In the media

Government Extends Tourist Visas for Parents Of Australians
The Gillard Government will extend tourist visas for parents of Australian citizens and permanent residents to enable them to visit their family in Australia for longer, the Minister for Immigration and Citizenship has announced. The Government will grant five-year tourist visas with a 12-month stay on each entry to suitable applicants who have applied for a parent visa outside Australia (04 September 2012) More...

Visa workers fill jobs shortage
Recruitment agency Morgan Consulting's managing director Andrew Aston said skills shortages in Victoria were most apparent in clinical healthcare, digital marketing, specialist IT and engineering. Immigration Minister Chris Bowen said the 457 visa allows businesses to employ overseas workers in designated skilled occupations only and the program cannot be used by a business as a substitute for training and employing Australian workers (03 September 2012) More...

Changes to Australian visa service delivery in China
New Australian Visa Application Centres (AVACs) in Beijing and Shanghai will improve service delivery for Chinese visitors, skilled migrants and business representatives travelling to Australia. "AVACs will be located in Beijing and Shanghai to provide more convenient access to immigration and citizenship services for clients in these regions (03 September 2012) More...

Key conditions released for significant investor visa
The full conditions for a new visa designed to encourage significant migrant investment into Australia were released today the Minister for Immigration and Citizenship. Australia is offering a significant investor visa to provide a boost to the local economy and to compete effectively for high net worth individuals seeking investment immigration on an international scale (29 August 2012) More...

SkillSelect: First round offers go to skilled professionals
Doctors, dentists, nurses and engineers have dominated the first round of skilled migrants invited to formally apply for visas under the government's new online SkillSelect service. Accountants, ICT analysts and programmers were also strongly represented in the 100 invitations in the first round, which drew the highest scoring candidates from the initial expressions of interest (EOI) (27 August 2012) More...

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