Australian firm offering €100,000 salaries, free flights and visas to experienced Irish electricians

EXPERIENCED Irish electricians are being sought by a leading power distribution company in Australia which is offering a six-figure salary, free flights and a four-year working visa.
The firm wants to hire more than 100 electrical network technicians in Melbourne – and due to a shortage of experienced workers, successful candidates will be offered a four-year working visa by employers.
The Irish-based recruiter would not reveal the name of the power company, but said salaries start at the equivalent of €100,000 with the potential to earn €130,000 with bonus and overtime payments.
Network technicians are specially trained electricians certified to work at heights who build and maintain power grids. Recruiters are looking for those with distribution experience on low voltage power lines.
Included in the rewards package are free flights for successful candidates and their families to Melbourne, employer-sponsored visas and relocation support and benefits.
The type of visa being offered entitles the employee to bring family members – including same-sex partners – to work and study in Australia.
Employees will be based in Melbourne, and a free company van will be provided for work that could take them throughout the state of Victoria.
Expensive
Melbourne is the eighth most expensive city in the world, according to a recent Worldwide Cost of Living survey. Five Australian cities made it into the list of the dearest 20.
CVs should be sent to cv@jobcontax.com for pre-selection. Interviews with shortlisted candidates will be held in Dublin from December 3 to 14.
Job offers will be made within a week of the interview, followed by a four to five-week visa process.

- Mark O'Regan

Source:http://www.independent.ie/national-news/australian-firm-offering-100000-salaries-free-flights-and-visas-to-experienced-irish-electricians-3302991.html

Australia eases visa policy for Pakistani businessmen

LAHORE: The Australian visa requirements for Pakistani businessmen have been relaxed to some extent and the High Commission is working to grant the business community easy access to the Australian market, said the Deputy High Commissioner of Australia, Paul Molloy, at the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) on Wednesday.
“Australia wants to further strengthen its relations with Pakistan and for this purpose it has relaxed visa procedures,” said Molloy. He encouraged Pakistani businessmen to initiate joint ventures with their counterparts in Australia.

Molloy said that Pakistani businessmen should avail Australian expertise in agriculture and livestock as this would help double their output. He further said that Australians had the latest technology in these two fields and with a little effort in this direction, miracles could be achieved.

Speaking on the occasion, LCCI President, Farooq Iftikhar, said that the trade and economic relations between Pakistan and Australia should grow stronger. He said that traditionally, bilateral trade has been heavily in favour of Australia. Both the countries have large markets so market surveys should be conducted to explore potential areas of trade.

Source:http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-3-144259-Australia-eases-visa-policy-for-Pakistani-businessmen

WEALTHY Asian business people are lining up for the federal government's new ''golden ticket'' visa, which waives the usual criteria for skilled migrants - such as an ability to speak English - in exchange for a $5 million investment in Australia.
As Australia's refugee debate rages on, the federal government is rolling out the welcome mat for a select class of migrant and it expects 700 new wealthy residents annually under its Significant Investor Visa program, which opens for expressions of interest on Saturday.
For permanent residency, migrants must have $5 million and live in Australia 40 days a year for four years.


Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/national/wonky-values-in-golden-ticket-visa-program-20121122-29sxo.html#ixzz2D2Y3YlgU

Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/national/wonky-values-in-golden-ticket-visa-program-20121122-29sxo.html#ixzz2D2Y3YlgU

Bowen defends new temporary visa regime

Immigration Minister Chris Bowen has defended his plan to release thousands of asylum seekers into the community on bridging visas, despite criticism from one prominent Labor backbencher who fears the changes will create a poverty-stricken underclass.

The Government has effectively admitted that its offshore processing system has been overwhelmed by the large number of asylum seeker boats that continue to arrive, and many people will now have their refugee claims assessed while living in Australia.
Those granted bridging visas will be prevented from working, will not have family reunion rights and will be given only a limited amount of financial assistance for food and accommodation.
The Greens have described the new arrangements as "more extreme" than the former Howard government's policies and have described the visas as essentially the same as the temporary protection visas (TPVs) that Labor once railed against.
But Mr Bowen has rejected that, saying: "There's similarities, and there's differences."

"They're a temporary visa, that is the case," he told ABC Radio National.
"The Liberal Party way of implementing TPVs, as I understand it, is that after people are taken to Nauru, after they wait that time, then they're given TPVs when they arrive in Australia.
"That's not what we're doing."
Under the Government's plan, asylum seekers will not necessarily have to go via an offshore detention centre to be issued with a bridging visa.
More than 7,500 asylum seekers have arrived by boat since the Government announced it would reopen the detention centres on Manus Island and Nauru, prompting the Greens and the Coalition to declare Labor's policies are not working.
Despite that, Mr Bowen insists the Government must do everything it can to try to stop people attempting the dangerous boat journey to Australia.

Underclass

Labor senator Doug Cameron, who has repeatedly criticised the way asylum seekers are treated, has again voiced his concern about the latest moves and declared it is impossible to stop the boats.
"I don't want people to come here and starve, I don't want an underclass to be created in Australia," Senator Cameron told reporters in Canberra this morning.
"If you have a situation where people are thrown into the community, having to rely on charity, you're creating an underclass.
"To put someone into the community and put them in poverty, is an issue.
"With the number of people that are looking to move around the world seeking refuge... you're always going to have a situation that boats will come to Australia," he added.
"I don't think you can stop the boats. I think that's rhetorical nonsense."

Speaking this morning, Foreign Affairs Minister Bob Carr called the bridging visas a "necessary policy" and said: "Offshore processing and the announcement yesterday are proof positive we are not going to allow people smugglers to rule the roost... we're not going to allow people smugglers to determine Australia's migration arrangements."
"We have a 20,000 per year humanitarian intake and that is the second most generous in the world. It's second only to that of the United States. That increase from 15,000 to 20,000 has edged us above Canada, and I think all Australians can be proud of that."
He said the recent voluntary returns of more than 400 "economic migrants" to Sri Lanka was proof the Government's policy was working.
"Given the large number of displaced people in the world and the instinct of people in Sri Lanka to come here as economic migrants, paying money to people smugglers, imagine how higher the figures would be without offshore processing and without the return of people that's now taking place.
"The important point is this - we've got people coming here, not as refugees, now being returned."

'Depressing'

The Government announced yesterday that it had begun transferring asylum seekers - including women and children as young as 10 - to Papua New Guinea's Manus Island.
It also announced a contract had been signed with a construction firm to begin building a permanent detention centre on Nauru, that will eventually replace the temporary accommodation being used at the moment.
Amnesty International observers have spent the past couple of days on the island inspecting the facilities and have described them as "depressing".
"People wanting to show us where somebody tried to hang themself - those sort of things that show the level of desperation that people are facing here on Nauru," the organisation's Graham Thom told Radio National.
Mr Bowen says he is not surprised by Amnesty's criticism given the organisation has never supported offshore processing of refugee claims.
Late yesterday, another detainee was treated by medical staff after attempting self harm. Asylum seekers inside the detention centre say the Iranian man tried to hang himself using a bed sheet within his tent.

Source:http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-11-22/bowen-defends-bridging-visas/4385930

Government extends tourist visas for parents of Australians

The Gillard Government will extend tourist visas for parents of Australian citizens and permanent residents to enable them to visit their family in Australia for longer, the Minister for Immigration and Citizenship, Chris Bowen MP, announced today.

'I know that many people are patiently waiting in the queue for a parent visa so we want to provide more generous tourist visas to enable regular extended family visits,' Mr Bowen said.
'The government will grant five-year tourist visas with a 12-month stay on each entry to suitable applicants who have applied for a parent visa outside Australia.

'The government will also consider tourist visas of up to three years with a 12-month stay on each entry for people not currently in the parent visa queue.

'These changes recognise the valuable role parents play in assisting their children and grandchildren in Australia and the social benefits such visits provide.'

The changes are expected to be in place by the end of this year.

'Tourist visa grants will be considered on a case-by-case basis and will enable parents to spend more time in Australia with their families while they wait for a parent visa,' Mr Bowen said.

'To be granted a tourist visa, applicants must meet Australia’s health and character requirements, have access to adequate funds, have health insurance to cover any healthcare costs during their stay, and intend a genuine visit to Australia.'

Tourist visa holders will be subject to a visa condition limiting applications for further visas while they are in Australia. As with all tourist visa holders, they will be expected to spend some time outside Australia between visits to their families.

For more information on the changes visit DIAC's website,

Australian visa to become label free for India, Nepal & Bhutan from 1st October 2012

By Neeraj Nanda
Melbourne: If you hold a valid Australian visa then you need not have a label announcing that status on your passport to travel to, enter or remain in Australia. Australia’s electronic visa system enables visa status to be confirmed electronically when you enter, stay or depart the country. This and other changes have been introduced by Canberra to have visa information handy in a letter that explains visa conditions that were not available on a visa label.
As part of the Australian Government’s global program of label free travel to Australia, the Australian High Commission, New Delhi will implement visa label-free travel arrangements across India, Bhutan and Nepal from 1 October 2012.
From this date, anyone applying for any Australian visa through one of the VFS Global Australian Visa Application Centres across India or Nepal or lodging directly with the Australian High Commission in New Delhi will no longer be required to submit their passport with their visa application.
Instead they will be required to submit a notarised copy of each used page of their passport at the time of application.
The notarised copy of the passport must include the following pages:
• Good quality notarised photocopy of the biodata page of the current passport;
• Good quality notarised photocopy of any endorsement page or change of name page in the current passport; and
• For current Indian passports – good quality notarised photocopy of the back page with information on parents’ names and previous passports.
This request applies to all visa categories. Applicants who do not lodge the above documents with their visa application will experience delays in the processing of their visa application, says a Australian High Commission, New Delhi media release.
If a visa is then granted, the visa holder will be issued with a visa grant letter that will explain the conditions of the visa including period of validity and entry requirements.
The visa grant letter is not necessary to facilitate travel but we would advise clients to carry their visa grant letter with them when travelling as it will provide them with easy to understand information about the conditions of the visa, information which was not always easy to find on Australian visa labels.
Australia expects the new process will not only provide clients with better information about their visas but also reduce visa processing times and costs as clients will no longer have to wait for their passport to be returned to them via a courier or be required to travel to one of our Visa Application Centres to collect their passport.
For more information: Australian High Commission address: 1/50 G Shantipath, Chanakyapuri, New Delhi 110021 – Telephone: 4139 9900 – Fax: 4149 4490

Source:http://www.southasiatimes.com.au

Australian Label-free Student Visas for Chinese

Arrangements that allow people from China and other nationals in the People's Republic of China to travel to Australia on a student visa without a visa label in their passport have been implemented from April 1, 2012, the Australian Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC) recently announced.

These arrangements for a "label-free" visa have been agreed between the department and the Ministry of Public Security of the People's Republic of China.

According to the announcement, all airlines are required to undertake an electronic check of departmental databases to ensure that a person holds an Australian visa before being allowed to board a flight to Australia.

As the Ministry of Public Security has advised, airlines will only allow a person who has been granted a "label-free" student visa to depart China where they depart:

    from an airport in mainland China travelling on a flight or flights, directly or indirectly, to Australia and hold a boarding pass for their final flight to Australia   mainland China transiting by land or ferry through the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region in order to travel on a flight or flights to Australia.

Any person granted a label-free Student visa to travel to Australia will not be able to transit through the Macau Special Administrative Region, by land or ferry, to board an onward flight in Macau or Hong Kong.

The DIAC will continue to issue a grant notification letter along with all Australian student visas informing these visa holders details of the validity and conditions of their student visa. However, the letter is not considered evidence of the grant of a student visa for the purpose of travel. Airlines have been advised not to rely on any letter as evidence of a person's permission to travel to and enter Australia.

Source :http://www.migrationexpert.com.au

HR chief concerned over Australia's policy to return Sri Lankan asylum seekers

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay has expressed concern at Australia's new policy of returning Sri Lankan asylum seekers home immediately from the detention centers in Nauru and Manus islands.
Ms. Pillay who is in Bali, Indonesia attending the Bali Democracy Forum has said that she was concerned at the policy Australia enacted after August 13 this year to detain illegal migrants in offshore detention centers for a long time.
''I am highly concerned that detention in regional offshore processing centres such as in Nauru could result in indefinite detention and other human rights violations,'' she has said.
Speaking of returning Sri Lankan asylum seekers immediately after they embarked in islands belonged to Australia, Ms. Pillay has said that "Sri Lanka was still volatile, despite the end of the civil war in 2009."
"Now that was a conflict area, matters have not stabilised as yet. All the reports reaching me are that people are concerned over controls being imposed over them,'' she has been quoted as saying.
''So I can understand if they'd be leaving out of fear or for their personal security, and it really cries out for all the refugee protections, asylum seeker protections to be made particularly applicable to them,'' she has said.
Backing Australia's policy the International Organization for Migration (IOM) recently said that some Sri Lankans arriving by boat in Australia are economic migrants not refugees.
Since the Australian government's new rules came into effect on August 13, Australia has deported voluntarily and involuntarily 186 Sri Lankans home.
Australian Minister for Immigration and Citizenship Chris Bowen has said that those asylum seekers had not raised any issues that engaged Australia's international obligations.
The IOM is assisting the Australian government to return the Sri Lankan asylum seekers, who have expressed desire to return home rather than being sent to detention centers in Nauru and Manus Island.
People returning voluntarily receive an integration assistance package from the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the involuntary deportees do not have access to reintegration assistance.

Source:http://www.colombopage.com