18th April 2017- Government abolishes 457 visas

The Federal Government will abolish the 457 visa and replace it with two new visas. The Temporary Work (Skilled) visa (subclass 457 visa) will 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. 

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
• Significantly condensing the occupation lists used for skilled migration visas, including the subclass 457 visa, from 19 April 2017.

More information can be found by following these links: 

www.border.gov.au/WorkinginAustralia/Documents/abolition-replacement-457.pdf  (For 457s)
www.border.gov.au/WorkinginAustralia/Documents/reforms-australia-permanent-employer-sponsored-migration-programme.pdf (For permanent employer sponsored - RSMS 187/ENS 186)
www.border.gov.au/Trav/Work/Work/Skills-assessment-and-assessing-authorities/skilled-occupations-lists (new occupation lists from 19th April 2017)
www.border.gov.au/Trav/Work/Work/Skills-assessment-and-assessing-authorities/skilled-occupations-lists/removed-skilled-occupations (list of removed occupations)

More information to follow......