Key terms: Migration Policy Changes – Online system outages – 1 July Changes – Western Australia State Migration – State Sponsorship – Subclass 190 Skilled Nominated visa – Subclass 489 Skilled Regional Sponsored visa – Regional Sponsored Migration Scheme (RSMS) – Australian citizenship

ImmiAccount System Outage on 30 June 2017

The Department of Immigration and Border Protection (DIBP) has announced that the ImmiAccount system will not be available from the following times:

New South Wales, Victoria, ACT, Queensland

9pm AEST Friday 30 June until 1pm Saturday 1 July 2017

South Australia, Northern Territory

8.30pm ACST Friday 30 June until 12.30pm Saturday 1 July 2017

Western Australia

7pm AWST Friday 30 June until 11am Saturday 1 July 2017

If you are thinking about submitting an online visa application you will need to do so before the times above.

While the official times are given for the system outage, our experience is that the DIBP ImmiAccount will start experiencing issues way earlier. As applicants all over the world rush to submit their online visa applications, the system will experience errors and application pages being unavailable. As such we strongly recommend that you submit your visa application as early as possible.

Immigration South Australia System Outage from 29 June 2017

Immigration SA will shut down their online application system at the following times:

New South Wales, Victoria, ACT, Queensland

3.30pm AEST Thursday 29 June until 12.30pm Tuesday 4 July 2017

South Australia, Northern Territory

3pm ACST Thursday 29 June until 12pm Tuesday 4 July 2017

Western Australia

1.30pm AWST Thursday 29 June until 10.30am Tuesday 4 July 2017

Any applications not submitted before the system shutdown will be deleted from the system.

While the number of applicants may not be as many as those on the ImmiAccount system, you are still advised to submit your Immigration SA application as early as possible to avoid any potential problems.


Other news and developing stories

In Western Australia…

The Western Australia (WA) State Government has released a new WA Skilled Migration Occupation List for applicants applying for subclass 190 and 489 visa sponsorships from WA. The occupation list has been reduced from 178 occupations to just 18 medical and health related occupations. Hopefully the list will be expanded after the new programme year kicks in on 1 July 2017.

Additionally the Premier of WA, Hon. Mark McGowan announced that the Federal Government has agreed to remove Perth from the Regional Sponsored Migration Scheme (RSMS) programme.


Developments to the Australian citizenship policy changes

The Australian Labor Party has confirmed that it will not support the Bill proposing the changes to the Australian citizenship application requirements.

This means that for the Bill to be passed and amendments to take place, the Government will need to rely on support from crossbenchers.


Comments from Principal Migration Agent and Lawyer Chris Johnston

We are heading into the last stretch of the financial year. During this time many will be rushing to submit visa applications before the 1 July 2017. Visa application fees will increase on 1 July while new requirements for employer sponsored visas will also be implemented on the same day.

If you need assistance with your visa application, contact a Registered Migration Agent early to secure the help you need. Many registered migration agents will become increasingly busy as we near 30 June 2017.


Sources:

http://www.border.gov.au/Trav/Visa/Syst

http://migration.sa.gov.au/news-events/news-releases/2456

http://www.perthnow.com.au/news/western-australia/wa-government-slashes-skilled-migration-list-to-18-occupations/news-story/a726eb33941db05da1698e32248b99b9

http://www.skynews.com.au/news/top-stories/2017/06/20/labor-opposes-citizenship-changes.html


This information is accurate on 23 June 2017


Do you need help with an Australian visa or citizenship application?

At Work Visa Lawyers we are experienced in assisting applicants in all matters relating to Australian visa applications. Our areas of expertise include Skilled Migration visas, Business Skills Migration visas, Employer Sponsored Work Visas, Partner and other Family Migration visas as well as the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) Review, Judicial Review and Ministerial Intervention. We have also assisted applicants with Australian citizenship applications, especially for those with unusual circumstances.

If you require further information regarding your Australia visa or citizenship options you can contact us through:

(08) 8351 9956 or +61 8 8351 9956

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