Interesting experience to share; new passport

I just came back from overseas trip with my family. My wife is an Australia PR and she doesn't want to get an Australian citizenship. She just get her new passport recently and have not link up her PR status into her new passport yet. Ooops....I am registered migration agent and didn't do this for my wife.....LOL. Guess that it would be just fine carrying both old & new passport when travel.

Aha... traveled out from Australia is OK. But once she wanted to checked in with Qantas on the way home. Qantas staff cannot issue her a boarding pass until her PR is linked up to the new passport which Qantas staff can get this done over the check-in counter easily. Just key in her detail electronically and send it to Canberra. Qantas staff advised us that, the waiting period is about 20-30 minutes which we didn't mind at all. We got plenty of time in our hand... :)

Surprisingly, Canberra get back to Qantas staff (either by fax or electronically  I am not sure) within 5 minutes which was quite fast.

The moral of story is "Always" update your new passport detail with the Department of Immigration before you travel, so you won't be stopped at the check-in counter at the airport... :)

visa application fee increase from 1 Jan 2013

Changes to visa pricing announced in October take effect from 1 January 2013. They include:

• Partner visas allowing for people already in Australia to enter or remain on the basis of their married or de facto relationship, to increase from $3060 to $3975
• Partner visas for people outside Australia who want to join their partner in Australia will increase $2060 to $2680
• Skilled Graduate visas to increase from $315 to $1250 for the highly-valued post-study work rights for people in Australia on a student visa
• The 457 temporary skilled worker visas to increase from $350 to $455
• Working Holiday maker visas will increase from $280 to $365.

Longer Tourist Visas for Parents of Australian Citizens & Permanent Residents

The proposed Longer Tourist visas for parents of Australian Citizens and Permanent Residents which was announced by the Minister on 4 September 2012 will probably be one of the changes to commence on 24 November 2012.

Towards the end of 2012, parents of Australian citizens and permanent residents will be able to apply for Tourist visas to visit Australia for longer.

Under this arrangement recently announced by the Minister for Immigration and Citizenship, Chris Bowen MP, the department will consider granting on a case-by-case basis:

• Tourist visas of up to five years' validity which provide a stay of up to 12 months on each entry to those parents who are outside Australia and are in the Parent (subclass 103) visa queue
• Tourist visas of up to three years' validity with 12 months' stay on each entry will be considered for parents who are outside Australia and are not in the Parent visa queue.

These changes will allow parents who meet the criteria for a Tourist visa to have regular extended visits with their family in Australia without needing to apply for a new visa on each visit.

Under these more flexible arrangements, in addition to meeting all other Tourist visa requirements, parents will be expected to hold health insurance to cover any healthcare costs during their stay and will have a visa condition limiting applications for further visas while they are in Australia.
Like all tourists, parents granted Tourist visas are expected to maintain extended periods of absence between visits to Australia.

The department is making changes to implement these arrangements by the end of 2012.

Work and Holiday visa for Eastern Europe and Israel

Minister Bowen has announced on 13 Nov 2012, talks with several governments to establish Work and Holiday visa arrangements, namely: the Czech Republic; Hungary; Israel; Latvia; Poland; and the Slovak Republic.
No agreements are expected soon, but once established, nationals of each of the above countries between 18 and 30 years of age will be able to work and travel in Australia for up to 12 months, and reciprocal arrangements will allow Australian travellers similar access.
Currently, reciprocal Work and Holiday visa arrangements have been reached with Argentina; Bangladesh; Chile; Indonesia; Malaysia; Papua New Guinea; Thailand; Turkey; and the United States.