Azzurra 天溢專櫃

21/01/2025

Revised foreign resident capital tax withholding scheme is now in effect.
Property buyers and sellers that the expanded foreign resident capital gains tax withholding scheme now applies to all property purchases that involve sellers who are not Australian residents, effective 1 January.
Under affected transactions, property buyers are required to withhold 15 per cent of the purchase price from the seller and pay that amount to the ATO.
The money withheld is used as a refundable tax credit for the seller when it lodges its tax return for the year of disposal.
The regime was imposed to address low levels of tax compliance among non-residents and aims to ensure that they pay capital gains tax properly when selling Australian property.
Australian residents can obtain a clearance certificate from the ATO to confirm their residency status to avoid withholding.
All listed property owners must obtain a clearance certificate to be exempt from the withholding scheme. Certificates are valid for 12 months from their date of issue and can take up to 28 days to process.

05/10/2021

An additional NZ residence pathway
for some temporary work visa holders currently in New Zealand.
Some critical purpose visa holders arriving in New Zealand between 30 September 2021 and 31 July 2022 on long-term visas may also be eligible for this new visa. Partners and dependents can be included as part of these residence applications.

Post Study or Essential Skills work visas, who previously didn’t have any pathway to residence. They might be working as carers in nursing homes or as dairy farm assistants or in supermarkets as cashiers, earning less than $27 per hour, so weren’t able to previously meet the Skilled Migrant Category requirements.
New 2021 Residence Visa at-a-glance
• It will be available to work visa holders who have already submitted a resident visa applications under the Skilled Migrant Category (SMC) and Residence from Work (RfW) category and those who have submitted an SMC Expression of Interest, as well as many other work visa holders who may not have been eligible through the current skilled residence pathways.
• Applications open in two phases. The first group of people can apply from 1 December 2021 The second group can apply from 1 March 2022.
• All applications must be submitted by 31 July 2022.
What does this mean for the Skilled Migrant Category?
With the introduction of the new 2021 Residence Visa, the Minister has confirmed that selections of Expressions of Interest under the Skilled Migrant category will remain suspended until at least 31 July 2022.
Migrants who have submitted an Expression of Interest are likely to benefit from applying for Residence under the new category instead of waiting for selections to resume.
Talk to us
For more detail about the new residence visa and its eligibility criteria contact our Immigration Team today. We can help you through the process.
Disclaimer: The information contained in this publication is of a general nature and is not intended as migration advice. It is important that you seek migration advice that is specific to your circumstances.

27/12/2020

How to determine Medicare eligibility in (almost) any situation based on legislation

Many visa applicants and migration agents ask questions about how to determine Medicare eligibility. Lack of knowledge of the law and inconsistent decisions from Medicare officers make it difficult to know what the requirements are. Most people know the eligibility requirements only from what is on the Medicare application form. However when a complicated situation arises, very few people (including very few Medicare officers) know whether someone is eligible or not.

Compiled here is the legislation that is used to determine eligibility. I am not a lawyer nor as experienced as some migration agents but I am a nerd that loves to read legislation. Please feel free to add or correct any information in this article.

Where is Medicare eligibility found in the legislation?
Medicare eligibility is governed by the Health Insurance Act 1973 (‘the Act’). The relevant sections are ss3, 6(1), 6A, 7 and 10.

Section 10(1) states that a medicare benefit is paid to an eligible person incurring medical expenses

The key to determining if someone is eligible for Medicare is to see whether they meet the definition of eligible person under the Act.

Eligibility under section 3
Eligible person is defined in section 3 as:
"eligible person" means an Australian resident or an eligible overseas representative.

Australian resident is also defined in s3. The eligibility criteria on the Medicare card application form is derived from this definition:

Australian resident means a person who resides in Australia and who is:
(a) an Australian citizen; or
(b) a person who is, within the meaning of the Migration Act 1958, the holder of a permanent visa; or
(ba) a person who has been granted, or who is included in, a return endorsement or a resident return visa in force under the Migration Act 1958; or
(c) a New Zealand citizen who is lawfully present in Australia; or
(d) a person (not being a person referred to in paragraph (a), (b), (ba) or (c)) who is lawfully present in Australia and whose continued presence in Australia is not subject to any limitation as to time imposed by law; or
(f) a person who:
(i) is, within the meaning of the Migration Act 1958, the holder of a temporary visa; and
(ia) is not covered by regulations made under subsection 6A(1); and
(ii) has applied for a permanent visa under that Act and the application has not been withdrawn or otherwise finally determined; and
(iii) has not, both:
(A) on or after the commencement of this paragraph, made an application for a protection visa under that Act (whether or not the person has applied for any other visa), other than an application that has been withdrawn or otherwise finally determined; and
(B) whether before or after the commencement of this paragraph, made an application for a parent visa under that Act (whether or not the person has applied for any other visa and whether or not the application for the parent visa has been withdrawn or otherwise finally determined); and
(iv) has not, whether before or after the commencement of this paragraph, made an application for a parent visa under that Act (whether or not the person has applied for any other visa), other than an application that has been withdrawn or otherwise finally determined; and
(v) in respect of whom either:
(A) another person, being the person’s spouse, parent or child (each having the same meaning as in the Migration Act 1958), is an Australian citizen or the holder of a permanent visa under that Act; or
(B) an authority to work in Australia is in force.

By working through the definition of Australian resident, you should be able to determine Medicare eligibility in most circumstances.

Eligibility under s6(1)
The Health Minister has used s6(1) to add additional classes of people as eligible persons. They are called Ministerial Orders and are found at www.legislation.gov.au. Specifically, you can find them listed in https://www.legislation.gov.au/Serie...A00101/Enables and they all have the name phrase “Order under Subsection 6(1) of the Health Insurance Act 1973…” in the title.

Some interesting orders exist. For example:
• De facto partners are included. It appears that they were left out of the definition of Australian resident, so they were included in Health ref. no.782
• Minister Dutton, who was Health Minister at the time, made two individuals eligible for Medicare through Health ref. no. 782 and 786. Their names are Blanche Guirguis Hanna Rezk and Evan Tan. It would be interesting to understand why two individuals were made eligible persons through a Ministerial Order.
• 1st stage contributory parent visa holders (173 and 884) are eligible persons through Health ref. no. 788
• Unauthorised maritime arrivals on a BVE and holders of temporary humanitarian visas – 449, 785, 786, 790 are also made eligible persons.

NOTE: Some of the Ministerial orders have expired and most will expire on 31/12/2017. Keep a lookout for new orders close to this date.

Eligibility under s6A
Section 6A says that certain prescribed temporary visa holders are to be treated as an eligible person. I have not found any instrument which is made under s6A of the Act. The Minister has used s6(1) to make certain temporary visa holders as eligible persons (see above), so it appears that s6A is redundant.

Eligibility under s7
Section 7 states that a person from a country that has a reciprocal agreement with Australia will be treated as an eligible person. There does not seem to be a legislative instrument enabled by the Act which lists all these countries, however they may be listed in the Social Security (International Agreements) Act 1999 (see https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/C2017C00229). I have not had the time to thoroughly check this Act.

There are a couple of countries which have used s6(1) to treat citizens of those countries as eligible persons (eg Malta and Italy under Health Ref no’s 796 and 795 respectively).

Simpler Eligibility Guidelines in the Public Domain
For easier reading on Medicare eligibility, refer to these public pages:
• Public information about Medicare eligibility including Medicare enrolment from Department of Human Services: https://www.humanservices.gov.au/cus.../medicare-card
• List of countries with Reciprocal Health Care Agreements: https://www.humanservices.gov.au/cus...are-agreements
• Medical costs for diplomatic and consular staff of foreign countries in Australia: http://dfat.gov.au/about-us/publicat...mmunities.aspx
• Australian Institute of Health and Welfare: http://meteor.aihw.gov.au/content/in.../itemId/481841

As is usually advised, legislation trumps public web site information. So if you can establish through the legislation that your client is an eligible person, then they should be issued a Medicare card.

Anomalies
I have not been able to determine why Subclass 866 protection visa applicants are eligible for Medicare as they are specifically excluded from the definition of Australian resident. However protection visa applicants and review applicants have been receiving cards – perhaps erroneously.

22/12/2020

The Temporary Graduate Subclass 485 visa allows visa holders to live, study, and work in Australia temporarily. The Graduate visa is exclusively for international students who apply after completing their tertiary studies in Australia.

The Subclass 485 has been a “one-in-a-lifetime” visa however, from 2021, graduates from regional educational institutions may be eligible for a second visa.

To understand the second graduate visa initiative, it is important to highlight that there are two streams in the Skilled Graduate visa program:

The Graduate Work stream
The Post-Study Work stream
The Graduate Work stream is open to graduates with an eligible qualification, including those from the Vocational Education and Training (VET) sector, who graduate with skills and qualifications that relate to an occupation that is considered in demand in the Australian labour market, as indicated in the relevant occupation list.

The Post-Study Work stream is open only to international students who have recently graduated with an eligible higher education degree from an Australian educational institution, regardless of their field of study or occupation.

From 20 January 2021, holders of Graduate visas in the Post-Study stream will have the opportunity to apply for a second Graduate visa in the same stream if they satisfy specific regional requirements.

The second Subclass 485 Graduate visa in the Post-Study Work stream will be granted with a visa validity of one or two years from the date of grant.

One Year visa
A one-year graduate visa will be granted to applicants who studied their Australian qualification anywhere other than the major cities (Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane), and who, while holding the first Graduate visa, lived (worked or studied) only in areas that were outside those cities for at least two years immediately before applying for the second visa.

It will be a condition of the second visa that the holder lives (and works or studies, if relevant) only in a designated regional area, which in practice means areas outside Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane. This condition will also apply to all family members of the primary holder who are granted a second Subclass 485 visa.

Two Years visa
A two-year graduate visa will be granted to applicants who studied their Australian qualification in a regional centre or other regional area, and who, while holding the first Graduate, lived (worked or studied) only in a regional centre or other regional area for at least two years immediately before applying for the second visa.

It will be a condition of the second visa that the holder lives (and works or studies, if relevant) only in a regional centre or other regional area. This condition will also apply to all family members of the primary holder who are granted a second Subclass 485 visa.

In both cases, the new visa condition imposed on the second subclass 485, will require visa holders to remain in a regional area for the duration of their new visa.

When considering an application for a second graduate visa, applicants may need to be familiar with the definition of “Designated Regional area”, which includes:

Designated cities or major regional centres, including Perth, Adelaide, the Gold Coast, the Sunshine Coast, Newcastle/Lake Macquarie, Wollongong/Illawarra, Canberra, Geelong, and Hobart.
Regional centres or other regional areas, including all other areas of regional Australia excluding the areas mentioned above and the cities of Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane.
Considering this new legislation, a second Graduate visa appears to be a great incentive for future international students to study at a regional institution.

Currently, visas granted to Post-Study Work stream primary applicants have a visa period between 2 to 4 years, depending on the Australian qualification completed. Securing a second 1-2-year Graduate visa will surely provide unique opportunities to visa holders in terms of skills and years of relevant work experience onshore!

How much will it cost?
The visa application charge for the second Graduate visa in the Post Study Work stream will cost:

Base charge primary applicant: $650 (AUD)
Additional applicant charge for a secondary applicant who is at least 18: $325 (AUD)
Additional applicant charge for a secondary applicant who is less than 18: $165 (AUD)

22/12/2020

Tasmania has now received its full nomination quota for the 2020 21 program year. The full allocation is made up of:

Subclass 491 - 1400 places
Subclass 190 - 1000 places
Business migration 45 places

Approximately 25% of skilled visa nomination places have been used.

Migration Tasmania is currently adjusting selection requirements and policies to reflect the expectations and priorities set out by the Department of Home Affairs, with the expectation of opening to general applications in late January 2021. Until this time, the interim program arrangements below will continue to operate.

Visa holders who do not meet the interim requirements but who believe they have exceptional circumstances warranting consideration of nomination should contact Migration Tasmania at skilled@migration.tas.gov.au before lodging an application. Imminent visa expiry on its own is not a sufficient reason to prioritise a case.

Source: https://www.migration.tas.gov.au/news/2020-2021_program_year_update

10/11/2020

Kia ora
Immigration New Zealand will soon introduce sharing applications (also known to you as Delegations), the secure application sharing and access functionality. Applicants and their advisers will be able to share (and remove) access to visa applications.






Sharing access

Applicants (and advisors) will be able to share a visa application with another person or group of people. For example, an applicant might need to use an adviser or lawyer, or an adviser or lawyer might need to allocate or distribute their case load.






More features

• Share (and remove) access to applications with an individual
• Share (and remove) access to applications with firms
• Manage firms (group of people who need access to an application)
• Manage the primary contact for an application (online notification recipient for the application).






Learn about Sharing Applications

We encourage you to familiarise yourself with Sharing Applications before the launch on 14 November.
The learning modules show you how to share an application, manage a firm and manage the primary contact for an application. It also provides examples of support that can be provided by our Immigration Contact Centre (ICC). In some specific instances ICC can act on behalf of the caller.
Learning module | Sharing Applications via Immigration Online









Immigration ONLINE not available 14 November

Immigration New Zealand is scheduled to deploy the new features to Immigration ONLINE on 14 November. Immigration ONLINE will not be available for most of the day. When Immigration ONLINE is not available applications cannot be edited or created.

Immigration Online | Immigration New Zealand








No change to immigration law

Licensed Immigration Advisors and visa applicants must still comply with the Immigration Act 2009. Visa applicants should submit the INZ 1160 form if they:
• are changing immigration adviser after the application has been acknowledged by Immigration New Zealand, or
• are updating the contact details of their current immigration adviser, or
• want their immigration adviser to be able to contact the physician undertaking their health examination on their behalf, and/or they wish for their immigration adviser to be able to contact Immigration New Zealand about their health examination prior to their visa application being submitted

Providing immigration adviser details form | Immigration New Zealand








Frequently asked questions
Sharing Applications

Who can I share an application with?
You can share an application with the applicant or members of your team.
Note that if there is a change in representation after the application has been acknowledged by INZ, you still need to complete INZ 1160.
When can I share an application?
You can share an application at any time, regardless of the application’s status – be it in draft state, or after it has been submitted. You will continue to be governed by the ‘Immigration ONLINE Terms of Use’, ‘Immigration Advisers Licensing Act 2007’ and the LIAA Code of Conduct.
Can I access a shared application without a RealMe account?
An application can be shared with anyone. However, when accessing an application, you will be prompted to sign in using your own RealMe account, or create a new one.
I am managing a group application, but I can’t submit it. Why not?
For the group application to be submitted, you must have permissions to access all individual applications within that group. Each application must be shared individually because there is no ability to share in bulk.
I accidentally entered the wrong confirmation code and I am now locked out. How can I get access to the application that someone attempted to share with me?
The person who invited you will need to re-send a new invitation.

24/08/2020

Critical Skills List Updated

Share

Further welcome updates were made to the critical skills sector list this includes providing crucial skills in religious or theology fields.

The Commissioner of the Australian Border Force may grant an individual exemption if you are a non-citizen:

travelling at the invitation of the Australian Government or a state or territory government authority for the purpose of assisting in the COVID-19 response
providing critical or specialist medical services, including air ambulance, medical evacuations and delivering critical medical supplies
with critical skills required to maintain the supply of essential goods and services (such as in medical technology, critical infrastructure, telecommunications, engineering and mining, supply chain logistics, agriculture, primary industry, food production, and the maritime industry)
delivering services in sectors critical to Australia’s economic recovery (such as financial technology, large scale manufacturing, film, media and television production and emerging technology), where no Australian worker is available
providing critical skills in religious or theology fields
whose entry would otherwise be in Australia's national interest, supported by the Australian Government or a state or territory government authority.
An individual can submit a request for a travel exemption under this category or a business can submit a request on their behalf. The applications of multiple travellers within the same group/business can be linked, so that the requests are considered together.

Please request an exemption using the form below and provide appropriate evidence to support the claims. Requests may be finalised without further consideration if insufficient evidence is provided. All documents need to be officially translated into English.

Further information can be found here: https://covid19.homeaffairs.gov.au/coming-australia

13/07/2020

Villa units and townhouse are landed properties. It is the good starting (for new or intended migrant) and to look for bigger house at good location and comfortability. We can help for locating villa units and townhouse in Melbourne.

09/07/2020

09/07/2020

30/01/2019

Please be advised that the Skilled Migrant Category Expression of Interest (EOI) selection, scheduled for 6 February 2019 (Waitangi Day), will run as per normal. It will not be postponed due to the public holiday. Please ensure that any EOIs that you wish to submit for consideration during this selection are submitted before 6 February, otherwise they will be considered at the next EOI draw.

NZ Migration EOI

06/12/2018

Over the past decade, the popularity of social media has increased exponentially. As the demand for social media has grown, s

Although originally known as a younger person platform, older users have become a larger presence on the site. The demographics have been slowly transformed as older people join, and continues to gain more followers in the older middle age demographic as younger users trend toward Snapchat and Instagram. Facebook, however, still remains the most-visited


Advertising Potential of Instagram
Instagram is a social media platform dedicated to sharing images and videos. The multimedia platform allows users to simply post different photos and videos of themselves to show their followers.

Instagram appeals largely to younger generations with 72% of teens using Instagram. Further, 59% of internet users between the ages of 18 and 29 have an account.

Advertisers recognize how Instagram has been seen as the more “youthful” platform since Facebook has begun attracting older users. As such, most ad campaigns should target Generation Z and Millennials.

As an image-sharing platform, advertisers should take advantage of demonstrating visual content. Companies need to create ad campaigns that show the viewer what to buy rather than tell them.
Instagram influencers can also be effective tools for advertisers who are seeking to gain more attention for their products.
Instagram influencers are the new trend of Instagram “celebrities” who have a large number of followers who view and watch their content. Influencers can alert potential customers to a product or service and promote the product after demonstrating it on Instagram.

Evaluating the Promotional Potential on Snapchat

Snapchat, a photo-messaging app, launched in September 2011 and soon became extremely popular with teens. The app allowed users to communicate using photos and texts, but the messages disappeared after a number of seconds.

Celebrities, like DJ Khaled and Kylie Jenner, soon became users of the app and fans loved how it felt like they were directly communicating and viewing celebrity life.
Snapchat, however, made a series of controversial updates that separated news and celebrity outlets from the general population’s platform on the app. Further, the app now has a feature that allows users to share a photo indefinitely.
Although Snapchat has faced a lot of criticism in the past for their updates, the app continues to grow. Today, there are 186 million daily active users of the app.

Different age groups can have a large effect on which type of ads are successful. As such, companies should analyze who they are trying to target and implement a strategy that incorporates references that resonate with their consumer group.

Advertisers should be wary of bombarding potential customers with too many promotions. Make ads engaging and unique while also keeping them short and focused. As users’ primary motivation on Snapchat is not to watch promotional content, integrating the media in an effective and seamless way can change how users view your product.

What Shifting Demographics Mean for Your Marketing Strategy
Social media has claimed a large part of the global population’s attention. Over a third of businesses now primarily focus on social media efforts to market their product. With such large audience numbers, however, it is important to analyze who your business is targeting.

Marketers can better appeal to consumers on Facebook if they begin to consider the older generation actively participating in the social trends. Meanwhile, if an advertiser wants to promote a product for teens and millennials, they should consider launching a campaign on Instagram or Snapchat, where videos are one of the main promotional tools.