Australia Ready For More Migrant Workers

 With the start of 2011, more and more Australian visa applicants are expected to flock into the country. Indeed, immigration numbers are expected to rise significantly this year. And the Australian government is now looking for ways to make the most out of this increase in migration into the country.

One of the areas where increased migration will likely be a big help in is the reconstruction effort in Queensland. It can be remembered that the northern state has been severely damaged by floods that hit the region in December of last year. Economic experts estimate that the damage would be well within AU$ 10 billion. They have also said that the recovery effort will likely take a year or so to be completed.

With that, many business groups have said that Australia will need more workers in order to help in the reconstruction efforts. In response, the government, through the Department of Immigration and Citizenship, have announced that they will be revamping the 457 (temporary worker) visa to accommodate the request. Now, applicants will only need to wait for five days for their visas to be processed. The department says that the move is expected to attract more workers into the region.

But it is not only Queensland who will be blessed with the increased in temporary workers. As it is, other states are also in need of additional workers to meet their demands. This is mainly due to the signi9ficant economic growth that the whole country is generally experiencing since last year.

In particular, the Australian Capital Territory, with its growing information technology sector, is constantly on the lookout for migrant workers. On the other hand, both South and Western Australia is also looking for more workers to fill in their needs. In the case of Western Australia, it is for its expanding mining industry, while South Australia is wishing to fill in its heavy services industry demand. All of these three state are significant participants in the 457 program.

And while many businesses are still looking forward to getting workers from the western side of the world, many businesses are now also turning to the emerging Asian market for their labor needs. Both China and India have shown to have great potential in serving as an alternative pool for workers in the land down under. Other countries have also been well represented on this one.

And the Australian government is now in an effort to make the most out of this worker boom. The immigration department, in particular is now seeking ways to hasten entry for qualified workers.

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Australia Day: A Look Back At History

If you are planning an immigration to Australia, then you better be familiar with the country's holidays. And one such holiday that you ought to know more about is Australia Day. This will not only add more to your knowledge of Australia, but will also give you a better appreciation of the country as well.

Australia Day, celebrated every 26^th of January, is basically the country's foundation day. It commemorates the arrival of of the British First Fleet at Sydney Cove in 1788 that also marked the start of European colonization of the Australian continent. The event is made even more memorable by the fact that the fleet almost never made it ashore, as several of the ships encountered difficulties before they were finally able to land.

During the first few years of the Australian colonies, the date was never officially recognized by the government as n anniversary. However, many of the new settlers, especially the convicts (who made majority of the Fleet's civilian passengers), held informal celebrations on this day, declaring their love for the land. Eventually, many prominent officials joined in on the celebrations during this day.

By the start of the 1800's the celebrations in the colonies had become so widespread that the newspapers have began referring to the 26^th of January as Foundation day. Eventually, in 1818, then Governor Lachlan Macqurie finally declared the celebration of Foundation Day in the colonies to be an official holiday. The announcement was befitting, as that year coincides with the 30^th anniversary of the colonies.

It is interesting to note that Foundation Day is initially considered more of a New South Wales celebration, as the other colonies actually have their own commemoration dates for their foundation. It was not until the centenary of the colonies that all of them agreed to a single Foundation Day. The holiday also took on several different names, starting from Foundation Day, to Anniversary Day, and even ANA Day. With the establishment of the Federation in the early years of the 1900's, the days has since been officially recognized as Australia Day.

However, while there are a lot of parties and celebrations on this day, not all groups are on a joyful mood on this one. In particular, some Australian Aboriginal communities often referred to this one as Invasion Day, the day that white settlers have driven them out of their lands. But the Australian government has been on an effort to use this day to mark reconciliation between the two parties. And with the increased Aboriginal participation in the celebrations in the last few years. This is definitely a good sign for the country.

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Avoiding Spouse Scams

Australia, spouse visa - If you are married, engaged to (fiance), or in a de facto (common law) relationship with an Australian citizen, permanent resident may be eligible for a Partner Visa.

In Australia, spouse visa applications have increased in number is the last few months. However, the Department of Immigration and Citizenship has cautioned those people wishing to enter the country through this visa. As it is, the spouse visa has also been targeted by many unscrupulous individuals to dupe a lot of people.

There are a wide variety of scams relating the spouse visa out there, and getting into any of these is certainly not going to be a good experience. Thus, you need to be well prepared for these. Here are some reminders to make sure that you don't fall for these scams easily.

One of the first things that you need to take note of is that, to be able to apply for a spouse visa, you and your partner are required to have met physically within six months prior to placing your application. Here, one of the most common scams would often involve the alleged potential spouse asking for money in order to meet you within that six month period. Many overeager folks would often easily fall for this one.

However, you need to keep in mind that, if your supposed potential spouse is indeed for real, then he or she will be the one making the effort to meet you. Take note that such scams usually happen online, where the anonymity that a person has can make it quite hard in determining if they are for real or not. Thus, you need to rather careful when entering online relationships.

On the other hand, in order to convince the Australian embassy to grant you a spouse or partner visa, you need to provide enough evidence that your relationship is for real. Here, documentary evidences, such marriage certificates, would come in quite handy for such purposes. However, you need to be sure that you are providing genuine papers and not fake ones (a common method used by scammers to make things go faster), as the consequences of that can be quite a bad experience.

However, even those couples who are genuinely getting a spouse visa for their intended purpose are still prone to fall prey to con artists. Here, the immigration agent con is still one of the most common. Many couple wishing to get their visas much faster can easily be lured by this con men. The best way that you can do here is to make sure that your agents are duly recognized by the Migration Agents Registration Authority.

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