Commonwealth Numbered Regulations - Explanatory Statements

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MIGRATION (REVIEW) REGULATIONS (AMENDMENT) 1991 NO. 202

Statutory Rules 1991 No. 202

Subject - Migration Act 1958

Migration (Review) Regulations (Amendment)

Section 181 of the Migration Act 1958 (the Act) provides that the GovernorGeneral may make regulations for the purposes of the Act. In addition sections 115 and 116 of the Act provide that regulations may provide for, inter alia,

-       the types of decisions to be reviewed

-       the manner and form of applications for such reviews, and

-       the persons who may apply for such reviews.

The purpose of the Regulations is:

•       to prescribe certain decisions under the recently amended paragraph 120(1)(a) of the Act; and

•       to exclude from the definition of 'internally reviewable decision', a decision which was made on an application lodged following a notification from the Immigration Review Tribunal that an applicant may have grounds to make another application for an entry permit; and

•       to ensure that applications for permanent entry permits after arrival are reviewable, when they are lodged simultaneously with applications for extended eligibility entry permits; and

•       to provide a guarantee that where an application for a close family unit visit visa is rejected on the grounds that the applicant has the characteristics of a person who is likely to overstay, the internal review authority and the Immigration Review Tribunal will provide an immediate hearing of any appeal against such a rejection; and

•       to make a number of technical amendments and corrections of references.

Details of the Regulations are set out in the Attachment.

Authority:       Sections 23, 33 and 181 of the Migration Act 1958

Issued by the Minister for Immigration, Local Government and Ethnic Affairs

ATTACHMENT

Regulation 1 - Amendment

This regulation provides for the Review Regulations to be amended.

Regulation 2 - Regulation 2 (Interpretation)

This regulation deletes a definition which is not necessary on technical grounds as it is in the principal Regulations.

Regulation 3 - Regulation 2A (Reviewable decisions)

Regulation 3.1 makes a technical correction.

Regulation 3.2 amends regulation 2A(2) of the Review Regulations to exclude from the definition of an internally reviewable decision, a decision which was made on an application lodged following a notification from the Immigration Review Tribunal under section 121 of the Act.

Section 121 provides for a review authority to notify the applicant and adjourn the review if it appears that the applicant may have grounds to make another application for an entry permit.

Regulation 3.3 amends regulation 2A(3) of the Review Regulations to ensure that when a person applies simultaneously for an extended eligibility entry permit (EETEP) and the permanent entry permit after arrival (PEPAE), the applications for PEPAE decisions are only reviewable if the applicant held a section 47 valid temporary entry permit at the time of decision. If the EETEP was refused, the applicant for the PEPAE would not have had a section 47 valid entry permit.

Regulation 4 - Regulation 2B

This regulation inserts a new regulation 2B to prescribe certain decisions under paragraph 120(1)(a) of the Migration Act.

This paragraph was recently amended to exempt prescribed decisions made under prescribed regulations made before 1 July 1991, from the proscription against review where an application was able to be made only because a person's circumstances had changed since their last application.

Regulation 5 - Regulation 8 (Notice of decision in relation to internal review)

This regulation makes clear that regulation 8 is subject to new regulation 30. (See regulation 8 below).

Regulation 6 - Regulation 21 (Individuals and organisations entitled to apply for review)

Regulation 6.1 amends regulation 21(3) by omitting some words which are meaningless.

Regulation 6.2 amends item 1 of Column 2 of the table at subregulation 21(5) to correct a reference to the business (joint venture) visa or entry permit.

Regulation 7 - Regulation 21C (Persons who may apply for review of decision to refuse a December 1989 entry permit)

This regulation makes a technical correction to regulation 21C which was inadvertently not amended to take into account amendments to the Review Regulations made by Statutory Rules No 61 of 1991.

Regulation 8 - New Regulation 30

Under a proposed regulation (9A) of the Migration Regulations, an applicant for a visitor visa, can be rejected on the grounds that the person has the characteristics of a class of persons whom statistics held in Departmental movement records indicate as likely to overstay the period authorised by the initial visa granted. This regulation provides a guarantee that any appeal against a decision to reject an application from a person for a close family visit visa to attend, for example, a marriage, on the grounds that the applicant is a likely overstayer, will be given an expedited hearing by the internal review authority and the Immigration Review Tribunal.

Regulation 9 - Schedule

This regulation corrects incorrect item numbers in Part 3 of the Schedule, which were added by Statutory Rules No 61 of 1991.