On the 19th April 2017, the Australian Department of Immigration and Border Protection announced that the current 457 visa programme is due to end in March 2018.
The current programme will be replaced by a new Temporary Skills Shortage Visa.
A new transitional list of occupations has been introduced with some occupations being subject to the ‘caveat’ specified in the relevant legislative instrument. The new list so it is IMPORTANT that you contact us first to review the occupation that you are either going to be sponsored under or that you are looking to sponsor.
Further changes are due to occur in July 2017, including:
- The Occupation lists are going to be reviewed again and this could mean further changes to certain Occupations ability to work in Australia on a 457 visa.
- English Language Requirements are also looking to be changed, with high salary earners being affected.
- The Training Benchmarks are also looking to be changed.
- Police Certificates for applicants will become Mandatory.
- The Longer Term Employer Nomination Scheme and Regional Sponsored Migration Schemes will have their Age reduced to 45 years from 50 years presently, for direct Entry applicants.
Proposed changes in December 2017:
- Collection of Tax File Numbers for Applicants.
- Publication of Sanctioned Sponsors.
Main changes are to take place in March 2018:
- The 457 Visa is to be replaced with a Short Term 2 year visa and a 4 year Medium term Visa for higher skilled or more critical roles. These will be based on 2 new lists, please contact us to see which list your occupation would fall under and how we can assist you, either as an applicant or a Sponsor.
- Applicants applying for the Longer Term Employer Nomination Scheme and Regional Sponsored Migration Scheme will need to be under the age of 45 years.
- The Residency Requirement will increase from 2 to 3 years.
Please contact us if you are either looking to be sponsored by an Australian Company or if you are an employer looking to Sponsor an applicant into Australia.
This includes Overseas Businesses looking to conduct business in Australia through a new company that would need to be set up by an overseas employee.
