South Korean family facing deportation fights to stay in Queensland

A Gold Coast-based family from South Korea faces deportation unless Immigration Minister Peter Dutton intervenes in their case and allows them to stay in Australia.

Leo Choi and Joanne Moon arrived in Australia with their son Phillip on student visas in 1995.
Their daughter Amy was born the following year.


In 1998 the family moved back to South Korea and returned on a business visa in 2005.
They applied for permanent residency but were refused. Last year they were granted visitor visas, which expire on November 2.


So far more than 28,000 people have signed a petition calling for Mr Dutton to intervene.


"It is very tiring and it is very stressful, especially the uncertainty," Phillip Choi, now 21, said.


He lives in Robina with his sister Amy, now 19, and their parents — Leo and Joanne.


"Our entire future is in the hands of the department and the Minister's signature," he added.
Former Robina State High School captain Phillip, and sister Amy, both graduated with OP-1s, which ranked them in the top 2 per cent of Queensland students.


While they flourished academically their parents failed to secure permanent residency.
"Australia has shaped our values. It's shaped who we are," Phillip said.


"We've grown up here. All of our family and friends are here."


Amy added: "We aren't trying to queue jump, but if it comes across that way I'm sorry, but this is the only option left for us to go through."


Friend Kate Garland said the community had rallied around the family.


"They're Australian, they always have been and there's no reason for them to be deported," she said.
Another friend, Christie Bemportato, said she would be devastated if they were deported.
"I work with them at Bunnings and they have just always been helpful and polite and friendly and they always have smiles on their faces," she said.


McPherson MP Karen Andrews, who has written to the Immigration Minister on the family's behalf, said Mr Dutton was aware of their case.


"He deals with these matters on a daily basis and I am very confident that he will consider all of the information and make a decision, taking into consideration all of the facts," she said.
But it seems the chances of an intervention are slim.


"Last year the former Assistant Minister granted visas with work rights valid for six months so the family could apply for other substantive visas to remain in Australia. They did not do so," a spokesperson for Mr Dutton said in a statement.


"People with no legal basis to remain in Australia are expected to depart."


SOURCE: Thomas Forbes, ABC News

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Shell Australia Chairman believes regional migration is key to resource sector growth

While the media continues to scrutinise the Australian immigration program, recently at a Melbourne Mining Club conference, Shell Australia chairman Andrew Smith, emphasised the importance of immigration in boosting resource industry and economic growth.

Mr Smith said, ‘Often hysterical debate has surrounded Australian immigration in the new millennium. There has been a failure of industry to advocate for an immigration program that will provide economic stimulus to a sluggish economy.’

Mr Smith believes skilled labour shortages in the resources, oil and gas industries in regional areas in Australia’s north such as Broome and Gladstone provide potential for skilled migrants to contribute to growth in the resource industry and the Australian economy.

‘Today Australia’s economic growth is being driven by Melbourne and Sydney with their diverse economies. But as we strive for a more prosperous Australia, we must increase immigration levels and grow population in other areas of the nation. We must look to the economic potential of our regions and our regional centres. And this is where the mining and petroleum sectors can have a great contribution. As a leader in the resource sector, it is the ability of our industry to make a contribution outside the capitals that excites me most,’ he said.

Mr Smith stated, ‘This will only happen when we grow the population with a mix of internal and international migration to the regions’.

Mr Smith also highlighted the important role immigration plays in driving sustainable population growth to regional areas, providing incentives for the government to invest in regional community infrastructure.

Mr Smith said, ‘Just as Bendigo’s growth was fuelled by an influx of Asian immigration in the 1850s, or nearby Geelong’s growth was fuelled by Italian and Greek migration in the 1950s, the north of our nation must welcome new Australians.’

‘Industry leaders need to both advocate for a balanced mix of skilled and humanitarian migration, then back up our advocacy with meaningful decisions that contribute to legacy. It is only through population growth that economic diversity will be delivered, unlocking the potential of Australia’s north,” he said.

Mr Smith added, ‘These comments are not a call for more or less 457 visa intakes. Specialised tasks in highly technical sectors like ours will always require the temporary importation of specific skills. We have some of the planet’s most desirable mineral deposits but we will only unlock this potential, and its economic dividend, if we are able to bypass populist protectionist voices on immigration policy, and grow our population’.

SOURCE: The Australian newspaper

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Business groups push for reforms to 457 visa

Business groups push for reforms to 457 visa

The campaign for reforms in the 457 visas are once again reignited by business groups in Australia, declaring that it is high time that ”misinformation” regarding the scheme that benefits skilled foreign workers be dispelled.


It is most likely that this move is just going to spark tensions with Australian unions due to the 457 visa for temporary skilled migrants, however, business groups are adamant in lining up to say that the government should get rid of Labor-era labour market testing arrangements that are at present in the scheme.




A letter has been sent to the Productivity Commission from the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI) stating that it is better if the labour market testing is abolished. On the other hand, the Australian Mines and Metals Association (AMMA) is warning that this requirement is just going to add red tape to the process.




This comes as a number of employer groups are preparing for a different review of the salary threshold for occupations which can be filled by workers who are holding 457 visas, in the newest inquiry that is probably going to spark controversy over the skilled migration visa scheme.




The Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry has foreshadowed the argument against the increase in the income threshold for 457 skilled worker visas that are beyond inflation and is arguing that employers located in regional areas should have the capabilities to hire skilled foreign workers on a salary that is at a discount to the threshold, so long as this was in agreement to the market rates of Australia for the people in that specific regional area.






Ms Jenny Lambert, the employment, education, and training director of ACCI, stated that there seems to be ”misinformation” that foreign workers are taking jobs away from Australians.


”That is the wrong basis to move forward,” Ms Lambert said yesterday.
It is by the end of April that the report from the review of the Temporary Skilled Migration Income Threshold is expected to be submitted.






The Australian government agreed to bring forward the review of the Temporary Skilled Migration Income Threshold – which is currently set at fifty three thousand nine hundred – under a deal with Labor to end the wrangling over the China and Australia free trade pact, otherwise known as ChAFTA.






The review is not just going to look at the appropriate level that would be most suited for the threshold, it is also going to look at the roles of indexation as well as regional concessions for the threshold.


During the debate over ChAFTA, it was insisted by Labor that the threshold be increased to fifty seven thousand dollars. However, this push was dropped after the revelation that this kind of pricing would exclude some rural areas out of the scheme should this push through.
Ms Lambert said that the threshold should hold at its present level though there were still good points of argument that were raised for the sake of indexation and inflation.






For regional areas however, there was an argument that a discount be made because there is a difference between regional and metropolitan labour markets.


”The higher you lift the threshold the less businesses and positions would be eligible to have someone come in on a 457,” Ms Lambert stated. ”And that creates real economic problems not just for the business who can not find a skilled worker, but for the regional community who may not have the services available to them because the skilled worker is not available at the price that the region can afford.”




Ms Lambert also stressed that employers should not be able to pay foreign members of their staff less than what equivalent local workers are going to be paid in that region.
Areas hit by skills shortages at that moment, areas such as in the Northern Territory, can ask for something that is called a ”designated area migration agreement.”




Employers can seek concessions of up to ten per cent that is below the threshold under the designated area migrated agreement, so long as the cost of living in that area is lower compared to the national average, and that the foreign workers there are being paid the same as Australians.






Ms Lambert however, said that businesses were not actually guaranteed there would be such agreements to cover them in their areas.






In the mean time, ACCI has made a submission to another review into migration being conducted by the Productivity Commission, saying that it does not agree with a draft finding in support of labour market testing as the testing is the same as ”asking employers to walk through wet cement.”


Mr Scott Marklamb, the executive director of AMMA’s policy and public affairs, said that while there are some highly skilled occupations that were exempt from doing the testing, the ”resource employers support the abolition of this needless and burdensome requirement.”
It was stated by a spokesman for the Business Council of Australia that it consistently called for the elimination of the labour market testing.


SOURCE: The Australian (newspaper)

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South Australian State Sponsorship - subclass 190 / subclass 489 visa

Immigration SA has made it easier for citizens and current passport holders of exempt countries to apply for South Australian state nomination.

Exempt Countries include:

• United Kingdom
• Canada
• New Zealand
• United States of America
• Republic of Ireland

If you are a citizen or passport holder of one of the listed exempt countries, you no longer need to provide an English test result (IELTS or OET) to Immigration SA regardless of Immigration SA’s English requirement for your occupation.

If you are an International Graduate of South Australia and a citizen or passport holder of one of the listed exempt countries, you can also access the Immigration SA work experience waiver for ‘available’ occupations. See point eight under eligibility requirements for information on how to qualify for a work experience waiver.

Please note you may still require an IELTS or OET to gain additional points on the Department of Immigration and Border Protection (DIBP) points test. Additionally Skills Assessing Authorities and Registration / Licensing bodies in South Australia have their own English / work experience requirements so people from exempt countries need to ensure they can meet those requirements prior to applying for state nomination.

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Validity of skills assessment

Following amendments to the Migration Regulations 1994, from 1 July 2014, if a skills assessment is mandatory as part of a visa application, it will only be valid for a period of 3 years from the date of issue, unless a shorter validity period is specified on the assessment.

A skills assessment must be valid at the time of lodgement for the following visas:

• Direct Entry stream of the Employer Nominated Scheme (subclass 186) visa;
• Direct Entry stream of the Regional Sponsored Migration Scheme (subclass 187) visa; and
• Graduate Work stream of the Temporary Graduate (subclass 485) visa.

These changes do not affect the Temporary Work (Skilled)(subclass 457) visa.

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Migration Review Tribunal (MRT) & Refugee Review Tribunal (RRT) - Community Liaison Update

The MRT-RRT have provided their June 2014 Community Liaison Update notes.  The notes include the following:

• 22,000 decisions have been made by the tribunals this year, 3000 more than for the same period last year, which has resulted in some improvement in waiting times.
• It will be business as usual during the amalgamation of these two tribunals with the AAT and Classification Review Board on 1 July 2015.
• Videos are also being developed for the tribunal's website to provide essential information for applicants on how the tribunals operate.
• From 1 July 2014 only the new versions of forms M1, M2 and R1 released on 12 March 2014 will be acceptable.

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Three new occupations to be added to the Skilled Occupation List (SOL) - chef, tiler, bricklayer

Chefs, tilers and bricklayers will be added the Skilled Occupation List (SOL) on 1 July 2014, Senators Michaelia Cash and Andrew Robb have announced. The recommendation to add these occupations was provided by the Australian Workforce and Productivity Agency which works independently of the Government to ensure the composition of the SOL responds to Australia’s changing skills needs.

It was also announced that no existing occupations will be removed from the SOL.

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