Say goodbye to the 457 – welcome the TSS

Migration law update

There have been significant recent changes to Australian migration law with the introduction of the Temporary Skills Shortage(TSS) visa and changes to employer sponsored visa criteria.

The TSS was introduced on 18 March 2018 and replaced the controversial subclass 457 temporary work visa.

The TSS visa has three streams, the short term stream which provides a visa for 2 years with one additional extension of 2 years (when applying from onshore), the medium term stream which provides a visa for 4 years as well as a pathway to permanent residency and finally a labour agreement stream (available to only a few employers).

Which stream you apply under and how long you will get your visa granted for is decided by which list your occupation happens to be on. One should think of the two lists as the good list aka the Medium to Long Term Skilled Occupation list and the bad list or Short-term list (both lists can be found here ). Applicants under either the short-term or medium-term stream must have two years of work experience in their nominated occupation.

Employer sponsored permanent visas like the RSMS and ENS visa also became stricter in March. The RSMS visa now has a three-year work experience requirement and the Regional Occupation List (for RSMS applicants click here) was also updated in March. Applicants for an RSMS or ENS visa now cannot have turned 45 years old unless exempt. Another important thing to note is that there are transitional arrangements in place for employer sponsored permanent visas for applicants who held or applied for a subclass 457 visa before 17 April 2017.

This is just a brief overview of some of the important recent changes to Australian migration law. For more information about the Temporary Skills Shortage visas or employer sponsored visas contact West Aussie Migration today.