Change in visa condition 8107 for Subclass 457 visa

From 19 November 2016, the time period that Subclass 457 (Temporary Work (Skilled) visa holders can remain in Australia after ceasing employment with their current sponsor will be reduced from 90 days to 60 days.  This change will be applicable to 457 visas granted on or after that date

If 457 visa holders have not found a new sponsor without 60 days, then they will be in breach of their visa condition 8107 and their visa may be cancelled.

The purpose of this change is to strengthen the integrity of the subclass 457 visa program. It is intended to lessen the vulnerability of subclass 457 visa holders to informal employment and reduce the period in which they can compete within the Australian labour market for further employment.

Source: Federal Register of Legislation

From 1 July 2016, a number of changes will be made to the SOL and CSOL.

The following occupations will be removed from the Skilled Occupation List and added to the Consolidated Skilled Occupation List:

• 233611  Mining Engineers (excluding Petroleum)
• 233612  Petroleum Engineers
• 234912  Metallurgists
• 251311  Environmental Health Officers
• 251312  Occupational Health & Safety Advisers
• 411211  Dental Hygienists
• 411212  Dental Prosthetists
• 411213  Dental Technicians
• 411213  Dental Therapists

The following occupations will be added to the Skilled Occupation List:

• 251912  Orthotist or Prosthetist
• 25 2711  Audiologists

These changes will be applicable to the following visa subclasses as well as invitations issued on or after 1 July 2016:

• Subclass 186
• Subclass 189
• Subclass 190
• Subclass 402
• Subclass 457
• Subclass 485
• Subclass 489

The Government has announced a reciprocal Work and Holiday visa arrangement with Singapore. The visa will allow residents aged 18 to 30 years of age to travel, live, work and study in each other’s country. The agreement will enable up to 500 young adults in each country per year to enjoy a holiday in each other’s country, during which they may engage in short-term work and study.

The Government also plans to introduce a long validity, multiple-entry visitor visa for Singaporean nationals to visit Australia.  The new visitor visa initiative will “further boost tourism and business links between Australia and Singapore and allowing for a longer validity period will encourage repeat visits …”

A start date will be announced at a later date.

The Government has signed a new Work and Holiday arrangement with Hungary today.

The agreement will enable up to 200 young adults between 18 and 30 to travel to each other’s country for one year to enjoy a holiday in each other’s country, during which they may engage in short-term work and study.

A start date is yet to be announced.

There will be a streamlined pathway to Australian citizenship for New Zealand citizens who have been living in Australia.  These new arrangements will give many New Zealanders permanent residence status and enable them to apply for Australian citizenship.

The new visa pathway will be available from 1 July 2017, for New Zealand citizens who arrived post 26 February 2001, but on or before, the date of the announcement, 19 February 2016, if they meet the following criteria:

• have been living in Australia for five years;
• have been earning at least the equivalent to the Temporary Skilled Migration Income Threshold (TSMIT) for the qualifying period; and
• passing mandatory health, character and security checks.

The pathway will be made available within the Skilled Independent category of the General Skilled Migration stream of Australia’s annual Migration Programme.

The reciprocal work and holiday visa arrangement between Australia and the Slovak Republic and Australia and Slovenia have commenced this year.  The arrangement allow up to 200 young adults between 18 and 30 to visit each other’s country fro up to 12 months.

 

From 1 September 2015, the Department of Immigration and Border Protection will stop issuing visa labels to Australian visa holders.  Visa holders will no longer be able to request a visa label even if they are prepared to pay for the service.

Australian visas are granted and recorded electronically.  A visa is linked to the visa holder’s passport number.  Visa holders, registered Australian organisations and airline staff can check visa details online through the free Visa Entitlement Verification Online (VEVO) service and the recently introduced myVEVO mobile app.

A Work and Holiday arrangement for young people in China was announced at the signing of the China-Australia Free Trade Agreement last month. Up to 5000 visa places will be available annually for qualified Chinese nationals aged between 18 to 30 years of age to engage in cultural exchange and tourism.

Visa holders can stay in Australia for 12 months.  They can travel around Australia, undertake short-term work or study.

The arrangement will be implemented in 2015.  A start date will be announced at a later date.

More information about this announcement can be found here.

The Assistant Minister for Immigration and Border Protection, Senator the Hon Michaelia Cash and the Assistant Minister for Education and Training, Senator the Hon Simon Birmingham, announced today that Panelbeaters and Cabinet Makers will be added to the Skilled Occupation List (SOL).

The new SOL will come into effect on 1 July 2015. It will be applicable to applications made from that date.

Click here for more information.

 

On 16 June 2015, the Senate disallowed the Legislative Instrument IMMI 15/050 which came into effect on 18 April 2015, reducing the high income salary threshold from $250,000 to $180,000. As a result, the previous instrument IMMI 13/028 is now back in effect. This means that until further notice, the high income salary threshold for Subclass 457 visa is $250,000. All applications will be assessed against the $250,000 threshold from 17 June 2015 onwards.

The Government has signed a new Work and Holiday arrangement with Slovak Republic. The Work and Holiday visa requires applicants to have the support of their government, hold tertiary qualifications or studying for one and to speak functional English.

The agreement will enable up to 200 young adults from Slovak Republic and 200 young adults from Australia to enjoy a holiday in each other’s country, during which they may engage in short-term work and study.

A start date will be announced at a later date.

From 18 April 2015, the validity of English tests for points tested visas will be from time of invitation and not time of application.  The Migration Regulations have been amended to allow English test scores to be accepted for points tested skilled visas if the test was conducted three years before the applicant was invited to apply for the visa, instead of three years before the application was lodged.  The purpose of the change was to ensure that English test scores do not become invalid between the time of invitation to apply for the visa and the lodgement of the visa application.

The Government has signed a new Work and Holiday arrangement with Vietnam today. The Work and Holiday visa requires applicants to have the support of their government, hold tertiary qualifications or studying for one and to speak functional English.

The agreement will enable up to 200 young adults from Vietnam and 200 young adults from Australia to enjoy a holiday in each other’s country, during which they may engage in short-term work and study.

A start date will be announced at a later date.

The Assistant Minister for Immigration, Senator the Hon. Michaelia Cash announced today the government’s response to the recommendations of the Independent review into the integrity of the subclass 457 program.   The review was commissioned in 2014 with the task of examining compliance within the 457 program by sponsors of overseas workers.

Key recommendations of the review include an increased focus on targeting employers who seek to misuse the program, greater transparency around the department’s sanctions processes and proactive sharing of information between key government agencies.

The government will act on most of the recommendations.  It is expected that a majority of the reforms will be implemented before the end of the 2015-16 program year.

Some of the key measures include:

• Tighten the monitoring regime for sponsors that pose high risks;
• Increase collaboration between the Australian Taxation Office and the Department of Immigration and Border Protection;
• Make information on 457 visa holders rights and obligations more readily available;
• Disclose information on sanctions as a means to deter employers from improper practices;
• Introduce a new penalty making it unlawful for sponsors to receive payment in return for sponsoring a 457 worker;
• Explore options to replace the current training benchmarks provisions;
• Establish Ministerial Advisory Council on Skilled Migration (MACSM) to advise the government on skilled migration issues;
• Amend the threshold for market salary exemption from $250,000 to $180,000
• Review the Temporary Skilled Migration Income Threshold;
• Amend English language requirements to allow applicants to provide an average test score instead of minimum scores for each test components;
• Extend the sponsorship approval period for start-up businesses from 12 to 18 months; and for other businesses from 3 to 5 years;
• Investigate options to provide a streamlined processing system for low-risk sponsors.

More details here

 

On 25 February 2015, the legislation to establish Australian Border Force (ABF) was introduced to the Australian Parliament by the Minister for Immigration and Border Protection, the Hon. Peter Dutton MP.

In May 2014, the Government announced the integration of the Department of Immigration and Border Protection and the Australian Customs and Border Protection Service into a single department. The establishment of the Australian Border Force will commence on 1 July 2015.

Read more here

The new visa application charges for Partner visa from 1 January 2015 will be as follows:

• Provisional and permanent partner visas – currently $3085 increased to $4630
• Prospective marriage visa – currently $3085 increased to $4630
• Temporary and permanent partner visas – currently $4575 increased $6865

From 23 November 2014, the department will accept English language test scores from the Test of English as a Foreign Language internet-based test (TOEFL iBT) and the Pearson Test of English Academic (PTE Academic) across the Temporary Graduate, Skilled, Former Resident, and Work and Holiday visa programmes.

Scores from the Cambridge English: Advanced (CAE) test will also be accepted from a test taken on or after 1 January 2015.

These tests are alternatives to the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) and the Occupational English Test (OET), and have been accepted in the Student visa programme since 2011.

Student visa applicants can continue to provide scores from the IELTS, OET, TOEFL iBT, PTE Academic or Cambridge English: Advanced (CAE) tests.

More information here.

From 23 November 2014, passport holders from the following countries are eligible to make Subclass 600 Visitor visa applications online in the Tourist, Sponsored Family and Business Visitor streams.

The following countries are also added to the existing list:

• Bhutan
• Burma
• Cambodia
• Laos
• Mongolia
• Pakistan
• Thailand

The Western Australian Government has announced that public school fees will be waived for families on 457 visa to take into account lower incomes and other hardships. These include:

• Families earning $75,000 a year or less will not pay the public school tuition fee
• Illness and unemployment considered for partial or fully waived fees
• Families will also only pay $4,000 per annum once their gross household income passes $75,000, regardless of how many children they have in public schools.

More information here.

As of 23 November 2014, the list of eligible countries for Work and Holiday visa include Spain and Portugal.  The full list includes  Argentina, Bangladesh, Chile, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Thailand, Turkey, United States of America and Uruguay.

From 23 November 2014, the entry period (the period between the grant of the visa and entry into Australia) and maximum period of stay (the period between entry into Australia and exit out of Australia) for a Subclass 400 (Temporary Work (Short Stay Activity)) visa will be extended from three months to six months to provide greater flexibility within the temporary work visa programme.

More information here.

The Government has signed a new Work and Holiday arrangement with Israel today.

Minister Cash said the agreement will enable up to 500 young adults from Israel and 500 young adults from Australia to enjoy a holiday in each other’s country, during which they may engage in short-term work and study.

A start date is yet to be announced.

 

 

The Government has announced the endorsement of the key findings in the Significant Investor Visa review, which include:

• the creation of a Premium Investor visa (PIV) with Austrade as the nominator
• the involvement of Austrade in determining complying investment policy
• enabling Austrade to nominate SIV and PIV applicants on behalf of the Australian Government
• allowing ‘role swapping’ between primary and secondary applicants during the provisional visa stage within all streams of the Business Innovation and Investment Programme (BIIP)
• a range of changes to improve visa processing times, many of which have already been implemented.

In addition to the findings of the review, there will also be an increase in the residency requirement for secondary applicants of the SIV to 180 days.

The changes are expected to come into effect from 1 July 2015.

Senator Hanson-Young has successfully disallowed the motion against the Migration Amendment (Repeal of Certain Visa Classes) Regulation 2014, as contained in Select Legislative Instrument 2014 No. 65 [F2014L00622], made under the Migration Act 1958.

This means that  non-contributory parent and other family visas, including Carer, Remaining Relative and Aged Dependent Relative can now be lodged again.

From 25 September 2014, the following visa subclasses are open to new applications:

• Parent visa (subclass 103)
• Aged Parent visa (subclass 804)
• Aged Dependent Relative visa (subclasses 114 and 838)
• Remaining Relative visa (subclasses 115 and 835)
• Carer visa (subclasses 116 and 836).

The DIBP website is reporting extensive queues for these visas:

• Non-Contributory Parent visa – approximately 30 years
• Carer visa – approximately 4.5 years
• Remaining Relative and Aged Dependent Relative – approximately 56 years