News

A 32 Billion Euro Gas Project off the coast of Western Australia has been approved from the Australian Federal Court. The employees, who work there, will not need a visa, since the project is located outside the visa zone. Judge Neil McKeeracher has ruled that the two pipe laying ships of the Swiss construction company Allseas Group are not "resources installations" as defined in the Australian Migration Act. This means that the workers, who are employed by Allseas Group do not need an Australian Visa. The whole project was put on hold because of protests of various Australian working unions. Representatives of the unions claim, that a preference is given to overseas workers, by allowing them to be employed without a valid Australian working visa. Allseas employs only foreign citizens either on tourist, or on business visas. These visa types do not grant their holders legal right to work in Australia. As a result of the protest the project, which costs 1 million EUR per day came to standstill, until the problem was resolved. The final judgment of the Federal court is that the ships do not constitute fixed structures or mobile units as defined in the Migration Act. For this reason the workers, who are employed there are not a part of the immigration zone and do not need visas.