Changes to Australian visa service delivery in China

03-09-2012 Source :Immi.gov.au

As part of the Department of Immigration and Citizenship’s (DIAC) commitment to client service excellence, the department is expanding its network of AVACs to the People’s Republic of China.

“AVACs will be located in Beijing and Shanghai to provide more convenient access to immigration and citizenship services for clients in these regions,” a departmental spokesman said today.

“The introduction of the AVACs is part of a number of service delivery improvements across the region.”

In addition to the AVACs becoming operational in early September 2012, considerations are under way for possible AVACs to be opened in Guangzhou and Chengdu in 2013.

The AVACs will provide a range of services including extended operating hours with phone lines operating until 5pm weekdays and internet kiosks with an online application tracking facility that enables clients to view the status of their applications.

Optional services provided by the AVAC for an additional service fee include courier services, photocopying, passport photos, SMS notification, translation services, and a premium business lounge providing access to dedicated staff, photocopy and fax facilities, and refreshments. 

“All applications will continue to be assessed and decided by the Department of Immigration and Citizenship,” the spokesman said.

“Staff at the AVAC will have no involvement in the decision-making process or have any knowledge of the application outcome.”

The introduction of AVACs will also bring changes to where certain visa applications are processed. The Australian Consulates in Shanghai and Guangzhou will be consolidated as visa processing centres for Northern and Southern China respectively.

The Australian Embassy in Beijing will be primarily responsible for liaising with Chinese Government stakeholders. They will retain a range of visa processing functions relating to travel by Chinese officials and process temporary residence (non-business) visa applications for all of China. 

Clients in the Beijing and Shanghai catchment areas applying in person for an Australian visa will lodge their application at their local AVAC. 

Clients submitting their visa application by post or courier will be required to send their visa application directly to the AVAC in the location of the relevant processing office. Exceptions to this are adoption (subclass 102) visa and resident return (subclass 155/157) visa applications, which should be submitted directly to the Australian visa office at the Australian Consulate Guangzhou.

Clients in the Guangzhou catchment area applying for an Australian visa will continue to submit their application directly with the Australian Visa Office at the Australian Consulate in Guangzhou. The exception to this is clients lodging a visa application for a temporary residence (non-business) visa by mail or courier which should be submitted directly to the AVAC in Beijing. 

There will be no change to the current lodgement and processing arrangements for government officials applying via the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) or their local Foreign Affairs Office (FAO). These applications should continue to be submitted directly with the nearest Australian Visa Office. Diplomatic visa applications should be lodged with the Australian Embassy in Beijing.

A service fee of 175 RMB will be charged by the AVAC for each application, in addition to the standard visa application charge (and any applicable associated charges) required by DIAC. The AVAC service fee is in line with the current average service delivery partner fee applied globally for the department’s clients. 

Further specific details about visa lodgement and processing arrangements will be provided on the DIAC website in the coming weeks.

SkillSelect: First round offers go to skilled professionals

27-08-2012

Doctors, dentists, nurses and engineers have dominated the first round of skilled migrants invited to formally apply for visas under the government’s new online SkillSelect service. 

Accountants, ICT analysts and programmers were also strongly represented in the 100 invitations in the first round, which drew the highest scoring candidates from the initial expressions of interest (EOI).

“This is an excellent result for the economy, employers, and ultimately for Australia,” a spokesman from the Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC) said today. 

“SkillSelect helps to ensure the skilled migration program is based on the economic needs of Australia. It supports the government in managing who can apply for skilled migration, when they can apply and in what numbers.”

More than 10 000 skilled people have completed EOIs through www.skillselect.gov.au since it went live on July 1.

Earlier this month, the first automated invitation round for skilled independent (90 visas) and skilled regional family-sponsored (10 visas) was completed. 

The lowest points score invited was 75 points in both the skilled independent and skilled family sponsored visas.  This is significantly above the 60 point pass mark, and demonstrates the quality of the skilled people interested in migrating to Australia, and the benefits of selecting only the best.

“The points score varied from 75 up to 85 across the two visa subclasses,” the spokesman said.

“Additionally, almost 400 skilled people have been invited since July 1 following nominations lodged by state and territory governments.

“More than 160 of these invited clients have already lodged their visa applications, and the others have 60 days to lodge their documentation using DIAC’s electronic lodgement system,” he added.