Blog

The Australian passport has again ranked in the world’s top 10 most powerful passports for 2020 according to the Henley Passport Index, which measures the most travel-friendly passports across the globe. Australia ranked in at number 9 alongside New Zealand, Malta, Czech Republic and Canada. The Henley Passport Index ranks the ‘travel-friendliness’ of a country’sRead more

This week, Interstaff had the pleasure of presenting on the topic, ‘Reimagining Skilled Migration’ at the 2018 WA HR Leadership Forum. As you may know, this year’s replacement of the 457 Visa scheme with the Temporary Skills Shortage (TSS) Subclass 482 Visa and broader changes in Australia’s migration arrangements have presented key challenges for HumanRead more

Employer sponsored migration will be a key focus for Australia’s Immigration Minister, David Coleman according to his speech to the Migration Institute of Australia in October 2018. Mr Coleman stated Australia’s skilled migration policies should emphasise visa categories providing the highest economic benefits, such as employer sponsored migration and regional skilled migration. His speech indicatedRead more

The Government has announced it will relax Working Holiday Visa program restrictions relating to age limits, areas of work, employer flexibility and length of stay to help agricultural businesses struggling with labour shortages while the Government considers creating a dedicated agricultural visa for a long-term solution. The Working Holiday Visa program is also relied uponRead more

Last week, the Government announced Irish and Canadian citizens can now apply for a Working Holiday Subclass 417 Visa in Australia up to the age of 35. Prior to the change on 1 November 2018, people over the age 31 were ineligible for the program. The increased age limit therefore opens an opportunity for moreRead more

Interstaff is pleased to welcome our new Registered Migration Agent to the team, Melissa Phan (MARN: 1808239). As part of our Registered Migration Agent team, Melissa advises clients on migration solutions for businesses and individuals according to current migration legislation and manages all aspects of the visa and/or sponsorship application process on our clients’ behalf. MelissaRead more

Interstaff had a great lawn bowls night recently with WA Singapore Business Connect. Have you ever tried your hand at lawn bowls? It was a first for a few of us in the Interstaff team at the South Perth Lawn Bowls Club. Trying lawn bowls for the first time and being welcomed into WA SingaporeRead more

One Fine Day There’s plenty of free things to see and do in Perth and they don’t have to cost you the Earth! We are lucky to have so many natural attractions to visit and with the weather beginning to heat up, we’re excited to start heading out for a good walk to soak upRead more

Changes to Australian Citizenship eligibility requirements are likely to be confirmed in coming months as amendments to the legislation have now been scheduled for review in parliamentary sittings. If the changes proposed in the Australian Citizenship Legislation Amendment Bill are passed into law, we can expect the eligibility requirements to tighten and result in moreRead more

If you have applied for Australian Citizenship and are waiting to hear if it has been granted, you may wish to know the average Citizenship times for government processing have blown out from 12 months in March 2016 to 16 months this financial year. Interstaff looks into three reasons why. Increasing number of applicants DepartmentRead more

Australian Citizenship changes continue to be a topic of interest in the media, with Peter Dutton, Minister of the Department of Home Affairs continuing efforts to win the Senate’s support for changes to citizenship laws, after the changes that were originally proposed were rejected by the Senate in October last year. Currently, citizenship applicants don’tRead more

Have you been an Australian permanent resident for at least one year? You could be eligible for Australian citizenship before 1 July 2018. After months of parliamentary discussion on whether the proposed citizenship requirements will be retrospectively applied, the Government has decided that any citizenship applications received on or after 20 April 2017 will beRead more

On 19 April 2017, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull announced several changes to the requirements to become an Australian citizen. The changes are yet to be implemented, however permanent residents seeking to obtain citizenship may be impacted by the new requirements, which are expected to come into effect by the end of 2017. Am I eligibleRead more