New Visa Classes Created: How Resolve Long-Term Stayer Status
October 31, 1997
From today, the Migration Regulations have been amended to resolve the status of certain groups of people who have been in Australia on a long-term temporary basis, by introducing a number of new visa classes.
The visas are only available for people who arrived in Australia with a passport issued by one of the following governments (and who arrived on or before the “cut-off” date indicated):
- Iraq or Kuwait and arrived on or before 31/10/91
- Lebanon and arrived on or before 30/11/91
- People’s Republic of China or Sri Lanka and arrived on or before 1/11/93 or
- A country in the former Yugoslavia region and arrived on or before 1/11/93
Other requirements include that the applicant:
- Must have been a citizen of that country and usually resident there before coming to Australia
- Must have been in Australia on 13 June 1997 (or outside Australia with a visa permitting the applicant to return) - this is the date that the Government announced these visas
- If the applicant arrived before the cut-off date for the country, but has spent time outside Australia since then, the applicant must have been in Australia for 90% of the time since arriving before the cut-off date. Time spent out of Australia may be counted towards this 90% in some circumstances
- Must meet health and character requirements
An applicant who meets all the requirements is eligible to be granted a temporary visa (called a Resolution of Status (Temporary) - Subclass 850 visa) and permitted to stay in Australia, travel overseas and return, and work.
When in Australia for a total of 10 years (including time before they were granted this temporary visa) an applicant can get a permanent visa (called a Resolution of Status - Subclass 851 visa), provided they meet certain other criteria, eg health and character.
Applicants:
- Must meet this 10 year requirement within 12 years
- Can include in their application their spouse, dependent child or children who were part of their immediate family on 13 June 1997 (and any children born since then). The immediate family overseas of the applicant may apply for a visa to join the applicant in Australia (called a Resolution of Status - Family Member - Subclass 450 visa)
- Must apply on or before 31 March 1998, except for immediate family members overseas who must apply on or before 30 June 1998
The Migration Regulations amended were: Reg.1.15A, Reg. 1.20, Reg. 2.08A, Reg. 2.08B; insertion of Reg. 2.08BA; amendment to Reg.2.12 and Reg. 2.16; insertion of items 1127A and 1216A in Schedule 1; amendments to items 1301, 1303, 1305 in Schedule 1; insertion of new Parts 450, 850 and 851 in Schedule 2.
