Table Of Contents
Subclass 489 (Skilled — Regional (Provisional)
Subclass 190 Skilled — Nominated Visa
Schedule 2 Criteria Subclass 189 Skilled — Independent
Subclass 189 Skilled Independent Visa
Permanent Residence Skilled Visa Application
Charges Follow From Presenting False Documents To Immigration
Getting Someone Else To Sit The IELTS
Visas Cancelled For Bogus Work References
Substantial Compliance And Living In A Regional Area
Tribunal Saves Applicant From Error
Minister for Immigration & Citizenship v Li and Another
Early MRT Cases Regarding Subclass 189 Visas Are Starting To Arrive
Some Relief On Condition 8503 (No Further Stay)
Practice Point – Always Engineer A Situation Where One Applies For This Visa Onshore
Staleness Of A Skill Assessment Is Now Defined By Law
Website And PAM Do Not Bind Immigration
Must Be Present In Australia To Apply For A Subclass 485 Visa
Some Recent Practice Decisions & Practice Points
NSW Sponsorship Subclass 190 Visa
Various State & Territory Criteria
The End of Subclass 175, 176 and 475
It is necessary to know about this patchwork quilt as there are still many of visas dating from early 2012 and before are still being processed and are working their way through the system. From 1 July 2012 to the present, the skilled visa regime has become a patchwork quilt, with many of the patches jarring. Obviously the nexus between studying in Australia and obtaining permanent residence via a skilled is over (except for some points granted for Australian study.
The patchwork quilt starts with thousands of visa applicants who had applied for offshore skilled visas before 1 September 2007 who now find themselves unlikely to ever get a visa. The government has offered to give them their application fees back and that is probably the best they can hope for. The only ones exempt from this are the old Subclass 495 – Skilled – Independent Regional (Provisional) applicants. It was possible to apply for this visa offshore and some of those applications are still being processed.
Otherwise the key dates are 8 February 2010. Anyone who had applied for or who held a subclass 485 Skilled Graduate visa is subject to the regime in existence as at that date and those persons had until 31 December 2012 to apply for a permanent residence skilled visa onshore being the subclasses 885 and 886 visas.
Further those who held eligible student visas (ie visas leading to an award of a trade qualification or degree or diploma) on 8 February 2010 were eligible to apply for the subclass 485 Skilled Graduate visa on the broad SOL up until 31 December 2012, but otherwise got no special privileges regarding permanent residence.
There would be some students who had not yet applied for the subclass 485 Skilled Graduate visa on 8 February 2012 who nonetheless would be eligible to apply for the 885 and 886 skilled visas and they have a special truncated Skilled Occupation List as their threshold criteria. However for them the access to the subclass 885 and 886 visas closed on 31 December 2012.