EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
STATUTORY RULES NO. 202 of 1988
Migration Regulations (Amendment)
Issued by the authority of the Minister for Immigration, Local Government and Ethnic Affairs
Section 67 of the Migration Act 1958 (the Act) provides that the Governor-General may make regulations, not inconsistent with the Act, prescribing all matters required or permitted by the Act to be prescribed or which are necessary or convenient to be prescribed for carrying out or giving effect to the Act. Subparagraph 67(1)(a)(1) specifically provides for the making of regulations concerning the making provision for, and in relation to, the charging and recovery of fees in respect of applications for entry permits or visas.
These regulations amended regulations 29A and 29AB of the Migration Regulations to:
1. increase the fee payable on lodgement of an application for change of status from temporary entry permit holder to the holder of an entry permit in paragraph 29A(1)(b);
2. update paragraph 29A(1)(a) to reflect new drafting styles; and
3. replace the current two tier fee in regulation 29AB for a non-citizen conditional entry visa or non-citizen entry visa with a single fee, payable on lodgement of the application.
Details of the regulations are as follows:
• Regulation 1 provides that the amendments to regulation 29A commenced on 1 September 1988 and the amendments to regulation 29AB commenced on 24 August 1988.
• Regulation 2 provides for the increase of the fee on lodgement of an application for change of status from temporary entry permit holder to the holder of an entry permit in paragraph 29A(1)(b) from $300 to $315 and replaces the “-” in paragraph 29A(1)(a) with a “,”.
• Regulation 3 substitutes a new subregulation 29AB(2) to provide for a $200 fee payable on lodging an application for a non-citizen conditional entry visa or a non-citizen entry visa, and repeals subregulations 29AB(3) and (4) because they are unnecessary.
• Regulation 4 is a transitional provision which provides that persons who at the time of the commencement of the amendments to regulation 29AB have paid the first tier of the fee for a non-citizen conditional entry visa or non-citizen entry visa, but not the second are not required to pay the new fee.