NZ Citizens – Australian Citizenship
The Australian Citizenship (Permanent Resident) Amendment Determination 2023 – LIN 23/024 does not automatically grant permanent residency to NZ citizen Special Category Visa (SCV) holders.
Eligibility for Australian citizenship requires applicants to have been Australian permanent residents for 12 months before application.
As the SCV is a temporary visa, this instrument acts to determine that NZ SCV holders can satisfy the permanent residency requirement without the need to first apply for Australian permanent residency.
This determination does not grant automatic permanent residency to all NZ SCV holders, it is only used to remove the 12 month permanent residency requirement, for the purposes of the Citizenship Act 2007.
SCV holders continue to remain on that visa unless they apply for Australian citizenship and continue to be able to sponsor family members on the Subclass 461 visa.
This Instrument commences on 1 July 2023.
Ministerial Update – SC 482 – Increased time to obtain new sponsor
In a speech this week, Minister Giles announced that changes will be coming that will allow SC482 visa holders an increased timeframe to find new sponsorship where they are no longer employed by their original sponsor.
The Minister stated that … ‘People working on Temporary Skilled Shortage visas will have six months instead of 60 days to be without an employer.‘ Also that during this period they will have work rights.
This is one of the raft of measures being implemented by the Government to address migrant worker exploitation.
No date for the introduction of these changes has been provided and members should take care in advising clients until the relevant instrument/s are registered.
The full transcript of the Minister’s speech is available on his media site.
State and Territory Updates
A summary of the current status of state sponsored visa programs across the Australian states and territories.
- Next invitation round will be held before 14 July 2023;
- See the ACT Nomination Guidelines, Critical Skills List and Invitation Ranking;
- Business Innovation and Investment Program (BIIP) closed for this financial year.
- State nomination program appears to remain open
- See the New offshore GSM nomination criteria.
- State nomination program appears to remain open.
- GSM (ROI, 491 and 190 and BIIP) programs closed to new applications as of 8 June 2023. Any applications that have commenced by not lodged before 8 June 2023 will be deleted from the system.
- Existing applications that have been lodged before 8 June 2023 will continue to be assessed.
- Pending an allocation of 190 nominations from the Commonwealth Government for the 2023-24 program year, applicants who are assessed as eligible for 190 state nominations will receive a nomination in the upcoming program year.
- Announcement of GSM program closure for this financial year
- State nomination program appears to remain open.
- VIC state nomination program is now closed to Registrations of Interest (ROI). Submitted ROI will continue to be assessed and selected for invitations to apply for Victorian visa nomination.
- If a ROI is withdrawn, applications will not be able to submit a new one until the 2023-24 program opens.
- State nomination program appears to remain open.
SkillSelect round – 25 May 2023
Details of the 25 May 2023 SkillSelect invitation round has been released on the Department’s website.
Invitations issued
| Visa subclass | Number |
| Skilled Independentvisa (subclass 189) | 7,353 |
| Skilled Work Regional (Provisional) visa
(subclass 491) – Family Sponsored |
74 |
Cut off points
| Visa subclass | Min score |
| Skilled Independent visa (subclass 189) | 65 |
| Skilled Work Regional (Provisional) visa (subclass 491) – Family Sponsored) | 65 |
Further detail on invited occupations and points cut off are available on the department’s website.
This newsletter only provides general information related to current migration matters. The information contained in this communication does not constitute specific migration advice, and should not be construed or relied on as such. Professional advice should be sought for the specifics of your situation prior to any action being taken. BD Welsh and Co disclaims any liability (including, without limitation, for any direct or indirect or consequential costs, loss or damage or loss of profits) arising from anything done or omitted to be done by any party in reliance, whether wholly or partially, on any of the information contained in this newsletter. Any party that relies on the information does so at its own risk. Liability limited by a scheme approved under Professional Standards Legislation.