Australian Travel Exemptions – Does it Apply to You?

As the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic swept the globe in early 2020, countries responded by closing their international borders in an attempt to reduce the rate of infection.

Australia’s borders have been closed to all non-citizens and non-residents for over a year and only certain people may enter – those who have been granted a travel exemption, and those who are automatically exempt from seeking a travel exemption.

Who is Automatically Exempt? Those who are not required to apply for a travel exemption include Australian citizens, Australian permanent residents, New Zealand citizens who are typically resident in Australia, family members of the Australians and New Zealand citizens (spouse, de facto partner, dependent child and legal guardian) and anyone who has spent 14 days in New Zealand and is arriving by plane.

Despite this, many are still stranded overseas and find it difficult to book available flights, maintain their booked flights or satisfy the relevant authorities that they do normally reside in Australia or are eligible family members.

Who Requires a Travel Exemption? Australian visa applicants and New Zealand Citizens who are not normally resident in Australia and have not been in New Zealand for 14 days, must obtain a travel exemption before they are permitted entry (New Zealand passport holders generally receive a visa on arrival while all other passport holders must continue to have a valid Australian visa).

To qualify for a travel exemption, you will need to meet at least one of the following primary reasons for entry in to Australia:

• Your visit is in Australia’s national interest or is to assist with the COVID-19 response, as supported by the Australian Government or a State or Territory Government.
• You provide specialist medical services or deliver critical medical supplies.
• You work in a critical sector in Australia such as providing critical skills:
  • to supply essential goods and services;
  • in sectors critical to Australia’s economic recovery including fintech, large scale manufacturing, film, media and television production, and emerging technology;
  • in religious or theology fields
• You are being sponsored by an Australian business to work in an occupation of the Priority Migration Skilled Occupation List (PMSOL)
• Students completing Year 11 or 12 with an endorsement from the Department of Education, Skills and Employment as well as support from the relevant State or Territory government health authority.
• Students who have a placement in an Australian medical practice who are completing their final two years of medical, dental, nursing or allied heath profession university degree. The placement must commence within 2 months of seeking the travel exemption.
• Compassionate and compelling reasons such as the death or critical illness of a close family member.

The Process You will need to lodge your visa application before submitting your travel exemption. There is no guarantee the exemption will be approved even you meet the above guidelines and your visa has been granted - often, applicants have to make a number of applications before having their exemption request approved or deciding to walk away from the process.

If you are successful with both the visa application and travel exemption, you will need to carry evidence of the exemption with you as you travel to Australia.

Australia’s strict border measures does mean that limited flights are available to Australia and it may not be possible to get an immediate flight to enter. Furthermore, these travel restrictions are subject to change and it remains unclear when they will ease; most likely once the pandemic has been dramatically reduced or is under control, worldwide.

Contact Us Understandably, this can be an upsetting, frustrating and confusing time for all. If you need to travel to Australia to reunite with loved ones, to study, work or other compassionate reasons, contact us today to discuss how we can help.

Avoid These Mistakes for Australia Visa Immigration Applications

The immigration process is a costly affair, it is time consuming and it has to be executed meticulously. In addition, the laws, policies and procedures change over time. A mistake in the application process can reduce your chance of living and working abroad. When applying for Australian immigration visa here are tips to assist your application process without making any mistakes.

Choose the Correct Australia Visa Type The country offers temporary and permanent residency and there are approximately 100 visa subclasses. They have particular eligibility criteria, which a MARA expert can pinpoint and guide you to apply for the right visa for you. These experts assess you on your:

• Skills
• Qualifications
• Personal profile
• Visa history
• And more

Importance of Supporting Documents Besides choosing the wrong visa type, lack of right documents is another reason for immediate rejection of the Australian visa application. The department scans through thousands of applications, so they should be satisfied with the documentation to proceed to the next step.

Beside the documents for personal identity such as birth certificate, passport, etc. other proofs are required based on your visa type.

• Relationship documents – Joint bank account statements and testimonials from friends and family regarding the nature and length of the relationship.
• Business-related documents – Financial reports and accounting records that is audited and verified.
• Personal assets & resources – complex personal wealth, company and trust structures need to be analysed and presented in a manner consistent with Departmental requirements.
• Qualifications, trades and skills – credentials gained overseas need to be matched with the relevant Australian standards and validated through skills assessments.
• Employment records – tax returns, payslips and work references.
• Any Visa Refusals not being disclosed
• Criminal History / History of offences not being disclosed
• Mismatch between Form 80 and other documents supplied
• Not disclosing medical history truthfully during medical exam

Common Australian Visa Mistakes to Avoid Complete the most recent and correct application form based on the guidelines. The common mistakes are:

• Failing to complete application for other members of the family such as a dependent child over 18 years.
• All application forms are not signed by their respective applicants.
• Using a post office box instead of a postal address.

Read the instructions carefully and proofread the forms to avoid these simple mistakes

Inconsistencies may happen The Department scrutinises your information and crosschecks it with other sources:

• Previous visa applications
• Supporting documents
• Government records
• Social media profiles

If the information contradicts with your social media profile, it can be a problem. Also, triple check the application and documents before submitting it. Ensure the dates are consistent or it will raise legitimate questions. Be transparent and save copies of all the information submitted. Irregularities can be explained, but clear the issues before it reaches the Department level. Work with an MARA Agent to comprehend and resolve such issues that would draw concern.

Result of Bad Timing Timing is everything when applying for the Australian immigration visa. If there is a delay to meet the eligibility criteria and source relevant documents before the deadline, it can affect the result of the application. There is little flexibility for non-compliance, but marginal. The applicant’s location at the time the application can affect its validity. It is important when the form is lodged, if the applicant was on-shore or off-shore. Depending on the visa type, the processing times varies too. Strategise a plan to meet the timelines and avoid delays.

Most of the time the visa application is refused due to procedural issues rather than the applicant’s inability to meet the required criteria. There are times when the application is returned as invalid or it is not be considered.

In order to avoid wasting time, money and effort contact Riya Migration Consultants for your Australian Immigration Visa. We work only with authorised MARA agents.

Rich Indians are Making a Beeline to Migrate Abroad

International travel may have been come to halt thanks to the on-going COVID-19 pandemic but nothing has stopped the high net worth income individuals from seeking options to set base abroad either as long term residents or citizens bound by a visa.

2020 was the year where the top rich of the country topped the list of those enquiring information about ‘residence by investment’ or ‘citizenship by investment’ programmes. A facilitating agency confirmed about how these information requests saw a steep rise since as long as 2019. Heading for a ‘citizenship by investment’ seems to be the right option as India does not hold the dual citizenship rule which directly means giving up your Indian passport. The amalgamation of political unrest and COVID-19 made US standing at the 6th place in 2019 shoot up to the second spot this year, while there was a 63% rise in the requests of enquiries made by Indians to migrate and look for greener pastures abroad.

2019 saw an approximate of 7000 wealthy Indians migrate abroad As per information published in popular daily and trusted sources, Pakistani, South Africans and Nigerians took the third fourth and fifth spot respectively in terms of migration enquires. Indians were the second last candidates among the high income category to opt for migration abroad as stated by the ‘Global Wealth Migration Review’, issued by a wealth intelligence firm called New World Health and other trusted sources.

As quoted by the European Union, These investment linked programmes aren’t affordable but for a lot of the census it is more than owning a luxurious property abroad. Which could also mean spreading family assets across jurisdictions, or to availing better access to a region.

Canada, Portugal, Austria, Malta, & Turkey residency and citizenships have come to be some of the top enquired by Indians in 2020 as per Henly and Partners. While US, Canada, UK and Australia have always been topping the list of India’s favourite migration options since always.

Wealthy NRI’s and Indians interests usually differ and the former are more inclined to take up the Citizenship by investment programmes. The latter have a far sighted vision with respect to overseas business and expansions hence most likely look at European ‘residence by investment’ options. Europe’s most talked about talked about programme; The Portugal Golden Residence Permit which includes an investment of a whopping Euro 3,50,000 in real state is a well-known programme. European citizenship programmes are most likely picked up by NRIs.

As per the above mentioned sources, the benefit of opting a citizenship in Malta and Austria means also getting an option of migration anywhere in the European Union.

Lastly, Dubai, Hong Kong and Singapore being the world’s major financial hubs that they are have large professional NRI population. If at all citizenship is unavailable in these destinations, these NRI’s look for other options.

2020 Budget’s Impact for Australia Partner Visa Applicant

The 2020 budget has implied that the Australian Government was finally taking charge of the anticipated changes and introduce advanced prerequisites to raise a sum of 4.9M USD over the next three financial years. While the details are yet to be recorded, they are being highlighted here as some of the previously proposed changes will impact a large number of Australian families when they come into effect.

The on-going process: As of the current process, the applicant is required to file the application for partner visa ahead of the partner sponsorship application lodged by their Australian sponsor. This is something that occurs consecutively.

Only a partner visa applicant in Australia holding a valid substantive visa is eligible to receive the grant of Bridging Visa A (BVA). This is useful for a lot of reasons:

• The approximate processing time for the provisional partner stage can go up to 2 years
• The current visa of the partner applicant may expire within that time frame
• The BVA will come into effect when the partner applicant’s current visa expires. It will allow them to reside legally in Australia while the partner application is in process
• The holder will also be eligible to Medicare and will have full work rights
• The BVA also provides travel facility for the application of a Bridging Visa B (BVB)

Anticipated Changes It has been quite long since the The Migration Amendment (Family Violence and Other Measures) Bill to now come into effect as it was passed through the parliament since 10th December 2018. Till the time it is enforced, the partner visa applications are processed as per the on-going requirements & processes.

Although it is essential to know of these changes and when the bill will come into effect because as soon as it does, the Australian sponsor will be required to file their application & have it sanctioned immediately before their partner can submit the application.

Why would this be essential for on shore applicants: Here are the reasons

The grant of a BVA follows lodgement of a valid, visa application. It is not granted on the basis of the Australian lodging their sponsorship application

The partner visa applicant risks become illegal if their current visa expires before the sponsorship application is sanctioned

This can also compel the partner visa applicant to leave Australia and lodge from abroad, remaining there until the sponsorship and visa applications have been approved. This separates the family, particularly difficult if children are involved

It is ambiguous what the processing times will look like for Australian sponsorship applications

For offshore partners, the overall processing times are anticipated to be longer than what they are at present.

Budget Proclamations of 2020 The 2020 budget also implies that the current prolonged processing times for onshore partner visas will be less in number while additional measures implemented to help raise revenue would include the introduction of English language requirements for both Partner visa applicants and their Australian resident sponsors (unlikely to apply to Australian citizenship sponsors but, unsure on eligible New Zealand citizen sponsors).

Canada: Ranked as the No.1 Country in the World

The 2021 Best Countries survey ultimately declared Canada as the No.1 country for the first time. This report is a ranking and analysis project by the US News and World Report; BAV group a unit of the Wharton School of Pennsylvania & global marketing communications company VMLY&R. Since the start of the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic, this year the contents that power the ranking are in response to uncertain times.

Culture, economics, politics and technology remain the main factors for ranking while social purpose and agility were added too. Altogether, these diverse categories determine the reason of how 78 countries make it to the list.

As quoted by Kim Castro the Chief Content officer and Editor at US News, “Nations are impacted on many critical fronts by how they are perceived globally- from foreign relations to international business to tourism. These perceptions are ever evolving in a rapidly changing world”. He also goes on to conclude the fact that “The 2021 best countries analysis combines data and storytelling to explore how countries compare on a host of global issues”.

The 2021 Best Countries Report: Important themes

Canada ranks as No.1 country: For the first time ever Canada is the best country, followed by

• 2^nd Japan
• 3^rd Germany
• 4^th Switzerland
• 5^th Australia
• 6^th United States

Canada stands first in quality of life & social issues: Canada also manages to get the numero uno spot in the quality of life and social purpose metrics. The report goes on to state that the country is perceived to have a good job market, caring about social and people’s rights, and pledge for social justice.

Social Justice is an essential global factor: 80% of the global population come together and agree for a step to be taken towards social justice i.e. addressing social issues and gender inequalities.

76% also agree that a country is well perceived and stronger when it is strives to be more diverse; racially and ethnically.

While Canada and the Nordics are considered as the best committed to social justice, the US goes back at the 18th position. On the specific subject like racial equality US falls to as low as the 69th position.

Women are perceived as better effective leaders: A Census of as large as 83% come down to this belief that there is an existent leadership crisis occurring globally today. The majority of the people perceive women in a positive light and as much as 68% agree that countries led by women are better managed.

The essential driver strength in the current year is a country’s perceived agility Across countries that are measured for ranking agility in this context accounts for the per capita GDP variations that measures the fact that it is essential for a country to come across as adaptable, developed, progressive and responsive. In the current sub ranking agility carries the most weight among the rest 10 sub rankings. As per the rankings US leads with the most perceived agility globally but stands on No.13 and not under the top 10.

The best countries ranking is an analysis gathered from a single survey of more than 17,000 business leaders; college educated people that fall in the range of middle class or higher and generic citizens who represent their nation. As quoted by David Reibstein, professor of marketing at the Wharton School, “Countries should care about their image- It is not just a beauty contest. The impressions others have of a country affects its economy through tourism, foreign trade, and foreign direct investment.”

This ranking project of the best countries is an amalgamation of researched news articles, an interactive data explorer, photographs and key pointers and comments from global experts in government, business and education. The project is a part of the US News Government Rankings initiative which analyses government performance at the international, state and local levels and incorporates the best states and Healthiest Communities projects as well.

Want to live and work in the world’s best country Canada? Connect with us at +91 96561 44666 or info@riyamigration.com to check your eligibility to migrate and fulfil your dream.

CRS Drops: Canada Passes 50K Express Entry ITA in 2021

An all-time second largest express entry draw has been conducted by Canada issuing 6,000 Invitations to Apply to Canadian Experience Class candidates. The draw that took place on April 16 saw a minimum Comprehensive Ranking System with a tally of 417, 15 points lower than the previous CEC draw.

In 2021 through approximately 13 draws, Immigration Refugees and Citizenship Canada or the IRCC has issued 55,390 Invitations to Apply or ITAs. This also includes seven PNP draws with a total of 2,682 ITAs, and six Canadian Experience Class draws issuing 52,708 of the same. An all-time record draw was observed on the 13th February that saw 7,332 ITAs issued. During the COVID-19 pandemic the IRCC decided to enforce draws focused on PNP and CEC candidates, only if they are more likely residing in the country as temporary residents.

While in 2020 Canada managed to set a new record for total ITA’s at a tally of 107,350, despite the year being severely affected by the pandemic. The previous record for ITAs was approximately 89,800 which was last issued in 2018.

Understanding the Concept of Express Entry: An Express Entry is nothing but a seamless migration process enforced by the Canadian immigration authorities (IRCC) on January 1, 2015. This program mainly manages skilled worker applications under Federal Economic programs and includes a bunch of programs like the Federal Skilled Worker Program, the Federal Skilled Trades Program, the Canada Experience Class and parts of the Provincial Nomination Programs.

As Canada takes its steps to move towards its goal of more than 400,000 new permanent residents in 2021, stakeholders expect to see continued high numbers of invitations issued with CRS scores also likely to see a dip in numbers. With the coronavirus pandemic taking full charge since March 2020, the country moved to program-specific draws which were Canadian Experience Class and Provincial Nominee Program candidate targeted and also had an effect of highly increasing the number of individual draws beyond previous years.

* Employer Measures to Recruit Foreign Workers: Employers are encouraged to consider bagging an LMIA or a nomination under provincial nomination programs (PNPs) to secure long-term retention of workers.

At Riya Migration, we provide various migration programs and with all the help provided by our migration experts. We help bring qualified candidates to the country in a smooth and hassle-free way. Employers from a plethora of industries can directly benefit from Riya Migration to meet immigration requirements. Interested candidates seeking for immigration assistance can contact us at +91 96561 44666 or info@riyamigration.com to check your eligibility to migrate and fulfil your dream.

Australia’s Skilled Migration Programs To Have More Opportunities

Dreaming of living in Australia, then get started on your plans. The Australian government has redistributed 10,700 places under skilled category. From 1 July 2022 to 30 June 2023, these places will be moved from the Employer Sponsored, Business Innovation and Investor (BIIP) and Global Talent (GT) schemes to the State and Territory Nomination (S/T) and Skilled Independent program (SI).

• In 2020- 2021, Employer Sponsorship, BIIP and GT were allocated 50,500 places and S/T and SI had 29,100 places.
• In 2021-2022, Employer Sponsorship, BIIP and GT and S/T and SI were allocated equal places, 39, 800.

Other Australian Updates:

• International borders are shut, but there are some exemptions. Also, students will be allowed steadily to return to Australia by the end of 2021.
• Student visa holders working in the hospitality and tourism sectors will have the 40 hours per fortnight restriction lifted from their visa conditions.
• Work rights are offered to migrants in critical sectors: agriculture, health care, aged care, disability care, child care and food processing.
• Those with offers in hospitality and tourism sectors are granted work rights and a stay period up to 12 months.
• These visas can now be extended for another 18 months for parents who have been able to use their visas due to the COVID-19 travel restrictions.

With the vaccination drive ploughing ahead, borders are slowly open. Immigration in critical sectors are set to welcome new skilled workforce in the coming years. Australia is a country that has a stable economy regardless of global circumstances. It provides skilled migrants and their dependents welfare schemes to lead a quality life. This nation also promises job safety and security-it has one of the lowest crime rates in the world.

Start planning your life in Australia with us. Visit our website, Riya Migration Consultants for a free consultation and check your eligibility. Based on your assessment we will work MARA experts to find a suitable program for you under the skilled category and fulfill your dream of living in Australia.