Category: Life In Australia

Labor says the Coalition should make sure parent visas are included in exemptions to rules requiring applicants to leave Australia to obtain final approval.

Tasmania has now received its full nomination quota for the 2020 – 21 program year.

States and territories are under increasing pressure to outline their plans to fly back international students for the 2021 academic year, as Canada and the UK aggressively pursue students in Asian countries including India, while Australia’s international borders remain closed.

The NSW government has shelved plans to start returning 1000 international students to Sydney each week in a blow to some of the city’s major universities.

A COVID-19 negative test and face masks during flights will now be compulsory for all international arrivals into Australia as the federal government strives to contain the new strain of coronavirus from spreading into the country.

A Qantas spokesperson told it has “aligned the selling of our international services to reflect our expectation that international travel will begin to restart from July 2021.”

In a major immigration policy change, international students working in the agriculture sector will now be allowed to work more than their usual 40 hours per fortnight limit during semesters.

Australia’s biggest business collective, the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI) is calling on the federal government to reopen international borders to skilled migrants stranded offshore in a ‘risk-managed way’, as businesses struggle to find suitably skilled workers.

COVID-19 has forced a raft of immigration policy changes, many of which are slated to be implemented in 2021 – which will have an impact on international students, skilled migrants, partners and aged parents seeking to visit or migrate to Australia permanently.