Australian employers, visa holders and applicants warned about migration changes

Immigration officials are keen that everyone from employers, visa holders and those considering moving to Australia should be aware of skilled migration options and the new laws and penalties that have been introduced recently.

Be visa aware, that is the message that is being sent out as outreach officers visit a series of locations to explain the significant changes to the employer sponsored skilled visa programme which were introduced in July of last year. The main changes are centred around SkillSelect, an online service that connects Australian employers with potential skilled migrants and streamlines the pathway to permanent residence for people already working in Australia on temporary skilled 457 visas.

Officials from the Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC) believe it is important to educate businesses about their responsibility for checking to ensure that workers they employ are allowed to work in Australia. It has information on new laws recently passed by Parliament which introduce civil penalties and infringement notices for employers or suppliers of illegal workers.

Officials are vociferous in tracking down offenders and immigration compliance officers have, in the last few says, located 14 illegal workers and visa over stayers in a series of compliance operations in the New South Wales Illawarra and Southern Highlands regions. A total of nine men and five women were discovered to be unlawful. They indicate the range of different countries where immigrants come from with the group comprising of five Malaysians, six from China, and one each from Italy, Thailand and Vietnam. Eight of them were detained and transferred to Villawood Immigration Detention Centre, where they will be removed from Australia at the earliest opportunity and six were granted bridging visas with strict conditions.

A number of the operations were conducted in response to community information provided to the department’s telephone dob-in line. While information was also received through other sources investigations into the circumstances of the employment of the illegal workers are still continuing.

    Quote from AustraliaForum.com : “14-02-2013 – Compliance officers from the Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC) today located 11 illegal workers at a residential property in the northern Perth suburb of Girrawheen.”

Meanwhile, in a separate operation at private premises in the Sydney suburb of Canley Vale immigration compliance officers located five unlawful non-citizens. Two couples, from Malaysia and China, were detained and transferred to Villawood Immigration Detention Centre pending their removal from Australia while a Malaysian woman was granted a temporary bridging visa. ‘Employers should be aware it is a criminal offence to knowingly or recklessly allow a person to work illegally or to refer an illegal worker for work,’ a DIAC spokesman said.

It wants employers to be aware that the Visa Entitlement Verification Online (VEVO) service is available for them to check the relevant identification details of prospective employees, with their consent, to quickly confirm if they are eligible to work in Australia. Employers convicted under Commonwealth legislation of employing illegal workers face fines of up to $20,400 and two years’ imprisonment while companies face fines of up to $102,000 per illegal worker.

According to DIAC figures in 2011/2012 almost 2000 people were caught working illegally in Australia. ‘This activity continued across the country this financial year with a further 1,029 illegal workers found to December 31,’ the spokesman explained.

Source  http://www.australiaforum.com/information/immigration/australian-employers-visa-holders-and-applicants-warned-about-migration-changes.html

Australia's immigration processes "procedurally flawed"

Refugee activists say they are horrified by the case of a Chinese man, who has sought protection in Australia after allegedly escaping torture in his homeland.

The Falun Gong practitioner's case was backed by the United Nations, but the Australian Government has not accepted the findings.

Correspondent: Karen Barlow

Speakers: Mr Chen, Falungong practitioner and asylum-seeker; Veronica Spasaro, refugee advocate, Balmain for Refugees

BARLOW: (sfx Chinese) The scars are fading, but the man who wishes to be known as Mr Chen can't forget.

CHEN: I was beaten while they handcuffed me by the bars.

BARLOW: Mr Chen practices Falun Gong.. the spiritual discipline outlawed in China since 1999. Its strong following, independence from the state and incitement of so-called disturbances were seen as a threat to the communist party.

CHEN: When I was detained by police I was beaten by the police with an electric stakes and fists and I was also burnt by the cigarettes.

BARLOW: In one case, Mr Chen says he was detained for 16 days.. and tortured every day and told to renounce his beliefs and give up the names of those who practiced Falun Gong with him. He says his home was ransacked, his belongings taken and he was beaten heavily..

CHEN: After I was released it took me about one month to recover. My whole body was really beaten up.

BARLOW: Mr Chen fled China in 2004 and came to Australia for protection (CUT: in 2004), leaving his wife and two sons. There's a grandson he has never seen. Supporters say a negligent migration agent mishandled his case. Mr Chen was ordered to a hearing, but the migration agent never told him to attend.

Veronica Spasaro is from Balmain for Refugees

SPASARO: In fact, that meant by the time he had exhausted all procedures in the domestic processes, he'd never actually been interviewed in person about his claim or his evidence

BARLOW: This led to an eight-year legal limbo and fears of deportation.

SPASARO: We'd exhausted every avenue.. we were convinced there was a grave injustice about to be made.

BARLOW: Mr Chen 's case was taken to the United Nations' Committee Against Torture in New York, which ruled last November that deportation would "Breach article 3 of the UN convention against torture.. " and that Australia's immigration processes were "..procedurally flawed."

The Australian Government response was to.."Not necessarily accept the conclusion" of the UN committee.

Veronica Spasaro spearheaded the UN effort on Mr Chen's behalf. .

SPASARO: When we read that response we were really appalled and horrified, actually.

BARLOW: Mr Chen's supporters say he suffers from trauma not only from torture and persecution in China... but from the eight year process of trying to stay in Australia.

It appears he now has to restart the process for protection."

THE Australian Permanent Mission to the UN wrote that the government was considering whether Mr Chen could "make a further application for a protection visa."

Veronica Spasaro says the response is opened ended.

SPASARO: The horrifying part really is, the possibility that he may in fact be given the opportunity to re-apply for protection, and of course if the last opportunity has taken eight years to play out, the next opportunity could also take eight years potentially.

BARLOW: A spokeswoman for the Immigration Minister Brendan O'Connor says Mr Chen's claims and the findings of the United Nations Committee Against Torture will be given due consideration." Mr Chen just wants to get on with his life, which he says he won't have if he is returned to China.

CHEN: A lot of Falun Gong practitioners are tortured to death so this may happen to me as well.

BARLOW: He is also very concerned about his family back home.. he says he has been informed on by fellow detainees in the Villawood detention Centre in Sydney.

CHEN: Some deported back to China already.. they told the police I was still practising Falun Gong. The police threatened my family that I should go back to China soon, quickly . And last year in November my wife was detained for about 4 to 5 days.

BARLOW: Mr Chen's been diagnosed with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.

CHEN: I have no choice. I am afraid of going back to China.

BARLOW: So it is life in limbo.. for Mr Chen.

Source  http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/international/radio/program/asia-pacific/australias-immigration-processes-procedurally-flawed/1116572

Immigration policy changes could bolster economy, report says

Most foreign-born workers tend to pay more into the economy than they receive in government services, and end up helping create jobs for U.S. natives, a new report shows.

The report from the American Enterprise Institute and the Partnership for a New American Economy outlines several areas where changes in immigration policies could help job growth, decrease deficits and improve the economy.

“American's immigration policy is not geared toward stimulating economic growth and job creation,” the report states. “Every other developed country puts more emphasis on admitting immigrants that will meet economic needs.”

The report recommends incremental changes to the country's immigration policy that could “boost employment and accelerate the country's economic recovery.”

Also suggested is an increase in the number of workers' visas made available annually, particularly for highly skilled workers trained in advanced math and science fields. Making more temporary visas for both skilled and less skilled workers “would help generate the growth, economic opportunity, and new jobs America needs,” the report states.

According to the report:

About 7 percent of the more than 1 million green cards issued yearly are based on employment. Canada admits about 25 percent of its immigrants based on employment, Australia 42 percent and Germany and the United Kingdom almost 60 percent.

“It's a frustrating thing,” said Greater Oklahoma City Chamber CEO Roy Williams. “We hear from the business community about this very thing ... and it's not about cheap workers, it's about the companies being able to recruit internationally.”

Immigration can complement job growth, particularly over the long term. Supporters of tougher immigration laws often characterize the argument as one of job competition — an immigrant takes the job of a U.S. citizen or lowers wages for a certain job.

Educated immigrants tend to start up businesses, apply for patents and drive innovation, creating more jobs. Foreign-born workers often have different skills than U.S. natives, and frequently work in jobs where it's harder to recruit native workers.

“It's not about taking jobs,” Williams said. “It's definitely more complex than that.”

The more educated the immigrant, the higher their tax payments and lower their government assistance. Foreign-born adults pay on average about $7,800 in federal, state and employment taxes while their families receive $4,400 in cash and other assistance from the government.

Undocumented workers comprise about 30 percent of all immigrants here, and make up about 20 percent of all adults in the country without a high school diploma.

Foreign-born workers are heavily present in highly skilled jobs in sciences and medicine and in low-skilled jobs like construction, housekeeping and agricultural laborers.

‘Race for talent'

Also at issue are U.S.-educated graduates who grow up living in the country, going to school here and find no sanctuary for their undocumented status when they're ready to enter the job market, according to the report.

Recently, this issue has been brought up through proposed legislation like the Dream Act, which would allow a path to residency for undocumented youths educated in the U.S., who've lived here a number of years and meet other criteria.

“This is about a global race for talent,” Williams said. “When we export foreign students back home, they inevitably will compete against us.”

Oklahoma City immigration attorney Vance Winnigham said an issue lightly touched upon in the report is the declining American birthrate and a rapidly aging population here.

“The gap between employed versus retired is continuing to narrow,” Winnigham said. Immigration policies in other developed countries seek to attract and keep highly educated immigrants.

Winnigham said more “enlightened” immigration policies also would likely decrease the numbers of immigrants overstaying visas or entering the country illegally to work.

Highly educated workers seeking permanent residence here has subsided while underdeveloped or undeveloped countries are offering increased opportunities for them, he said.

“We have a lot of global companies here. If they can't bring the talent here, they go to the talent,” added Williams.

Source http://newsok.com/immigration-policy-changes-could-bolster-economy-report-says/article/3638125?custom_click=pod_headline_financial-news