Q 1 What are the changes to offshore General Skilled
Migration visas lodged before 1 September 2007?
Under section 39 of the Migration Act 1958 the Minister
for Immigration and Citizenship has the power to set the
maximum number of visas of a particular class that may
be granted in a financial year. This is known as ‘capping’.
Once this number is reached, any application for that
class of visa that has not been finalised is taken not to
have been made. This is known as ‘ceasing’. This means
that the application and visa application charge are
returned to the visa applicant.