There are generally three ways of migrating to Australia. The first is through the Skilled Migration Stream, where applicants rely upon their skills and qualifications to meet eligibility requirements. There are independent and employer sponsored/nominated categories and permanent or temporary skilled work visas. This category also includes the Business Skills regime where applicants rely on their business background skills and experience in a range of sub-categories

The second way is through the Family Stream. This is what was previously referred to as family reunion, however this category has become more restricted to immediate family, partner (including de facto and same-sex relationships) and certain residual or dependent relationships.

There is a hybrid skilled visa which is intended for skilled applicants with links to Australia, however the main requirement is the possession of assessable skills, so this category is normally grouped with skilled visas. Having an Australian connection can provide significant advantages- particularly with point-tested categories.

Many of these visas are able to be applied for whilst in Australia, on substantive temporary visas. Except those visas which can only be granted off-shore - where an application is made for permanent visa whilst in Australia it is referred to as an application for permanent residency.

The last avenue is the Humanitarian Stream, including off-shore refugee visas and on-shore temporary and permanent protection visas. Signet Consulting & Migration does not handle these visa categories.

Generally permanent visas take longer than temporary visas, and visas from less sophisticated source countries take longer (including the necessary police and medical tests). Permanent skilled visas require skills assessment which can take up to 3 months (after collection and lodgment of documentation), before a visa application can be lodged. Some visas receive priority processing and in the skilled area are generally state sponsored categories. As an indication, independent skilled work visas normally take between 9- 12 months after skill assessment and lodgment of visa application. A temporary 457 work visa can be finalized in 3-4 weeks.

Processing times (including that above) assume complete applications, so the time taken to gather documentation for a complete application -whilst it may appear to be a delay- will save processing time.

Processing time will vary from visa to visa, from post to post and from time to time depending upon how busy the unit or post is. So applicants should enquire on the basis of their particular applications rather than anecdotal evidence or other visa scenarios.

Certain visas e.g. family visa such s parents and dependent relative visas are capped (a quota applies), so applicants may have to wait in any one year if at the time of application the quota in their category has been filled.

Applications for permanent visas require police and medical checks, which from some countries can take up to 6 months. Visas will not be granted without these checks, so these delays should be factored into plans to migrate. Accordingly, this information should be requested of your migration specialist.

All of the permanent skilled employment visas (points tested or not) have a 45 year cut-off date. Some of the non-points tested visas have language and recent experience concessions. Temporary visas have no such age restriction, but if an applicant is seeking to establish a permanent visa after a period of temporary residence, then compliance with the permanent visa requirements will be required.

Several of the provisional state-sponsored business skills visas provide concessionary advantages such as an age waiver to 55 years and lower English levels. Visas for applicants above 55 years are possible in the Employer Nominated Scheme (ENS) in the event that the position being nominated by a supporting employer can be substantiated as exceptional.

Generally the points testing regime discriminates against age and experience. A major contradiction exits in the system in that points are allocated for youth, however bonus points are given for experience in the field of work. Increasing age which normally brings the benefit of accumulated knowledge and experience prejudices applicants by the relative diminution of points.

Retirement visas kick in at 55 years of age, but require significant capital assets. There is a small concession for an Australian connection, but not enough to make a real difference.

There are many reasons it is advisable to appoint an Australian registered migration agent. Similarly to the reason people appoint other experts such as accountants, lawyers and financial advisors, they either don’t have the time, knowledge of the system and regulatory requirements or the usual language tools or confidence to deal competently with government officers and systems. It makes sense to appoint a professional familiar with the law, regulations and processing system.

It is important when choosing a migration agent to choose one who is Australian registered. Registered migration agents are required to up-date their professional skills by accumulating Continuing Professional Development (CPD) points, and we are bound by an enforceable Code of Conduct regulated by the Migration Agents Registration Authority(MARA). Complaints can be made to MARA. (see FAQ no.7 below)

Also, the increasing trend within the Department of Immigration Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs (DIMIA) is to have visa categories repatriated instead of being dealt with by off-shore posts, to ensure greater consistency and integrity of processing, so that it makes sense to appoint a registered migration agent based in Australia. In major posts like London, applications can only be received by post, so the appointment of an off-shore unregistered agent is even less necessary. Off-shore applicants have little recourse with an unregistered off-shore agent, and anecdotal evidence suggests that fees charged by them are significantly higher with obviously no greater chance of success.

Both migration lawyers and migration agents are in fact migration agents for the purpose of dispensing migration advice. A lawyer can dispense legal advice to do with court or review of judicial review, but in respect of preliminary migration or application advice he must be a registered migration agent.

The main difference between the two is largely the level of fees charged. A consultation with a lawyer will mean the applicant will pay lawyers fees which can range from $200 to $500, for advice based upon the same laws and regulations a migration agent will rely upon, at considerably more competitive fees. A migration agent represents better value for the applicant’s money. An aggrieved applicant who has appointed a lawyer does in theory have the relevant Law Society to complain to in the event of complaint, however given the generally poor track record of such professional bodies disciplining their own, this may not be worth the fee differential.

Quite often the advantage with appointing a migration agent is that this is what they do exclusively, rather than a lawyer who deals in all legal matters but not migration in particular. Migration law is a dynamic area and migration agents are obliged by law to keep up to speed with those changes.

The Australian Immigration system is a national system and the Migration Act and accompanying Regulations apply equally in every state. Whilst it is not necessary to use a migration agent in the state you intend to work and/or settle in, it can be helpful. Having said this, in many cases, visas are processed in specific centres irrespective of where you intend to live e.g. 136 Skilled independent, 138 Australian Sponsored and 880 Onshore Skilled Student visas are all processed in Adelaide. Certain parent, retirement, and Business Skills visas from non-Asian countries are processed in Perth etc. Other visas especially 457 temporary visas and ENS/RSMS permanent visas can be processed in any DIMIA Business Centre. Where state or Territory sponsorships or nominations are required e.g. Sponsored Business Skills visas or 137 State and Territory Nominated visas, applications are regularly lodged by post to the required government agency from anywhere in Australia.

An agent who operates in the state you wish to live in may be more familiar with the system in that state - depending of course upon what type of visa being sought- and obviously will be more accessible to you if you are currently in Australia‘

Whilst applicants are of course entitled to shop around for the best price, it is obviously important to know what is involved, so an informed decision can be made. Similarly to other services, the cheapest is rarely the best, and where a practitioner (lawyer or migration agent) is prepared to do work for a significantly lower fee, an applicant must be sure that he is comparing apples with apples, and that the fee quoted will provide the service he needs not what the agent is prepared to provide.

Professional fees are different from government visa fees, but together they are often mistaken as the fee paid to the migration agent. This is misleading at times. Migration agents are required to maintain separate clients accounts (similarly to trust accounts), and for convenience receive visa fees from applicants in order to be able to pay visa fees when the application is ready for lodgment. However these funds remain the applicant’s.

Professional fees vary from visa to visa, from temporary to permanent visas, from sole practitioner to partnered law firm and obviously on the amount of work to be done on a case by case basis. A practitioner’s seniority and overheads are often used as a justification for high fees. It is for this reason lawyers and large migration firms’ fees are at the higher end of the scale of fees- irrespective of who does the work! It is a matter for an applicant as to whether these issues should dictate the professional fee for dealing with a visa application.

Applicants are encouraged to enquire as to fee and service for that fee. The fee should reflect the work involved in the application or matter rather than the status, seniority of practitioner or size of the firm - unless of course the application requires expertise or treatment of a particular nature, which can only be given by an expert.

The migration advice industry is above all a service industry. Similarly to other advice industries, parties receiving poor advice or parties who have difficulty communicating with their agent or who feel they have been overcharged or charged for work not done , should query these matters directly with the migration agent. If no reasonable outcome occurs, then that applicant has an opportunity to lodge a complaint with the Migration Agents Registration Authority referred to as the MARA.

It is important that clients who feel this way make their feelings known because firstly such a complaint- if proven- will identify bad service and practice. The agent- if registered- will then be investigated by the MARA and subsequent action will warn other potential clients of the risk. There are regrettably agents who practice unregistered -and against the law- so it is important to always check that the agent you have identified or been referred to is registered. There is currently no registration for overseas agents, so this is a strong reason to engage Australian registered agents either overseas or in Australia, for the other reasons noted.

All agents are obliged by law when acting for clients, to provide a prescribed Information Booklet which contains all the necessary information on how to make such complaint.

A bridging visa is not a substantial visa, and will not keep a person lawful indefinitely. It is a device which either springs up automatically upon the lodgment of further certain visa applications, or which can be applied for, which operates as a safety net if your visa –which is current when you applied- expires before a fresh visa application lodged, is decided. If for example you wish to travel outside Australia whilst this decision is pending, then you will need to apply for a specific bridging visa (Bridging visa B- BVB) to enable you to travel.

A fresh BVB will be required for each separate trip and will not usually be granted for longer than 3 months in the absence of special circumstances.

There have been two major changes to the GSM announced in 2009;

(a) January 2009:

The effect of the government’s recent changes by Direction in January has been to introduce a new Critical Skills List (CSL) and also to affect the priority which certain visas are processed by the Department of Immigration & Citizenship (DIAC). The resulting processing regime has been modified so that priority has been accorded in the following manner:

1. Employer sponsorship (ENS, RSMS)- any occupation on ENSOL;
2. State or territory sponsorship (Various); 
3. An occupation on the new Critical Skills List (CSL) (Independent category);
4. An occupation on the MODL;
5. All other applications

The priority processing Direction gives priority to applicants with employer sponsorship, state or territory nomination and those skilled migration applicants with an occupation on the CSL.

The CSL is only relevant if you are not being nominated or sponsored. It is important to note that whilst the new processing policy gives the CSL higher priority than MODL occupations, there has been yet no change to eligibility requirements or other point entitlements (subject to anticipated MODL amendments –see below) so that the new priority processing will – at this stage- only affect time-lines. This means that all other occupations (including those on the MODL but not on CSL) will continue to be processed, except in lower priority.

(b) March 2009:

The effect of further changes to the CSL (introduced in January 2009) affecting the independent pathway as a the 16 March 2009 has been to effectively remove construction trades including bricklayers, plumbers, welders, carpenters; and metal fitting trades (including motor mechanics) and other related trades – with limited exceptions. all trades from the CSL, leaving the preferred occupations of IT, engineering and health/medical professions

The priority processing only applies to those who have an employer willing to formally sponsor them for migration, not simply a job offer. Applicants who are sponsored by an employer must apply for one of the employer sponsored scheme (ENS) visas.

You will need to check your eligibility for an employer sponsored visa. The employer intending to sponsor you must also meet certain requirements.

If you have applied for a GSM visa since 1 September 2007, you may be able to apply for an ENS visa without having to pay a new application visa charge. You will have to complete another visa application form.

If you applied for a GSM visa before 1 September 2007, you may be able to be assessed for an ENS visa without having to lodge a new application or pay a new application charge.
Applications for ENS visas will receive priority processing.

Unless your occupation is on the CSL then you will not be in the top 3 priorities for processing purposes and for practical purposes applications will not be assessed for some time. Since priority is accorded to the top three classifications they will always be allocated and processed before no. 4 and no.5 priority cases so the number of cases ahead of such an applicant with the letter priority will not diminish- if anything it will grow as applicants prefer the prioritised visas. MODL occupations are no. 4 on the list which is only better than an occupation without any priority (on neither CSL nor MODL).

Applicants with occupations only on MODL should either seek employer (temporary or permanent) or government sponsored visa categories to gain processing priority or reconsider their time-lines.

Yes you can because DIAC has not stopped accepting applications for general skilled migration, it has simply changed the processing priorities it has within the various visa categories (see FAQ 10 above). In the present economic downturn, the Australian government is prioritizing applications where the applicant has or is continuing in employment (transitioning from a 417 or 457 visa for example) to the detriment of independent skilled visas.

DIAC cannot (or will not) give an indication of when non-CSL applications will be processed. There is some suggestion that it could be 18 moths to 2 years. No fee refunds are payable because the applications have not be decided.

Applicants with occupations not on CSL or even MODL should reconsider their plans to migrate independently and consider the possibility of a 457 temporary visa as a pathway to permanent residency or Employer Nomination (including the regional RSMS program) or Sate sponsored options.