What it does
This legislative instrument, the Migration (Arrangements for Certain Skilled and Temporary Graduate Visa Applications) Instrument (LIN 20/162) 2020, is made under subregulation 2.07(5) of the Migration Regulations 1994. Its sole purpose is to prescribe the form, place and manner in which applications for certain skilled visa classes must be made. It does not alter substantive visa criteria, nor does it create new visa subclasses; it is a procedural instrument that specifies how an application is to be lodged for it to be valid. The instrument applies to applications made on or after the date of its commencement, although that date is not stated in the source text; it would ordinarily be the date of registration on the Federal Register of Legislation.
The instrument covers two categories of applications. First, for a Skilled (Provisional) (Class VC) visa, the default method is to use form 1276 (internet) as an internet application. Second, for a defined set of five other skilled visa classes, the instrument sets out, by table in section 9, the specific form and that the application must be made as an internet application. The table covers: Skilled (Residence) (Class VB) using form 1276 (internet); Skilled Independent (Permanent) (Class SI), Skilled,Nominated (Permanent) (Class SN), Permanent Residence (Skilled Regional) (Class PR), Skilled,Regional Sponsored (Provisional) (Class SP), and Skilled Work Regional (Provisional) (Class PS) , all using form 1393 (internet). Thus the instrument mandates online lodgment for all these skilled visa pathways, eliminating paper lodgment as a standard option.
A critical feature is the limited exception for Class VC applicants. If an applicant cannot make an application in the prescribed internet manner, they may apply using paper form 1409, but only if the Department has provided approval by an authorising email. That email must be sent by an officer of the Department and authorises an alternative place or manner. The paper application must then be lodged according to the directions in that email, must attach a copy of the authorising email, and must be submitted before 11:59pm (AEST or AEDT when applicable) on the day after the day the email was sent. This creates a very tight 24-hour window for alternative lodgment. No equivalent exception is provided in the instrument for the other skilled visa classes listed in section 9; the wording of section 9 states that for those classes an application "must be made, using the form mentioned in column 3 for the item, as an internet application." There is no fallback provision for those classes in this instrument.