1. Home quarantine is advancing, and Australia is preparing for the country's opening in multiple steps in parallel
In the past few weeks, the main work of the Australian government has been added to prepare for the country's founding. Home isolation is an important step for foreign students and other temporary visa holders to return to Australia. Otherwise, with the current hotel isolation carrying capacity, it can only be stuck in an endless loop of only PR/citizens and a very small number of temporary visas.
NSW announced this week that it will start a trial of home quarantine within a few weeks. First of all, more than 100 people including Qantas employees who have been vaccinated with two doses will participate in a trial of seven days of home quarantine. It is expected to reach a two-dose vaccination rate of 80% by the end of October. Later officially implemented. NSW has always been under the pressure of Australia's main overseas immigration isolation, and home isolation can link the pressure of NSW, and it is also the hope of many overseas visas and foreign students entering the country.
The first trial of home isolation in August was South Australia, only for people who were quarantined across states. This week, the Governor of South Australia announced that one step further, Australian Defence Force personnel entering from overseas will be the first to try home isolation in South Australia. Will continue to expand the scope.
Tasmania also announced a trial of home quarantine from next week, temporarily targeting residents returning to Tasmania from some remote areas of NSW that have been unblocked.
The results of the trials in NSW and South Australia will be fed back to the Commonwealth. As the Prime Minister said: “Home quarantine is an integral part of the reopening of international borders and the abolition of the entry limit. Only by proving the feasibility of home quarantine technology and plans can the states have the ability to expand the scale of entry."
In addition, it is worth mentioning that the Immigration Bureau this week officially listed the international students participating in the pilot as exempted from entering the country. The students who are determined to participate will be arranged by the school and the state education bureau, and there is no need to apply separately. It has been seen from the policy that Australia has already made arrangements in advance. Although there is no final approval for the pilot project, many states are preparing. For example, NSW is preparing for November.
At the same time, students who have added Master by research can also apply for entry exemption, and PhD students who have met the corresponding conditions before can already apply. ️Applicants need to prove that they participated in the ongoing Commonwealth Agency-supported research or obtained the support of the relevant government agency; the necessity of this research and/or why it is in the national interest of Australia; and how to play a key role in the research.
According to the vaccine passport, the vaccines approved by the WHO, including domestically produced Sinovac and Sinopharm, have been included in the review and evaluation.
Qantas will launch overseas commercial flights on December 18, departing from Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane to London, Los Angeles, Vancouver, Tokyo, Singapore and Fiji. Qantas’ booking website shows that most flights still have seats, but the cheapest tickets for the Sydney-London flight on December 18 have been sold out. Qantas has clearly required passengers to be fully vaccinated with 2 doses to register, and depending on the destination, passengers may also need to provide proof of a negative Covid test within 72 hours before departure.
Australia’s current overseas travel ban has been extended to December 17, but it is expected to be lifted early in November
2. GTI persons can be naturalized early
The Minister of Immigration announced this week to reduce the residence waiting period for some talents naturalized in Australia. Among them are Distinguished talent visa holders. Distinguished talent visa was originally divided into 124 and 858. The visa categories submitted on 21.2.27 were unified and merged into 858.
The new requirements for GTI holders only need:
--Has obtained Australian PR
--Hold a valid Australian visa for at least the past 4 years, and have been in Australia for at least 480 days during this period
--Have lived in Australia for at least 120 days in the year before submitting the application
The current naturalization application requirements for general applicants are:
-- One year for New Zealand citizens who have obtained an Australian PR or partially meet the requirements
--Hold a valid Australian visa and live in Australia in the past 4 years (both TR and PR categories), and the time of leaving the country during this period shall not exceed 12 months
-- Departure cannot exceed 90 days 1 year before submitting the application