Australian Immigration Process can be Daunting

Over 50,000 years ago our first inhabitants walked across land bridges from the Malay Archipelago and New Guinea. For thousands of years, these people lived in isolation from the rest of the world, cut off completely when melting ice caused the sea levels to rise. There is evidence of landings by Europeans in the 17th and 18th centuries, but it was not until 1788, when the First Fleet arrived from England, that colonisation took place. From those first migrations 50,000 years ago, Australia has been peopled by immigration but this is often forgotten in the various and often emotional debates that take place around Australian immigration policy from time to time.

Fast forward to now, and immigration is still an important initiative supported by the policies of successive federal governments that have continued the post-World War II catch-cry of “populate or perish.” The number of immigrants accepted each year is adjusted according to economic conditions, humanitarian pressures, skill shortages and other issues, creating an industry around the whole immigration Sydney process.

There is a common perception in some areas that Australian immigration is an easy process, but a review of the information made available for prospective migrants by the federal government shows a complex field with multiple requirements for qualification to migrate. For example, on the Department of Immigration and Citizenship website there are currently nine information booklets containing the necessary information for people who fall within the nine different categories of migration.

Among those nine categories are separate ones for partner, child, parent and other family migration. Further categories focus on business and skills migration and others are in place to service special categories. Some of the requirements for lodging an application under the General Skilled Migration category, for example, gives some indication of the amount of information that applicants must provide. Documents proving age, language proficiency, qualifications, occupation, work experience, skills assessment, employment experience and educational qualifications must all be provided as part of the Australian immigration application process. There is a points test, and information must be supplied to check the health and character of the applicant.

The fact that each year, thousands of people are willing to go through this process to be able to call Australia home is a testament to both the human desire for a better life, and Australia’s efforts, particularly since 1946-47, to transform into a tolerant, welcoming, multi-cultural society. Prospective migrants having difficulty with their application can seek the help of an immigration lawyer Sydney.

While the debate surrounding Australian immigration policy will no doubt continue ad infinitum, people wanting a fresh start in a new environment will still attempt to negotiate the maze that is the application process. It will be much easier for them if they approach a professional at the start, to help them through it.

Court Processes No Sweat for Family Law Divorce Lawyer

The latest divorce statistics available for Australia surprisingly show that the rate of divorce in on the decline and is at its lowest rate since 1988. This is no cause for a major celebration however, as the rate has fallen from a peak of 54,000 in 2001 to 47,000 in 2007. With those numbers, there is still plenty of work for any family law divorce lawyer to do, with thousands of couples each year still needing help and advice, once they have made the decision that their marriage is irretrievable. Professional legal advice is especially important if the separation is acrimonious resulting in the couple being unable to make rational joint decisions.

Many people may be surprised to know that the legal process of divorce under Australian Family Law is simply to officially acknowledge that the marriage has ended. It does not deal with issues around the division of property or child custody arrangements. However, depending on the circumstances it can be a complex process that should be handled by an expert in family law Sydney.

The start of the process is for the Court to prove that, firstly that the marriage is valid, usually evidenced by sighting a Certificate of Marriage. If the marriage certificate is in a language other than English, a sworn translation must be provided to the Court. If there is no marriage certificate, the Court may request some other evidence of the existence of a marriage.

Next the Court must establish jurisdiction as it only has the power to grant a divorce if one of the parties considers Australia to be home, intends to live here indefinitely, has lived here all their life, is an Australian citizen or usually lives in Australia, and was living here in the twelve months prior to the application for divorce. The Court must also establish that the marriage has irretrievably broken down. If the couple has been separated for twelve months prior to the application, a declaration by the applicant is sufficient evidence for the Court to make that decision.

The application form is filed in triplicate and one copy returned to the applicant by the Court. A hearing will usually be scheduled approximately within eight weeks. Once the Court is satisfied that the respondent is aware of the application and the hearing date, a decree nisi will generally be granted. The divorce is finalised when a decree absolute is granted, generally one month and one day after the decree nisi is granted. The Court will then issue a certificate of divorce by post.

If everything goes smoothly and all the required documentation is available, it will take approximately 12-13 weeks from filing the application to granting the divorce. However, often there are issues with the documentation, questions about jurisdiction, language barriers and other problems that require the expertise of family lawyers Sydney.

Even simple legal processes can become complicated when things don’t fall into place as expected. When the divorce is handled by a family law divorce lawyer, any surprises or issues are dealt with quickly, so that the client can get on with their lives.