as a place that people want to come and work globally," Mr Farquhar said.


"Even before these new ideas have become law, the sentiment that the government has sent globally is that they are almost shouting out that Australia is closed for business."

FOR FULL STORY PLEASE CLICK THE LINK BELOW:
www.afr.com/technology/atlassian-boss-scott-farquhar-warns-visa-rule-changes-risk-stunting-local-tech-growth-20171101-gzd1vv