http://www.affinitymigration.com.au/

Fireside with Affinity, 44 Miller Street, North Sydney (2024)

08/05/2023

Minister Giles and Minister Wells announced an Aged Care Labour Agreement to address the skills shortages in this sector.

The Agreement provides additional incentives for employers to attract workers, including an expedited two-year pathway to permanent residency. In addition, ongoing business and union engagement will promote transparency.

To access an Aged Care Industry Labour Agreement, the employer must first enter into an MoU with a relevant industry union(s) – the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation, the Health Services Union or the United Workers Union.

The Aged Care Labour Agreement is available on the Department's website.

08/05/2023

By the end of 2023, the Temporary Residence Transition (TRT) stream of the Employer Nomination Scheme SC 186 will be amended.

-All Temporary Skill Shortage (TSS) SC 482 visa holders will be eligible for ENS visas sponsored by their employers.

-Applicants will need to continue to work in the occupation nominated for their TSS visa(s).

-Sponsored visa holders will be eligible for ENS TRT after two years (down from three years) of sponsorship on a TSS by their employer.

-Applicants will need to meet all other nomination and visa requirements for the TRT stream of the Employer Nomination Scheme visa.

-The limit on Short Term stream TSS visa applications that can be made onshore has also been removed in the interim.

01/05/2023

The Albanese Government will increase the Temporary Skilled Migration Income Threshold (TSMIT) from $53,900 to $70,000 from July 1.

Frozen since 2013, around 90% of all full-time jobs in Australia are now paid more than the current TSMIT, undermining Australia’s skilled migration system.

The new $70,000 income threshold is approximately where the TSMIT should have been if it had been properly indexed over the previous 10 years.

What does this mean for businesses who currently sponsor roles with a market salary below the new TSMIT?

29/04/2023

From 1 July 2023, New Zealand citizens who have been living in Australia for four years or more will be eligible to apply directly for Australian citizenship. They will no longer need to first apply for and be granted a permanent visa. These changes apply to New Zealand citizens holding a Special Category (subclass 444) visa (SCV) who arrived in Australia after 26 February 2001. Protected SCV holders will continue to be eligible to apply directly for Australian citizenship.

For New Zealand citizens who are long-term residents in Australia, this will be achieved by backdating their period of permanent residence for citizenship purposes. This will allow them to meet the 12-month permanent residence period under the general residence requirement.

With effect from 1 July 2023:

- All New Zealand citizens holding an SCV will be considered permanent residents for citizenship purposes.
- New Zealand citizens granted an SCV before 1 July 2022 will have their period of permanent residence for citizenship purposes backdated to 1 July 2022.
- New Zealand citizens granted an SCV for the first time on or after 1 July 2022 will be considered a permanent resident for citizenship purposes from the date of their SCV grant.

The above provisions will apply to New Zealand citizens in Australia. It will also apply to New Zealand citizens who are overseas, but held an SCV immediately before last leaving Australia.

These provisions will not apply to citizenship applications submitted before 1 July 2023.

https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/news-media/archive/article?itemId=1047

10/01/2023

New Zealand Stream - Subclass 189 - Temporary closure

The following changes to the New Zealand stream of the Skilled Independent (subclass 189) visa came into effect on Saturday 10 December 2022.

The stream has been temporarily closed to new applications and the regulations have been amended to enable the streamlined processing of the on-hand caseload.

The temporary closure means an application cannot be made from 10 December 2022 until 1 July 2023.

08/01/2023

The India-Australia (AIECTA) and United Kingdom-Australia Free Trade Agreements have been passed, with the former taking effect on 29 December 2022.

The AIECTA will provide:

-1000 x Subclass 462 (first) Work and Holiday Program visas for 18-31 year old Indians per year
-Indian students graduating with First Class Honours bachelor degrees in STEM fields (including ICT) will be eligible for an extra year on post study visas (three years total).

The UK agreement will remove the regional work component for UK nationals and increases the eligible age to 35 years.

07/01/2023

UPDATE - Subclass 408 Pandemic Stream

The Immigration Department implementing a less restrictive policy on visa condition 8107 work limitation for these visa holders, due to ongoing labour and skills shortage. The visa holders may change employment and work for more than one employer. There is no need to contact the Department to advise of changes in employment.

Visa holders working in Australia should continue to work while they have their SC 408 visa. If they are no longer employed, they should find new employment or make arrangements to leave Australia

03/01/2023

The past 2 weeks have been a time of celebrating the past 12 months and taking time away to relax from the rigours of the demands of work and life.

As a tradition, I take the last week of my holidays to do 2 things:

1. Reflect on the year that was
2. Plan for the year ahead

How do you approach your final week of holidays?

07/10/2022

Did you know we have a booking assistant called Amelia who will help you to make an appointment with one of our Migration Consultants in a few simple steps.

Amelia is a valued part of our team and she's the only one who works 24 hours a day, all year round without needing a break...not even a toilet break.

Try it out today!

https://affinitymigration.com.au/booking/

(P.S. Amelia is not a real person)

05/10/2022

Key Deadline Announced!

Student visa holders (non-Masters and non-PhD) are normally restricted to working 40 hours a fortnight, however, as a response to the skills shortage in Australia, the Department of Home Affairs removed this limitation with no end date at the time.

The Department of Home Affairs has now announced the deadline for this concession will end on 30 June 2023, which means students will be required to adhere to the working hours limitations on their visas again.

Depending on what happens with the labour market in the next 8 months, this could place alot of stress back on employers who are heavily dependent on international students being able to work full time.

Contact us today if you are a business facing this dilemma and would like to plan well ahead of time.

03/10/2022

What are the origins of our Labour Day Public Holiday?

The history of Labour Day in Australia spans over a century. It is an important annual event that remembers those who struggled and succeeded to ensure decent and fair working conditions in Australia. During the mid to late 1800s the working day was long and arduous, where some employees would work up to 12 hours a day, six days a week.

Many Australians saw the need for better working conditions and in the 1850s there was a strong push for this. On April 21, 1856, stonemasons at the University of Melbourne marched to Parliament House to push for an eight-hour working day. An agreement with employers for a 48-hour week was eventually reached and Australian workers welcomed the new eight-hour day.

30/09/2022

Daylight Saving starts in New South Wales on Sunday 02 October at 2AM.

Remember to wind your clocks 🕑 one hour forward! In other words, sleep one hour earlier!

27/09/2022

A few posts ago I touched on the topic of State Hopping - those who relocate from state to state hoping to secure permanent residency through state nomination.

Island Hopping and State Hopping share some key similarities - entering the unknown and the hope of finding what you are looking for.

State Hopping can yield wonderful results, namely the golden ticket towards a visa grant. However, it can be fraught with dangers too, namely if you Hop at the wrong time under the wrong advice. States normally reset their policies starting 01 July of every year and begin to release it to the public between that date and end of August.

It is almost always a bad idea to State Hop between May to August of each year. We recently came across a few Mechanical Engineers who state hopped to NSW in June 2022 under the advice they were given. Disappointment quickly followed as they realised in September 2022 that NSW were not going to sponsor Mechanical Engineers under the 190 visa and the minimum points score for the 491 visa was well above their reach. Ideally, these candidates should have waited until NSW released their policy, then made the decision to move to NSW or another State or remain in their current State.

Contact us today if you are in this situation or share this with a friend who is experiencing this.

21/09/2022

Congratulations, your visa has just been granted!!!

Most people's first reactions is to go out and celebrate the good news. Why wouldn't you?

Well, two reasons to not celebrate first is because there are two very important things you should be doing:

1. Set a reminder in your calendar for your visa expiry date...and maybe set an additional reminder for 30 days BEFORE your visa actually expires.

2. Read the conditions on your visa to understand what you can and cannot do. Breaching a visa condition is no small joke, because the consequences of a cancellation will not appear funny when you are farewelling Australia at the airport.

If your visa expires whilst you are in Australia and you haven't yet lodged a new visa, you are UNLAWFUL. Excuses such as "I was busy and simply forgot" will not hold up. Once you are unlawful, and depending on how long you have been unlawful, your options become extremely limited.

Now go out and enjoy that celebration once you have done Steps 1 and 2!

19/09/2022

When it comes to obtaining permanent residence through state nomination, there are three types of people we see:

1. State Hopping - those who go from state to state with the hopes of being nominated
2. State Shopping - those who stay in one state but continuously browse the options in other states, waiting for the perfect moment to move
3. State Lodging - those who have decided to remain in one state, hoping to be nominated by the same state, and not very willing to move to another one.

There are pros and cons to each category.

Which category do you belong to?

13/09/2022

A program for deep-pocketed international investors to buy their way into Australia could be axed under a review of the nation's migration system. The significant investor visa allows skilled migrants to have their visa applications fast-tracked if they invest $5 million in Australia.

Home Affairs Minister Clare O'Neil said "Most Australians would be pretty offended by the idea we've got a visa category here where effectively you can buy your way into the country,"

The comment from the Minister misses alot of key facts about the program:

1. Not everyone has AUD 5 million to invest into Australia - we are talking about an extremely small portion of candidates
2. The investment creates jobs within the investment firms which manage these funds
3. A portion of the funds are invested into start ups to support Australia's tech industry
4. This is a 2 stage visa process, meaning it could be anywhere between 7-8 years before an applicant gets permanent residency (not exactly fast-tracked is it?)
5. Most of these applicants end up investing further money into Australia through property acquisitions, everyday expenses and sending their children to private school.

Whilst it is difficult to calculate exactly what the financial contribution of these wealthy individuals are, the facts above hopefully give you an idea of the benefits it does bring about.

12/09/2022

The NSW State Government published their occupation list for the Subclass 190 and 491 visas, and needless to say, it has left quite a few people confused. 🙄

There are separate lists for the 190 and 491 visas, plus each occupation comes with a minimum points score plus the minimum years of relevant industry experience required. Now that is nothing new because South Australia has been doing this for a while, and has a much better website when it comes to searching through the occupations.

However, what appears to have people confused is how the years of experience are determined. For example, ICT Managers do not need any experience, whereas Developer Programmers need 2 years of experience. Is there an assumption here that anyone can become a manager? For those who have ever managed a team, you will know the technical part is the easier part of leadership because hopefully you would have gained that in your studies. The soft skills which a manager and great leader requires can often take years to develop and refine, and that is often the greater challenge.

If you are interested in sifting through the list, here is the link: https://www.nsw.gov.au/visas-and-migration/skilled-visas/nsw-skills-lists

05/09/2022

"I don't have a related qualification but I have tonnes of work experience...like 10 years tonnes. Can I still be sponsored?"

This does happen very frequently in the trades industry and also in situations whereby the applicant's initial degree was a stepping stone for them to move into another position or sector.

For example, a mechanical engineering graduate might be doing business development roles for a company involved in manufacturing submarines because the engineer understands the technical aspects of the product and may be able to articulate it in a way which the customer understands.

In this scenario it is possible to use X-years of work experience to compensate for the lack of a relevant qualification depending on the ANZSCO Occupation he fits under.

However, there are situations where this is not possible and would not be a good idea. For example, do you really want a medical doctor who has never completed a medical degree? Or a registered nurse who has never completed a nursing degree? Or a self-taught highschool teacher?

If you or your employee fits into one of the "grey" zones, speak to us today and let's see if we can find a win-win solution.

02/09/2022

When certain this in life increase, we tend to moan and complain. Take for example, interest rate increases on mortgages, increase in fuel prices, and increase in the cost of our weekly grocery runs.

However, every now and then we hear of increase which make us smile. For example, increase in salary, increasing followers on instagram (okay, maybe just for some people), or increasing number of positive google reviews for your business.

Well, today, migrants all over the world will have a big reason to celebrate. Actually make that 35,000 BIG reasons to celebrate. About 35,000 additional people will be able to permanently migrate to Australia this year after the Albanese government announced the lifting of the migration cap to 195,000 places.

What does that mean for you? Contact us today to find out more.

Happy FRIDAY!

31/08/2022

What do we do on Wednesdays apart from work?

We attend BNI Corporate at Parramatta, where we get to network with other amazing business owners for the benefit of our clients.

Often our clients come to us with needs we are unable to service because it is not our area of expertise. However, one of our trusted service providers in BNI will have the expertise to meet that need.

If you are a current client of ours and have difficulty finding a trusted service provider, speak to us today.

If you are a business owner wanting to grow your business through a community of trusted service providers, also feel free to contact us today.

31/08/2022

Why do people all over the world want to work in Australia?

I challenge you to beat the lunchtime views shown below.

Our office is very close to North Sydney Train Station and this wonderful view is only 2 minutes walk away. It makes for an amazing lunch, especially with Spring just one day away!

Want to see this view every day? Contact us to see how we can make that dream a reality!

26/08/2022

State Nominations galore!

The past week might feel as though the long awaited floodgates of the skilled migration program finally opened, and it's doing what it was supposed to do.

For some who are in high demand occupations, it might feel as though finally it's an applicant's market, and you're finally faced with a buffet of visa options to choose from!

In the past week we have seen invitations for Subclass 189, 190 and 491 visas being issued to teachers, health professionals and those in the technical trade.

If you are an employer in any of these fields and have employees looking for a pathway to PR, the time is NOW to explore these options. Certainly, the overall cost can be lower than employer sponsorship.

19/08/2022

How else can my employee get Australian permanent residency if my business is unable/not ready to go through that process?

General skilled migration is another really great (albeit competitive) option. This program comprises of 3 different visa subclasses - Subclass 189, 190 and 491. This is an invitation only visa (for the most part), which means you need to be INVITED to apply. You cannot simply go into ImmiAccount, look up the visa and lodge an application.

Let's set aside the 189 for today because it is ULTRA competitive😎! The 190 and 491 visas both rely on the various state governments to support an applicant's profile in order for an invitation to happen.

Since the beginning of the new financial year we have seen different state governments opening up their programs, and in general, the rules are so much more relaxed compared to the last financial year, and what's even better, the quota is HIGHER😍💃🕺!

If you are an employer looking for a pathway for your staff or you are an individual seeking to understand your options through the skilled program, book a time with us via our Website, page, Instagram Page, or send us an email to [email protected] (P.S. don't forget to attach your resume 😀)

https://www.affinitymigration.com.au/booking
https://www.facebook.com/affinitymigration

12/08/2022

"I am not quite ready to sponsor my employee" OR "My business does not meet the requirements to sponsor staff" OR "My staff does not meet the requirements to be sponsored"....BUT...I really really need him/her. Do I have any other options?

Thankfully as a response to the pandemic and the skills shortages, the Department of Home Affairs created an option known colloquially as the "Pandemic Visa". Really it's the Subclass 408 visa in the Australian Government Endorsed Event stream.

In short, if the business is in a critical industry, the visa applicant can be granted a 12 month visa, whereas if it is outside the list of critical industries, the visa grant period is usually for 6 months only. Another great feature of this visa is that the application fee is potentially ZERO if addressed properly.

This is something we have done quite frequently in the past 12 months for clients in a wide variety of industries.

Want to find out more? Contact us at [email protected].

Enjoy your weekend!

09/08/2022

When I become a permanent resident of Australia, I am entitled to all the benefits available to any other permanent resident of Australia right? 😎

This is a common misconception. Most migrants who obtain their permanent residency will often see some immediate changes such as access to the Medicare program, free education for primary and high school children in the public system, and the option to cancel their private health insurance.

Dzsida, pregnant with her second child and due any day, found out certain benefits had waiting periods, which would render her ineligible for paid parental leave. According to Dzsida, this would mean missing out on a $14,600 payment, which would greatly benefit her growing family at this time. And the hardest pill to swallow is perhaps the fact that they are only 11 days shy of meeting the waiting period requirements.

It is very important for people planning to become permanent residents of Australia to understand what entitlements they will receive and when. Here is a link which will hopefully help: https://www.servicesaustralia.gov.au/newly-arrived-residents-waiting-period

04/08/2022

What happens when an employer sponsored goes wrong for the visa applicant? Well, for starters, lives are uprooted and potentially ruined.

The Green family have lived in Australia over the past 10 years on several employer sponsored visas. Mark Green came to Australia as an electrician installing solar panels for his employers to fill a skills shortage. Each employer would wind up their operations before Mark could complete 3 years with the employer and become eligible for permanent residency.

One of the pathways is to stay with the same employer for 3 years and then the employer supports you to transition to permanent residency. Every time you start with a new employer, the 3 year clock restarts again.

Whilst the situation is extremely unfortunate, not all is lost. The Green family will most likely need to leave Australia to apply for a further employer sponsored visa to return to Australia, and depending on where their employer is located, there is still hope for the family to achieve their dream of permanent residency in Australia. Not all is lost, even though the detour is undesirable.

Providing solutions to difficult matters as the above is something we specialise in and enjoy working through.

Original Article: https://jubb.ly/ac1f54

02/08/2022

Do the following statistics surprise you?

Job vacancies in some sub-sectors are in such demand they are simply not being filled. The following tourism-related occupations saw a large increase in job vacancies from pre-pandemic (March 2019) to three years later (March 2022):

1. Waiters – vacancies up by 203%
2. Bar attendants and baristas – vacancies up by 138%
3. Chefs – vacancies up by 64%.
(Source: National Skills Commission: Internet Vacancy Index, 2022)

The scary aspect about the figures above is that the situation is even worse outside of the major cities.

Would love to connect with any employers facing these challenges and provide them with a solution.

26/07/2022

What is the minimum salary you can pay a sponsored employee?

There are many layers to the answer and here are a few things to consider:

1. You cannot go below the current threshold of AUD 53,900 in most cases (there are special cases)
2. Is there an applicable industry award or agreement?
3. Is there someone in the company who does the same type of work and/or holds the same position?
4. What do industry surveys such as Payscale, Indeed, Robert Half, etc say about the salary?

Immigration will often ask how you arrived at the salary stated on the Nomination application, and depending on how you answer the questions above, the evidence and explanation provided will be quite different.

Finding it difficult to work out what salary is acceptable or how to explain the figure you have on the letter of offer? Contact us on [email protected] and we can help you out.

24/07/2022

My company is a start up which is less than 12 months old and relies on venture capital funding as our main source of income. Can I become a sponsor?

This is a very common question asked by alot of start up companies and small businesses. The correct answer is, it depends on how well the business case is constructed.

Many years ago our very first start up client had been operating for less than 12 months, had revenues under AUD 200k, two employees, and minimal profits. But what the company had was a clear plan to grow, some signed contracts/MOUs, and a clear strategy on how to gain more clients. This was enough for us to work with to build a business case. The outcome was the company approved as a business sponsor and their lone employee's visa granted.

Contact us today at [email protected] if you would like to know more about employer sponsored visas and whether your company qualifies.

21/07/2022

As the saying goes, there are two guarantees in life - death and taxes. I would like to add a third and fourth guarantee - annual increases in visa application fees and monthly changes to immigration legislation/policy. Immigration application fees often occur on 01 July of each year and varies slightly from year to year when it comes to the size of the increase. On 01 July 2022, the fees increased across the board by 3% and rounded up to the nearest $5. The least affected would be those applying for visitor visas, student visas and other shorter term temporary visas. The most heavily impacted are employers who sponsor multiple employees, partner and family visa applicants.

23/12/2020

Congratulations for making it to the end of what has been a challenging 2020. As we conclude the year, most of you will be thinking about celebrating the year that was, and why shouldn't you.

For some of us, we may already have one eye on the next year and the possibilities it could bring. Through this video, we wanted to share with you the things which are happening with State Nominations for Skilled Visas and how best to prepare for these opportunities so you do not miss out.

Please note this is merely an overview and the information provided is not to be taken as advice. We hope this video will help you to see that there is hope and many options to consider.

For now, we wish you and your loved ones a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

09/12/2020

The NSW Government updated their criteria/requirements for regional state nomination under the Subclass 491 visa. A slight wording change in the Stream 3 requirements has really made a world of difference. Watch the video to find out more.

08/12/2020

Recently the Department of Home Affairs announced pathways to extend a Subclass 485 Temporary Graduate Visafor students who have completed their education in a Designated Regional Area of Australia.

If you would like to find out more about how this extension works, feel free to message us.

24/06/2020

Here's a clip of our conversation regarding our experience moving to Australia. You can find the full episode here https://www.podbean.com/ew/pb-d5njp-e0cf4d. Let us know if you enjoy this episode =)

22/06/2020

What was your first experience moving to Australia? Were you excited, scared, anxious, or maybe unsure? Well, this week we are going to share about our personal experience migrating to Australia over 10 years ago😅
Podcast is currently recording and it will be released sometime this week. Stay tuned

15/06/2020

Good morning everyone,
This week we are going to launch an episode on everything about Skill Assessment. Stay tuned !

22/05/2020

In this video we speak about how studying in Australia has the potential to lead to Australian Permanent Residency and the in demand occupations.
Thank you for the opportunity to collaborate!

Watch the extended version here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NIylis8PBYI

19/05/2020

In this week's edition we talk about the COVID visa and who can apply for it.

10/05/2020

The story behind why we started this podcasting page and our heart for all migrants coming to Australia.

10/05/2020

How COVID-19 impacts International Students in Australia

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