Public Interest Criterion 4020 (PIC 4020) remains one of the most daunting provisions in the Migration Regulations 1994. It applies to almost every visa application and is commonly referred to as the “fraud” or “integrity” PIC. The best strateg...

Background On 12 April 2023, the High Court of Australia in Davis v Minister for Immigration, Citizenship, Migrant Services and Multicultural Affairs; DCM20 v Secretary of the Department of Home Affairs [2023] HCA 10 held that the Minister’s Guidelines...

Since 21 March 2023, when the Review of the Migration System Final Report (also known as the Parkinson Review) was released, changes have been creeping into the employer-sponsored visa system. The capstone changes were announced to come into effect in Nov...

Recent media reports are signalling that significant changes to skilled migration are on foot. For example, the Australian Financial Review reported that businesses will be able to bring in foreign skilled workers on potentially as little as $120,000 in a...

Budget 2021 was released on Tuesday night.  Amongst some of the headline items are: Australia’s “economic engine is roaring back to life”, according to Treasurer Josh Frydenberg; economic growth is forecast to reach 4.2% in 2021-2022; and ...

In an earlier article, we provided an overview of extended visa pathways for Hong Kong passport holders based on the Federal Government’s announcement on 9 July 2020 but noted that legislation had not yet been promulgated. The Migration Amendment (Ho...

Recently, the Australian Government released a statement in response to the developing political situation in Hong Kong outlining what appears to be concessional visa pathways for Hong Kong passport holders. Whilst the new Government policy is respondi...

In a previous article, I wrote about how the travel ban in place during the COVID-19 pandemic affects travellers wishing to enter Australia.  However, there is also a corresponding ban in place for Australian citizens and Australian permanent residents w...

In my practice as a migration lawyer, I often come across two myths. The first myth is that permanent residency is, well, permanent. In fact, this is only partially true. A person who is granted a permanent visa is in fact granted two distinct but rela...

On Friday 20 March 2020 at 6 pm (Western Australian Standard time), new travel bans to Australia came into effect to prevent overseas travelers from entering Australia. The ban does not affect: Australian citizens; Australian permanent resident...