DIBP Issues End Of Year Warning To Visa Overstayers And Illegal Workers

26 Dec 2013

A number of illegal workers were located in Australia due to a string of the end of year operations from Department of Immigration and Border Protection (DIBP). A renewed warning was issued to people who are caught overstaying their visas or working illegally will be returned to their home country.

Michaelia Cash, Immigration and Border Protection’s Assistant Minister said that at a fruit farm near Batlow, in the south-west of NSW (New South Wales), 14 illegal workers were found while on the mid-north coast of the state, 11 people were located who were overstaying their visas.

Cash explained that in the operation at Batlow, compliance officers caught 13 people including 6 couples. Sydney’s Villawood Immigration Detention Centre received the group where pending their removal from Australia at the first opportunity.

Along the mid-north coast, separate operations located 5 people. With severe reporting conditions while they make preparations to leave Australia, bridging visas were granted to a man located at a restaurant in Bellingen, and a woman and a family of four caught at houses in Woolgoolga.

Cash explained that these operations were conducted in response to community information received by the department and investigations are continuing to find the circumstances of hiring illegal workers.

She added that employers need to understand that knowingly or carelessly referring an illegal worker for work or allowing a person to work illegally is a criminal offence.

Employers have access to the VEVO (Visa Entitlement Verification Online) service to verify the details of potential workers, with their consent, to swiftly confirm their eligibility to work in Australia.

Employers convicted for hiring illegal workers under Commonwealth legislation face 2 years’ imprisonment and fines of up to $20,400 while organizations face fines of up to $102,000 per illegal worker. So, work in Australia legally by applying for an Australian Skilled Independent Visa through Opulentus!