Immigration Services for State & Local Government
Employer Nomination Scheme application with serious character issue.
Hammond Taylor was approached by a council to assist with the Employer Nomination Scheme Subclass 186 Permanent Residence visa application for a senior staff member. The staff member in question was highly valued within the council as they had a wealth of experience gained through work for local government overseas. However, the staff member's partner had previous criminal convictions which risked leading to the refusal of the application, thereby depriving the council of their highly valued employee.
Hammond Taylor worked with the council to prepare submissions demonstrating the value the employee brought to the council and how their skills and experience was extremely rare and the council could not find a comparable skillset in Australia.
We also worked closely with the visa applicant and their partner to understand the conviction in their home country. Through extensive discussions, we came to understand that the partner had a number of untreated mental health issues at the time which led to the offending. Through counselling and medication, the partner was able to overcome these issues and substantially lower the risk of further offending. Hammond Taylor prepared relevant legal submissions supported by statements from counsellors and psychologists regarding the offending, the partner's therapy, medication and conduct since engaging in treatment.
Ultimately the Subclass 186 Permanent Residence visa was granted due to the extensive submissions which demonstrated a low risk of re-offending due to the partner's treatment and rehabilitation. This enabled the council to secure the services of their highly valued employee on a permanent basis.
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