Your Visa to Success: End of Year Update

What’s changing?

As part of the Federal Government’s Migration Strategy, the “Temporary Skills Shortage Visa subclass 482” has been renamed the “Skills in Demand Visa subclass 482”.

Along with the name change:

• The old occupation lists are gone, with one all encompassing “Core Skilled Occupation List” replacing them. Many key occupations remain on the list (such as Chefs, Accountants, Registered Nurses), but others have been removed (for example, Café or Restaurant Manager). If an occupation has been removed, new applicants under those occupations cannot access these visas (and there may be issues for current 482 visa holders in transferring employers).
• All 482 visas can now be granted for up to 4 years, making it less complicated for some 482 visa holders to access permanent residency after 2 years in the position;
• Applicants only need to demonstrate 12 months of full-time work experience in the role or a related field within the last 5 years – but remember this is still on top of qualification requirements (and mandatory skills assessments for certain occupations); and
• There is a new Specialist Skills Stream for certain groups of occupations where the salary is above $135,000 per annum.

Further, the new Core Skilled Occupation Lists now also applies to the permanent Employer Nomination Scheme Visas, which has meant an expansion in the number of occupations that can be used to apply for permanent residency. This means that some people who were previously only able to apply for a 482 visa could now potentially be able to access permanent residency sooner.

If there are potential issues with pursuing one the new Skills in Demand visas, there may be other opportunities available – especially in the regional visa category as there are different occupation lists available for this. As always though, seeking professional advice from a registered migration agent or a legal practitioner with specialty in migration can make all the difference.

What’s to come?

As the Federal Government was not able to pass their full migration legislative agenda through the Parliament before it rose, there are some more changes to come in the New Year, including:

• Allowing labour market testing (advertising for the position) to have been undertaken in the 6 months before applying, instead of the current 4 months period; and
• Allowing the Federal Government to publish a registered of approved sponsors, which would include the business name, ABN, postcode, number of sponsored people, and the nominated occupations.

With a Federal Election around the corner, the new year will definitely be an interesting time in the migration space!