Professional migration advice coming to the region

RDA Northern Inland Senior Project Officer, Kim-Trieste Hastings, nationally recognised migration expert, Michael Jeremy and Armidale Settlement Support Project Worker with Northern Settlement Services Limited, Judith Roberts.

Regional Development Australia Northern Inland (RDANI) with funding support from the NSW Department of Trade and Investment, Regional Infrastructure and Services is bringing a leading expert on migration laws, policies and procedures to the region. Skilled migration is an important part of addressing the skills and general labour shortage in Northern Inland NSW and this initiative will bring communities up to speed on new migration rules and regulations which arrive in the new financial year.

“This is just one way that RDA Northern Inland is working to support economic development by providing the region with free access to legal migration advice,” RDA Northern Inland Executive Officer, Nathan Axelsson said.

“From agriculture to mining, education to health, the region’s industries are experiencing skills shortages. For sustainable economies and communities in our region, we need to be up-skilling our existing workforce as well as recruiting additional skilled labour from overseas. Keeping up-to-date on migration information is good business,” he said.
 

Beginning on Monday 23rd May, RDA Northern Inland will be staging a week of free immigration law seminars, hosted by migration expert Michael Jeremy, around the region from 6pm - 8pm at the following venues:

• Best Western Sanctuary Inn, Tamworth, Monday 23rd;
• Country Comfort Armidale, Tuesday 24th;
• Riverside Function Centre, Inverell, Wednesday 25th ; and
• Moree Services Club, Thursday 26th

Michael Jeremy has worked in various immigration capacities since the mid-1990s, including the Department of Immigration and Citizenship, Sydney Airport and the Migration Institute of Australia. “Currently I travel around the country lecturing in immigration law, specifically relating to skilled migration and students. Helping individuals and businesses to better understand these processes can save them a lot of time and money,” he said.

“There is a great deal of misunderstanding nationally, especially in the regions about the options and new rules that exist for skilled migrants,” he said. “Significant changes are being made to the points test for general skilled migration and the entire employer nomination system. The Student Visa Review and the Business Skills Review are also happening now.”

“Employer labour needs are pretty much immediate, yet immigration processes can drag out to months and sometimes years. These processes can be very difficult to understand and when you add changes in employment law, it can impact on the ability of regional employers to source labour from overseas,” Mr Jeremy said.

Anyone interested in attending these events should call Senior Project Officer, Kim-Trieste Hastings on (02) 6771 2790.