← Australia · 2020

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Implementation of Broad COVID-19 Concessions Across Visas

Validated finding · five-country-2010-20260922-v118-evidence-presentation-fix

CountryAustralia
Operative dateSeptember 19, 2020
CategoryOther
Policy toolOther
Affected groupStudents / skilled migrants

Policy effect

Inserts a formal "concession period" definition starting retroactively on 1 February 2020 and enacts regulatory concessions across multiple visa subclasses (Subclass 887, 888, 188, 790, and 485). This includes allowing offshore lodgement/grant and reduced regional work/residence periods for Subclass 887, extending timeframes for business visas (188/888), and permitting offshore applications and grants for Temporary Graduate (Subclass 485) visas.

Official source excerpt

Quoted verbatim from the official source below. Ellipses indicate omitted text.

............. 1 Schedule 1—Amendments 2 Part 1—COVID-19 concession period 2 Migration Regulations 1994 2 Part 2—Subclass 887 (Skilled—Regional) visas 3 Migration Regulations 1994 3 Part 3—Subclass 888 (Business Innovation and Investment (Permanent)) visas 6 Migration Regulations 1994 6 Part 4—Subclass 790 (Safe Haven Enterprise) visas 12 Migration Regulations 1994 12 Part 5—Subclass 485 (Temporary Graduate) visas 13 Migration Regulations 1994 13 Part 6—Application and transitional provisions 15 Migration Regulations 1994 15Authorised Version F2020L01181 registered 18/09/2020 Authorised Version … February 2020; and (b) ends on a day specified by the Minister under subregulation (2). (2) The Minister may, by legislative instrument, specify a day for the purposes of paragraph (1)(b). Later concession periods for the purposes of specified provisions (3) The Minister may, by legislative instrument, determine a period as a concession period for the purposes of a specified provision of these Regulations in which the expression “concession period” is used. (4) The period must not begin before the initial concession period ends.Authorised Version F2020L01181 registered 18/09/2020 Amendments Schedule … application during a concession period—may be in or outside Australia but not in immigration clearance; or (ii) if the applicant was the holder of a visa mentioned in any of subparagraphs (7)(a)(i) to (vi) and makes the application during a concession period—must be outside Australia; or (iii) if the applicant is seeking to satisfy the secondary criteria and claims to be a member of the family unit of an applicant to whom subparagraph (i) or (ii) applies—may be in or outside Australia but not in immigration clearance; orAuthorised Version F2020L01181 registered 18/09/2020 Schedule 1 Amendments Part 2 Subclass … (1) Subject to subclause (2), the”. 7 At the end of clause 887.212 of Schedule 2 Add: (2) For the purposes of working out the length of time the applicant has lived in a specified regional area, the applicant is taken to have lived in a specified regional area for a period of 6 months (or such longer period as the Minister specifies in a legislative instrument under subclause (3)) if the applicant: (a) was outside Australia during a concession period; and (b) made the application outside Australia during the concession period; andAuthorised Version F2020L01181 registered 18/09/2020 Amendments … Schedule 1 Subclass 887 (Skilled—Regional) visas Part 2 Migration Amendment (COVID-19 Concessions) Regulations 2020 5 OPC64801 - C (c) either: (i) is the holder of a visa mentioned in subclause (1); or (ii) was the holder of a visa mentioned in subclause (1) that expired during the concession period. (3) The Minister may, by legislative instrument, specify a longer period for the purposes of subclause (2). 8 Clause 887.213 of Schedule 2 Repeal the clause, substitute: 887.213 (1) The applicant must have worked full-time in a specified regional area: (a) for a total of at least one year as the holder of one or more of the visas mentioned in subclause 887.212(1); or (b) if subclause (2) applies—for a total of 9 months (or such shorter period as the Minister specifies for the purposes of this paragraph in a legislative instrument under subclause (3)) as the holder of one or more of the visas mentioned in subclause 887.212(1). (2) This subclause applies if the applicant held a visa mentioned in subclause 887.212(1) during a concession period and made the application no later than 3 months after the end of the concession period. (3) The Minister may, by legislative instrument, specify a … shorter period for the purposes of paragraph (1)(b). 9 Clause 887.411 of Schedule 2 Repeal the clause, substitute: 887.411 The applicant may be in or outside Australia when the visa is granted, but not in immigration clearance. Note: The second instalment of the visa application charge must be paid before the visa can be granted.Authorised Version F2020L01181 registered 18/09/2020 Schedule 1 Amendments Part 3 Subclass 888 (Business Innovation and Investment (Permanent)) visas 6 Migration Amendment (COVID-19 Concessions) Regulations 2020 OPC64801 - C Part 3—Subclass 888 (Business Innovation and … (a) the visa expired during a concession period; (b) the application is made no more than 3 months after the end of the concession period 4 The applicant was the holder of a Subclass 188 (Business Innovation and Investment (Provisional)) visa (the secondary visa) granted on the basis that the applicant was the spouse or de facto partner of a person who held a Subclass 188 (Business Innovation and Investment (Provisional)) visa in the Investor stream and both the following apply: (a) the secondary visa expired during a concession period; (b) the application is made no more than 3 months after the end of the concession periodAuthorised Version F2020L01181 registered 18/09/2020 Amendments Schedule 1 Subclass 888 (Business Innovation and Investment (Permanent)) visas Part 3 Migration Amendment (COVID-19 Concessions) Regulations 2020 7 OPC64801 - C 14 Subitem 1104BA(5A) of Schedule 1 (at the end of the table) Add: 3 The applicant was the holder of a Subclass 188 (Business Innovation and Investment (Provisional)) visa in the Significant Investor stream or the Significant Investor Extension stream and both the following apply: (a) the visa expired during a concession period; (b) the application …
Federal Register of Legislation (Commonwealth of Australia)Migration Amendment (COVID-19 Concessions) Regulations 2020 (F2020L01181)Open official source
Retrieved from https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/F2020L01181

Review method

Two separate automated exact-claim source reviews

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Other Australia changes operative in 2020