The Australian Department of Immigration (DIAC) have been able to cap and terminate visa applications since the Migration Act of 1958. However on the 26 May 2010, DIAC proposed the Migration Amendment Bill which was duly accepted into Parliament.
The Bill means that the Australian Minister for Immigration, Senator Chris Evans, now has the power to cap and cease applications based on particular characteristics, such as migrants who have nominated particular occupations. Before the Bill was passed the Minister could only cap and cease entire classes of visas.
The DIAC say this is vital to ensure that the Australian economy benefits from skilled migrants who can fulfil the needs of the workforce rather than general skilled migrants who may find work other than what was nominated on their visas. Senator Chris Evans cited the case of more than 4000 visa applications for chefs and cooks being granted under the migration program in 2007-08 yet there were still critical shortages in the catering industry. “Clearly the majority of these people were not working as either cooks or chefs.” The Senator stated.
Yet despite the Bill being passed by Parliament it is not in operation at the moment and DIAC say that no future caps are being considered at present. The Bill is part of wider plans that may be implemented in the future. When that will be is anyone’s guess. In the meantime potential migrants to Australia can only keep applying and hoping that they are not caught up in the scandal last February when the DIAC announced that some general skilled visas lodged before September 2007 would not be processed.
It is hard to predict what the future of Australian immigration will be. It is clear that major changes to the immigration program are being implemented just before the election, whether this shake-up will benefit Australian migration and in turn, the economy is hard to say. But at the moment many Australian visa applicants are left bewildered by the changes and unsure of their futures as Australian citizens.
Source:http://www.embraceaustralia.com/diac-visa-capping-policy-explained-7161.htm
No comments:
Post a Comment