Annual Market Salary Rate (AMSR)
If the AMSR has been calculated using an industrial award with the inclusion of penalty rates for regular hours worked on Saturdays and/or Sundays and is therefore different from the base salary in the award, this should be explained in a submission. The submission would need to include a roster showing the nominee’s regular hours and explain how the AMSR was derived using the award. If other sources of information such as remuneration surveys or job advertisements were also used in the calculation of the AMSR, this should be outlined in the submission and copies of these provided with the application.
Refund Refusals
The employer sponsored visa processing teams have received several emails challenging the delegate’s decision to refuse a refund of the Skilling Australians Fund (SAF) levy or Visa Application Charge (VAC). Requests for refund of either the SAF or VAC are assessed in accordance with the relevant legislated refund provisions. Delegates do not have discretion to approve refunds in circumstances outside of those outlined in the Australian Migration Act 1958.
Sponsorship Applications
When completing a TSS sponsorship application or a TSS nomination application, sponsors are asked to identify the Related Sponsorship by providing the relevant identification number (ABN or TRN). Please ensure that the relevant sponsorship identification number is entered correctly in this section. If this is not entered correctly, the application will be linked to the wrong entity.
Where a sponsor has changed ABN and has registered under a new entity name, sponsors must not use old identifiers to lodge applications (TRN, RID, CID or ABN). This may lead to processing delays or possibly refusal of the application and there is no provision for refund in this instance.
Where a sponsor operates under a trust structure, the trust cannot be approved as a Standard Business Sponsor. The sponsorship application must be made by the trustee, or trustees, acting on behalf of the trust, under the correct name.
Pending TSS visa applications for approved critical sector travel exemptions
If your client has lodged a TSS visa application and travel exemption on the basis of critical skills and sectors and is subsequently approved a travel exemption, the associated TSS visa application will be prioritised and assessed or reviewed within one business day. Please note, sending progress enquiries to the mailbox takes time away from processing and may cause delays to decisions.
Babies born onshore
If applicants or visa holders have a baby while onshore, the Department must be notified as soon as possible (even if they don’t have a passport yet). They can then determine whether the newborn baby can be added to the parent’s current visa and any pending visa applications they have.
For a visa application in ImmiAccount that is not yet finalised, sign in to ImmiAccount and upload these documents:
- Form 1022 – Notification of changes in circumstances
- a colour scan of the baby’s Australian birth certificate
- a colour scan of the baby’s passport pages (showing photo, personal details, and passport issue and expiry dates).
The Department will let you know if you need to do anything else. When you have given everything the Department needs, the baby will be included in any unfinalised visa applications before the Department, and the baby will be assessed along with the primary applicant and any other dependents for a decision on the visa.
The baby’s visa(s) will have the same terms and conditions as per the visa(s) that the parent/s held when the baby was born. This includes any Bridging visa(s).
Authorised Recipients following AAT remits
Registered Migration Agents (RMAs) and Australian legal practitioners will be aware that if an applicant has appointed an authorised recipient (in connection with their visa application), and subsequently seeks review of the Minister’s decision to refuse to grant the visa application, the appointment of that authorised recipient will be “re-enlivened” if the application is remitted by the Tribunal. Unless there is evidence to suggest that the original authorised recipient has been withdrawn.
Where applicants appoint a new authorised recipient for purposes of a review application, The Department will not have visibility of this appointment unless it is specifically notified of it, and the Department will assume that the original appointment has been re-enlivened in the absence of any evidence to the contrary.
If RMAs and Australian legal practitioners did not represent their client during the original (primary) assessment of the visa application, but were appointed by their client to represent them at the Tribunal, they are asked to formally notify us of that appointment through ImmiAccount if they wish to continue representing them during further processing after remittal to the Department. This will ensure that the departmental decision maker does not engage with RMAs or Australian legal practitioners who are no longer representing the client and head off avoidable delays during further processing.
