Significant 457 UPDATE

[TeeTMI]

Significant 457 UPDATE

http://www.border.gov.au/Trav/Work/457-abolition-replacement

Abolition and replacement of the 457 visa – Government reforms to employer sponsored skilled migration visas

On 18 April 2017, the Government announced that the Temporary Work (Skilled) visa (subclass 457 visa) will be abolished and replaced with the completely new Temporary Skill Shortage (TSS) visa in March 2018.

The TSS visa programme will be comprised of a Short-Term stream of up to two years and a Medium-Term stream of up to four years and will support businesses in addressing genuine skill shortages in their workforce and will contain a number of safeguards which prioritise Australian workers.

This new visa is part of the Government’s significant reform package to strengthen the integrity and quality of Australia’s temporary and permanent employer sponsored skilled migration programmes.

Key reforms include:

• Introducing the temporary skill shortage visa with new requirements, including but not limited to:
  • new, more targeted occupation lists which better align with skill needs in the Australian labour market
  • a requirement for visa applicants to have at least two years’ work experience in their skilled occupation
  • a minimum market salary rate which ensures that overseas workers cannot be engaged to undercut Australian workers
  • mandatory labour market testing, unless an international obligation applies,
  • capacity for only one onshore visa renewal under the Short-Term stream
  • capacity for visa renewal onshore and a permanent residence pathway after three years under the Medium-Term stream
  • the permanent residence eligibility period will be extended from two to three years
  • a non-discriminatory workforce test to ensure employers are not actively discriminating against Australian workers
  • strengthened requirement for employers to contribute to training Australian workers
  • the Department of Immigration and Border Protection will collect Tax File Numbers and data will be matched with the Australian Tax Office’s records, and
  • mandatory penal clearance certificates to be provided.
• Tightening eligibility requirements for employer sponsored permanent skilled visas, including but not limited to:
  • tightened English language requirements
  • a requirement for visa applicants to have at least three years’ work experience
  • applicants must be under the maximum age requirement of 45 at the time of application
  • strengthened requirement for employers to contribute to training Australian workers, and
  • employers must pay the Australian market salary rate and meet the Temporary Skilled Migration Income Threshold¹.
• Concessions for regional Australia will continue to be available:
  • Employers in regional Australia will continue to have access to occupations under the temporary and permanent visas, to reflect their skills needs.
  • Existing permanent visa concessions for regional Australia, such as waiving the nomination fee and providing age exemptions for certain occupations, will be retained. Consideration will be given to expanding the occupations in regional Australia that are exempt from the age requirement.
• Significantly condensing the occupation lists used for skilled migration visas, including the subclass 457 visa, from 19 April 2017.

The implementation of these reforms will begin immediately and will be completed in March 2018.

Further information on different aspects of the reforms will be published in due course.

¹ Set at $53,900 as at 12 April 2016.

Edited April 18, 2017 by TeeTMI

[Riekie]

Hi Tee, thanks for the quick response on the announcement and for clarifying. 

 

Does the new 3 year rule for PR and the renewal limitations also apply to current 457 holders?

 

Will current applications being assessed, still be granted under the 457 requirements and with the current 457 obligations and features?

 

[TeeTMI]

49 minutes ago, Riekie said:

Hi Tee, thanks for the quick response on the announcement and for clarifying. 

 

Does the new 3 year rule for PR and the renewal limitations also apply to current 457 holders?

 

Will current applications being assessed, still be granted under the 457 requirements and with the current 457 obligations and features?

 

 

I haven't seen anything confirming these questions, however I am currently frantically trying to get an application in as there will be changes to the occupations lists tomorrow also. 

 

[Riekie]

Thanks Tee! Good luck with that application!

[TeeTMI]

3 hours ago, Riekie said:

Will current applications being assessed, still be granted under the 457 requirements and with the current 457 obligations and features?

 

 

It appears that the changes will impact 457 visa granted as of tomorrow.

 

Visa Applicants who lodged subclass 457 nomination and visa applications prior to the Government’s announcement for occupations now no longer approved for the purposes of the programme, which remain on hand, will be given the opportunity to withdraw their applications and a refund provided.

For subclass 457 visas granted on or after 19 April 2017, under policy, the maximum four year visa period will, however, only be available where the primary applicant’s occupation is on the MLTSSL.

 

[bbop]

Is the removed skills list also applicable for 190 visa's as of immediately or only as of 2018?

[Riekie]

12 hours ago, TeeTMI said:

 

It appears that the changes will impact 457 visa granted as of tomorrow.

 

Visa Applicants who lodged subclass 457 nomination and visa applications prior to the Government’s announcement for occupations now no longer approved for the purposes of the programme, which remain on hand, will be given the opportunity to withdraw their applications and a refund provided.

For subclass 457 visas granted on or after 19 April 2017, under policy, the maximum four year visa period will, however, only be available where the primary applicant’s occupation is on the MLTSSL.

 

Thanks for clarifying Tee!

 

I see the PM will be making an announcement regarding citizenship too this morning....

[Mara]

Here are the lists of the future 457 occupations and the 200 occupations that have been removed.

 

Future 457

https://www.border.gov.au/Trav/Work/Work/Skills-assessment-and-assessing-authorities/skilled-occupations-lists/combined-stsol-mltssl

 

Removed 457

https://www.border.gov.au/Trav/Work/Work/Skills-assessment-and-assessing-authorities/skilled-occupations-lists/removed-skilled-occupations

 

[JadeWilks]

Have the changes already taken place?

[TeeTMI]

4 minutes ago, JadeWilks said:

Have the changes already taken place?

 

Some changes have now taken place, others come into play in December 2017 and March 2018.

The new Temporary Skill Shortage (TSS) visa is expected to commence in March 2018.

[Ta2Bryan]

Hi all.

We had a spanner thrown in the works this week where it appears that our points (60) are not enough to qualify (or will result in a very long wait) for a 189 or 190 and we are now considering a 457.

My wife has booked to try get a better outcome on the IELTS academic stream (7.5 listening, 9 speaking, 8 & 8) in the hope of getting above 8 throughout.

However, the recruitment agent has advised that they have a number of Employers willing to sponsor her for a 457.

We are going to continue with our 457 application at the end of this month.

If I read the above correctly, we will only be eligible to apply for PR after 3 years, or am I misunderstanding? And, will we only be allowed to apply for PM if Sonography is still on the list in 3 years time? 

Thanks in advance.

Bryan

 

[Nallan]

That would be correct, I believe its employer sponsored and its the medium term visa?