Australia's Minister for Immigration has announced today that same sex partners of skilled migrants and students are to be recognised by Australia for immigration purposes.
At present same sex partners cannot be included as dependents on most categories of permanent visa application, including skilled visas, and long term temporary employer sponsored visas.
In a Press Release today (see the weblink below) the Minister has announced that changes are to be introduced to immigration law that will treat same sex couples in the same way as de facto couples in a heterosexual relationship.
The commencement date of these changes is to be the 1st of July 2006 for applications under the long term temporary 457 (employer sponsored) visa category; the commencement date for skilled and other visas has not yet been announced.
In the meantime same sex couples wanting to move to Australia where one of the applicants meets the skilled visa requirements must continue to adopt a strategy of applying for a skilled visa, followed by an application for an interdependency visa once the permanent skilled visa has been granted.
Weblink: http://www.minister.immi.gov.au/media_releases/media06/v06024.htm
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