Nick Bolkus is a former Australian Labor Party politician. He was a member of the Senate from July 1981 to June 2005, representing the state of South Australia.
Australian permanent residents are residents of Australia who hold a permanent visa but are not citizens of Australia. A holder of a permanent visa may remain in Australia indefinitely. A 5-year initial travel facility, which corresponds to the underlying migration program, is granted alongside the permanent visa. Until the travel facility expires, the visa holder may leave and re-enter Australia freely. After that period the visa holder needs to re-apply for the travel facility. However, holders of a permanent visa who are already in Australia with an expired travel facility may remain in Australia indefinitely.
The Australian continent was first settled when ancestors of Indigenous Australians arrived via the islands of Maritime Southeast Asia and New Guinea over 50,000 years ago.
The Pacific Solution is the name given to the government of Australia's policy of transporting asylum seekers to detention centres on island nations in the Pacific Ocean, rather than allowing them to land on the Australian mainland. Initially implemented from 2001 to 2007, it had bipartisan support from the Coalition and Labor opposition at the time. The Pacific Solution consisted of three central strategies:
Australian immigration detention facilities comprise a number of different facilities throughout Australia, including the Australian territory of Christmas Island. Such facilities also exist in Papua New Guinea and Nauru, namely the Nauru Regional Processing Centre and the Manus Regional Processing Centre.
Villawood Immigration Detention Centre, originally Villawood Migrant Hostel or Villawood Migrant Centre, split into a separate section named Westbridge Migrant Hostel from 1968 to 1984, is an Australian immigration detention facility located in the suburb of Villawood in Sydney, Australia.
Immigration law includes the national statutes, regulations, and legal precedents governing immigration into and deportation from a country. Strictly speaking, it is distinct from other matters such as naturalization and citizenship, although they are sometimes conflated. Countries frequently maintain laws that regulate both the rights of entry and exit as well as internal rights, such as the duration of stay, freedom of movement, and the right to participate in commerce or government.
A Special Category Visa (SCV) is an Australian visa category granted to most New Zealand citizens on arrival in Australia, enabling them to visit, study, stay and work in Australia indefinitely under the Trans-Tasman Travel Arrangement. Currently, there are two categories of SCVs: protected SCV and as non-protected SCV. New Zealanders who had entered Australia before 26 February 2001 are classified as protected SCV holders, and after that date as non-protected SCV holders. The rights of the two categories are somewhat different.
The visa policy of Australia deals with the requirements that a foreign national wishing to enter Australia must meet to obtain a visa, which is a permit to travel, to enter and remain in the country. A visa may also entitle the visa holder to other privileges, such as a right to work, study, etc. and may be subject to conditions.
The Minister for Immigration, Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs is a ministerial post of the Australian Government and is currently held by Andrew Giles, since the swearing in of the full Albanese ministry on 1 June 2022, following the Australian federal election in 2022.
The Office of the Migration Agents Registration Authority (OMARA) is an Australian Government authority that registers migration agents and regulates the Migration Agents profession. Migration agents assist people to migrate to Australia by using their knowledge of Australian visas and immigration law to complete necessary visa applications and represent them in dealings with the Department of Home Affairs, the Tribunals, The Minister, Federal Courts and High Courts of Australia.
In Australia, the 457 visa was the most common visa for Australian or overseas employers to sponsor skilled overseas workers to work temporarily in Australia. It was abolished on 18 March 2018 by the Turnbull government and replaced by another visa category. The full title of this subclass of visa was Temporary Business (Long Stay) and was introduced soon after John Howard became Prime Minister in 1996. The title of the visa was changed to Temporary Work (Skilled) (Subclass 457) visa on 24 November 2012. Applications were processed by the Department of Immigration and Border Protection (DIBP). On 18 April 2017, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull announced that the 457 visas will be replaced with two new visa categories.
The Australian government has a policy and practice of detaining in immigration detention facilities non-citizens not holding a valid visa, suspected of visa violations, illegal entry or unauthorised arrival, and those subject to deportation and removal in immigration detention until a decision is made by the immigration authorities to grant a visa and release them into the community, or to repatriate them to their country of origin/passport. Persons in immigration detention may at any time opt to voluntarily leave Australia for their country of origin, or they may be deported or given a bridging or temporary visa. In 1992, Australia adopted a mandatory detention policy obliging the government to detain all persons entering or being in the country without a valid visa, while their claim to remain in Australia is processed and security and health checks undertaken. Also, at the same time, the law was changed to permit indefinite detention, from the previous limit of 273 days. The policy was instituted by the Keating government in 1992, and was varied by the subsequent Howard, Rudd, Gillard, Abbott, Turnbull, Morrison and Albanese Governments. The policy is regarded as controversial and has been criticised by a number of organisations. In 2004, the High Court of Australia confirmed the constitutionality of indefinite mandatory detention of non-citizens. However, this interpretation was overturned in a landmark decision, NZYQ v Minister for Immigration, in 2023, with the High Court concluding the practice was unlawful and unconstitutional.
Visa requirements for Australian passport holders are administrative entry restrictions by the authorities of other states placed on citizens of Australia entering with an Australian passport.
New Zealand Australians refers to Australian citizens whose origins are in New Zealand, as well as New Zealand migrants and expatriates based in Australia. Migration from New Zealand to Australia is a common phenomenon, given Australia's proximity to New Zealand, its larger economy, free movement agreement and cultural links between the two countries.
Illegal immigration to Australia is defined by the Migration Act 1958, which distinguishes between "lawful non-citizens" and "unlawful non-citizens".
Asylum in Australia has been granted to many refugees since 1945, when half a million Europeans displaced by World War II were given asylum. Since then, there have been periodic waves of asylum seekers from South East Asia and the Middle East, with government policy and public opinion changing over the years.
According to the Japanese Ministry of Justice, the number of foreign residents in Japan has steadily increased in the post Second World War period, and the number of foreign residents was more than 2.76 million at the end of 2022. Being a country with a total estimated population of 125.57 million in 2020, the resident foreign population in Japan amounts to approximately 2.29% of the total population.
The Migration Act 1958(Cth) is an Act of the Parliament of Australia that governs immigration to Australia. It set up Australia’s universal visa system (or entry permits). Its long title is "An Act relating to the entry into, and presence in, Australia of aliens, and the departure or deportation from Australia of aliens and certain other persons."
Australia ranked third in top study abroad destinations with a total market value of over 5 billion AUD generated by international students in 2018. In 2018, 869,709 international students were enrolled in educational programs in Australia, which was about 8.8% higher than the amount in 2017 (799,371). They come to gain a high-quality education, possibly immigrate, or to experience a different life. Each year, many new international students will enrol in Australian courses and add to the already significant international student body around the country.
