On 6 August 2020 Victoria entered its strongest lockdown of the covid-19 pandemic. This is aimed at bringing case numbers down from 400-700 a day to single digits. As part of this lockdown, all non-essential businesses had to close. This included Roam Migration Law’s physical offices at Ground Floor, 268 Rosslyn Street, West Melbourne.
Our office will be closed until at least 14 September 2020 when we expect restrictions to be eased.
We want to reassure all current and potential clients that although our physical office is closed we are still here virtually for you. Fortunately, most of our staff had been working remotely since March and we had systems in place to move our business to a 100% virtual office when the new restrictions came in.
For clients living in Victoria
You may see delays in the following:
- Australia Post/Couriering documents: The postal services in Victoria are under strain and documents may take longer than usual to be delivered to you.
- Medical examinations: Visa medical examinations have ceased in Melbourne metro until mid-September.
- Finger printing (for overseas police clearances): These services have ceased in Melbourne metro until at least mid-September.
The Department of Home Affairs has been understanding where clients are not able to arrange documents due to the shutdown of sites in Australia and globally. Extensions of time will be sought for matters where clients are unable to obtain documents due to the increased restrictions.
For clients travelling into Australia
The ban on international flights arriving in Victoria is also continuing for the foreseeable future (our outbreak came from failures in hotel quarantine).
Other states have tightened their borders and continue to prohibit arrivals from most inter-state travellers without 14 days quarantine and state government issued travel permits.
We recommend arriving directly into the state you intend to spend your time in, in Australia. If this is not possible, please check the current quarantine restrictions prior to leaving your point of departure. Please be aware that, depending on your point of entry to Australia and end destination, you may be required to complete two sets of 14 day quarantines periods.
For Roam Migration Law is it business as usual albeit remotely so please feel free to reach out to us on your existing matter or of a new enquiry.
