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13th August 2013
Volume 256

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Dear subscribers, 

 

Welcome to the latest edition of IMMIGRATION NEWS and to the new subscribers. This free service is brought to you by Australian Immigration Law Services. For new readers you can subscribe using the link on the right hand side or by visiting our website. Please feel free to forward this e-mail to any of your friends.

 

In this edition we explain the new English Language Requirements for the Temporary Business (Long Stay) 457 visa.

 

English Language  

457 English language Requirements

 

The new laws governing 457 visa applications require all applications lodged on or after 1 July 2013, be subject to an English language requirement. 

 

The last change to the English requirement for the 457 visa occurred back on the 14th April 2009 when applicants were required to obtain an IELTS score for certain occupations whilst other occupations were exempted from this requirement. 

 

Since 1 July 2013, the 457 English language provisions have referred to

"Vocational English" as defined in the Migration Regulations 1994, Reg 1.15B

 rather than specific IELTS score.

 

Within the regulations for the 457 visa certain applicants may be exempted from providing evidence of English ability. 

 

DIAC's policy guidelines state;

 

"If an applicant is an exempt applicant, there is no discretion for officers to request an English language test as evidence of their English language proficiency."

 

The people who do not need an IELTS test score are as follows:

 

  • Applicant has current valid passport issued by the United Kingdom, the United States of America, Canada, New Zealand or Republic of Ireland, to a citizen of that country.
  • Applicant is nominated in occupations that require registration/licensing/membership which necessitates a higher than vocational level of English to procure.

If a license, registration or membership is needed to work in the nominated occupation and a level of English language proficiency higher than vocational English is required to procure them;  

 

If an applicant has such registration, membership or license; evidence needs to be provided by the relevant body confirming the English language level required to procure them.

a.     Evidence that the applicant has the English language level to obtain that registration/ licensing/ membership.

b.     In cases of conditional or provisional registration/licensing/membership, the applicant needs to provide evidence that they have the English language level required for full registration/licensing/membership

 

  • Applicant has been nominated in an occupation that has an equal or higher base salary than the salary level specified in a legislative instrument (currently $96,400 for an average of 38 working hours a week) and grant of a visa is 'in the interests of Australia'
  • Applicant has completed at least five consecutive years of full-time study in a secondary and/or higher education institution where the instruction was delivered in English
  • Applicants who have been nominated in relation to an activity or occupation that will be performed at a diplomatic or consular mission of another country or an office of the authorities of Taiwan located in Australia.

 

People who are not exempt from the language testing requirement need to provide an IELTS test score of five in each of the four components or an OET score of "B" in each of the four components. The required score can be from tests taken upto three years before the application or after the submission of application.

 

Normally case officers will request evidence of meeting the English language requirement if it hasn't been provided with the application.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Volume 255 Correction

Our last newsletter on the latest visa charge increase coming into effect on 1st September 2013 had a typo in the Partner visa charge increase:

The current charges for Offshore Partner Visa (subclass 309/ 100) are $2,680 (main applicant), $1,340 (per dependent applicant over 18yrs) and $ 670 (per dependent applicant under 18 yrs), the corresponding figures after the increase is affected will be $ 3,085 (main applicant), $1,545 (per dependent applicant over 18yrs) and $770 (per dependent applicant under 18 yrs).



Video and Telephone Consultations

We have been getting a number of emails lately with questions and assessment requests from interested individuals located outside of Australia.

If you are overseas please email us and our friendly, multi-lingual reception staff will guide you through the process of booking a consultation with one of our Registered Migration Agents. 

Archives, some light reading
 

Bored? Nothing to do in the dead of night when you can`t sleep?

 

Try one of our historical newsletters to read, that will do the trick.

 

For our older newsletters they can be found on our web site through the following link;

  

For the recent ones using the new newsletter format, they can be found here

 

 

  


 

 

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Kind regards,

 

Karl Konrad  Managing Director

and

Jee Eun HAN, Executive Manager     

Australian Immigration Law Services
Publisher of IMMIGRATION NEWS

MARN: 9904238, 0850073 

Welcome! 
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 At Australian Immigration Law Services (AILS), we offer professional advice and practical solutions to all migration matters. Our team of licensed agents and consultants specialise in various areas of immigration law, such as skilled migration, business, family, and reviews.

 

 저희회사에는한국인스탭도일하고있습니다.

 

 我们有讲中文的职员为您服务。

 

日本人スタッフもいます。 

Karl Konrad           Managing Director
                Karl Konrad

       

                                   

 

 

Han Photos          Executive Manager
                Jee Eun Han

       

                                   

 

 

Australian Immigration Law Services  

phone: 61 2 92791991 | fax: 61 2 9279 1994
email: 
[email protected] | website: www.australiavisa.com 

 

 Level 1, 36 Carrington Street Sydney NSW 2000

Disclaimer and Copyright

IMMIGRATION NEWS is intended to provide general information on migration issues and does not constitute legal advice and no responsibility is accepted by Australian Immigration Law Services (AILS) for the accuracy of material appearing in IMMIGRATION NEWS.

 

People seeking advice on migration law should seek advice from a registered migration agent
 and you should be aware that the law can change tomorrow without notice so you have the responsibility to keep up to date.  
 The copyright of IMMIGRATION NEWS belongs to Australian Immigration Law Services (AILS) and no part of IMMIGRATION NEWS is to be reproduced by any means without the written consent of AILS. Australian Immigration Law Services is a trading name licensed to AILS INTERNATIONAL PTY LTD



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