Working Holidays for Canadians

From 1 November 2018, Canadians up to the age of 35 will be able to apply for Working Holiday Maker visas. That’s an increase from age 30, opening up the visa to more travellers to Australia.

 

Collection of Tax File Numbers

Immigration will soon be able to collect TFN’s for the purpose of verifying the TFN with the Tax Office.

• The TFN may be requested from:
• the applicant, visa holder or former visa holder
• approved sponsor of the applicant, visa holder or former visa holder
• a former approved sponsor of the applicant, visa holder or former visa holder
• the nominator of an applicant or visa holder where the approved nomination has not ceased
• the nominator of a visa holder or former visa holder where the approved nomination has ceased under the regulations

This information may be used, recorded or disclosed by an officer for any purposes prescribed by the Migration Regulations.

 

Changes to the Department of Home Affairs’ phone services

The Department has introduced a Global Service Centre (GSC) operating from Australia. The GSC has replaced all services previously offered by the London-based Europe Service Centre (ESC), the Ottawa-based Americas Service Centre (ASC) and the Sydney Service Centre (SSC).

Clients from Europe and the Americas will now need to call the GSC on +61 2 6196 0196 (international rates apply). Australian clients can continue to use the 131 881 number. The phone lines will operate Monday to Friday 9 am to 5 pm in your local time.

The Department advises that clients are no longer to call their local Embassy or High Commission regarding general visa or immigration enquiries.

The GSC also offers language services, in over 160 languages.

 

New Immigration Minister

The Government has announced our new Minister for Immigration, Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs as The Hon David Coleman MP as of 28 August 2018. There has been no change of policy and it is business as usual!

 

Please note

This article is for information only and is not legal advice. If this topics discussed seem relevant to your situation and you need advice please contact us on 07 5597 3366 or fill out the ‘Contact Us’ form below

For more on Bell Legal Group and how they can help you with your migration needs including Skilled Visa changes and whether this may affect you visit our Migration Law team’s web page here