EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
Issued by authority of the Minister for Immigration, Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs
Migration Regulations 1994
Migration (Places and currencies for paying of fees) Instrument (LIN 23/005) 2023
1 The instrument, Departmental reference LIN 23/005, is made under paragraphs 5.36(1)(a) and (b) of the Migration Regulations 1994 (the Regulations).
2 The instrument repeals Migration (Places and currencies for paying of fees) Instrument (LIN 22/004) 2022 (No. 2) (F2022L00784) in accordance with subsection 33(3) of the Acts Interpretation Act 1901. That subsection provides that a power to make a legislative instrument includes a power to amend or repeal that instrument in the same manner, and subject to the same conditions, as the power to make the instrument.
3 The instrument commences the day after registration and is a legislative instrument for the Legislation Act 2003 (the Legislation Act).
Purpose
4 A number of fees and visa application charges are payable in relation to visa applications under the Regulations. Subregulation 5.36(1) of the Regulations prescribes certain requirements with respect to the payment of a fee, other than a visa application charge mentioned in subregulation 5.36(3A) of the Regulations. For this subregulation, payment of a fee must be made:
- in a place, being Australia or a foreign country, that is specified in a legislative instrument made by the Minister for the purposes of paragraph 5.36(1)(a) of the Regulations; and
- in a currency that is specified in a legislative instrument made by the Minister as a currency in which a fee may be paid in that place, for the purposes of paragraph 5.36(1)(b) of the Regulations.
5 The Department bi-annually reviews Acceptable Currencies and Foreign Currency Exchange Rates (AC&FCER) and accordingly updates foreign currency instruments made for paragraphs 5.36(1)(a), (b) and (1A)(a) of the Regulations (see also Migration (Payment of via application charges and fees in foreign currencies) Instrument (LIN 23/004) 2023).
6 As a result of the bi-annual AC&FCER review, it was identified that there were very few transactions to support the continued specification of additional foreign currencies and foreign currency exchange rates. Foreign currency data indicated that in the 2019-20 financial year, there were 8,081 foreign currency transactions made in 32 currencies, for a total of AUD$32.054 million. Comparatively, in the 2022-23 financial year (to 31 January 2023) there were five foreign currency transactions in one currency for a total of AUD$728.
7 The reduced number of foreign currency transactions and the use of foreign currency exchange rates is a result of the Department progressively moving away from paper applications and cash transactions to electronic applications and payments through the IMMI account platform.
8 Accordingly, the purpose of the instrument is to specify, for paragraphs 5.36(1)(a) and (b) of the Regulations, that payment of a fee in Australia or a foreign country be made in the Australian dollar. The expected benefits of this change include:
- removing foreign currency volatility risk
- consistency with Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) processes to minimise cash handling risk
- consistency with citizenship fees that utilise the AC&FCER and now accept only the Australian dollar (from July 2022)
9 The Department will review the changes to the instrument periodically. If necessary, the instrument can be updated to revert back to specifying foreign currencies.
Consultation
10 As only five foreign currency transactions have been made in the 2022-23 financial year (to 31 January 2023) it is deemed that this instrument affects very few people and so consultation was not considered necessary.
11 The Office of Impact Assessment (OIA) was consulted and considered that the instrument dealt with matters of a minor or machinery nature and no regulatory impact statement was required. The OIA reference number is 25184.
Details of the instrument
12 Paragraph (a) specifies, for paragraphs 5.36(1)(a) and (b) of the Regulations, that payment of a fee in Australia or a foreign country be made in the Australian dollar.
13 Paragraph (b) repeals Migration (Places and currencies for paying of fees) Instrument (LIN 22/004) 2022 (No. 2).
Parliamentary scrutiny etc.
14 The instrument is exempt from disallowance under section 42 of the Legislation Act. This is because the instrument is made under Part 5 of the Regulations, which is prescribed under paragraph (b) of item 20 of the table in section 10 of the Legislation (Exemptions and Other Matters) Regulation 2015. Accordingly the instrument is exempt from disallowance and therefore a Statement of Compatibility is not required.
15 The instrument is appropriate to be exempt from disallowance as it concerns matters of an administrative nature. Updating legislative instruments that specify administrative matters allows for consistent internal management of the migration policy framework in accordance with Departmental resources and arrangements.
16 The instrument was made by a delegate of the Minister in accordance with the paragraphs 5.36(1)(a) and (b) of the Regulations.