Following the reopening of international borders on February 21, 2022 for fully vaccinated visa holders, the Department of Home Affairs continued immigration processing across all visa cases and is currently working through a large backlog of pending visa applications. Fragomen has observed delays in processing across all visa types, including onshore visas requiring the completion of health examinations. Health examination bookings through Bupa Medical Visa services are currently limited in New South Wales and Victoria, adding to general visa processing delays. Processing delays continue for applications linked to occupations that are not on the Priority Migration Skilled Occupation List (PMSOL). However, Fragomen has noticed that more recently lodged applications are being processed within standard time frames, including improvements in the time frames for offshore TSS 482 visa applications due to access to health examination appointments. The Department of Home Affairs continues to prioritize occupations on the PMSOL and in critical sectors and will process applications in accordance with government processing priorities.
This alert is for informational purposes only. If you have any questions, please contact the global immigration professional with whom you work at Fragomen or send an email to [email protected].
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