AAT Bulletin – 17/2019 | April 29 2019
This week’s AAT Bulletin 17/2019 contains the following decisions relevant to RMA practice:
Citizenship – Correction by AAT to link in Bulletin 16/2019 of previous case only, no other published cases
Kuron and Minister for Home Affairs (Citizenship) [2019] AATA 747 (17 April 2019) – refusal to confer citizenship based on serious traffic related offences, decision set aside and remitted
Migration – Correction by AAT to links in Bulletin 16/2019 – three new cases published – mandatory cancellation of visas – all involvingsexual offences and terms of imprisonment – Direction 79, Direction 65 – all decisions affirmed.
Agent Digest – Student Visa Program – April 2019
The Department has released the April 2019 edition of the Agent Digest – Student Visa Program.
The Digest includes information on the following:
- Nepalese Student cohort – changes to evidentiary documentation from1 May 2019
All Nepalese citizens (both in and outside Australia) applying for a Student visa in the
Vocational Education and Training (VET) sector will be required to provide evidentiary documentation of English and Financial capacity irrespective of the education provider or country evidence levels.
A Frequently Asked Questions Fact Sheet is available on the changes for Nepalese citizens
- Late lodgements
High levels of late lodgements are reported – warning that complete applications should be lodged at least six weeks before course commencement.
- Evidence Level Update on 28 March 2019
Agents should check the Document Checklist Tool for any updates to the document requirements for Student visa applications.
- Temporary Graduate Stream – Graduate Work Stream SC 485
The Department is currently experiencing a significant increase in Temporary Graduate visa applications and is focused on managing the biggest peak for this program, reminder of evidence necessary for decision ready applications.
- Trades Recognition Update
The ongoing high demand for Provisional Skills Assessments (PSA) has caused an increase in the time it takes to complete PSA application assessments, which is around 90 days currently.
Role of RMAs – Agents should note that under the JRP Program Guidelines, a migration agent or representative can act on behalf of an applicant only for Step 1 (PSA) or Step 4 (JRFA) of the JRP.
For steps 2 (JRE) and 3 (JRWA), all correspondence must be with the applicant. Any documents provided to us by an agent instead of the applicant will not be processed and will be returned to the sender.
