Year: 2023

Labour Market Testing Exemption Extended to UK Citizens and Permanent Residents

Posted by Rebecca Berkovic on August 16, 2023

The Australian Government has now implemented the extension of the labour market testing exemption in relation to the Temporary Skill Shortage (TSS)(subclass 482) visa program to UK citizens and permanent residents applying to work in Australia.

The inclusion of the UK in the list of countries exempt from labour market testing (including China, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Thailand, Vietnam, Canada, Chile, South Korea, New Zealand and Singapore), comes in the wake of the recently signed Australia-United Kingdom Free Trade Agreement which came into effect on 31 May 2023.

Businesses interested in employing UK citizens and permanent residents will no longer need to complete labour market testing of the local Australian labour market before applying for TSS subclass 482 nominations in Australia. This will enable employers sponsoring UK citizens and permanent residents to benefit from a more efficient and less time-consuming application process.

For advice regarding Australian visas and sponsoring skilled overseas workers, please do not hesitate to contact us at info@hartmanimmigration.com.au for Australian immigration assistance.

Disclaimer:

The information on this website is intended only to provide a summary and general overview on relevant matters. It is not intended to be comprehensive nor does it constitute legal advice. You are advised to seek legal or other professional advice before acting or relying on any of the content contained in this website.

Ensuring Immigration Compliance when Hiring Overseas Workers

Posted by Rebecca Berkovic on August 9, 2023

In order to retain and attract the workforce that best assists your business to grow and develop, it is important to have the option to sponsor and hire overseas employees to work in Australia. In doing so, in order to protect the business and care for employees, it is crucial that organisations are aware of the changing Australian visa landscape and visa conditions of employees.

During the COVID-19 period, as the Australian Government focused on economic relief for Australian businesses, employers were given increased flexibility to hire overseas workers, including unlimited work hours for Student visa holders and entitlement of Working Holiday makers to have increased time with one employer.

It is important for Australian businesses hiring overseas workers to be aware that the Federal Government is now rolling back the flexible visa arrangements introduced during the pandemic. Changes to the temporary flexible measures include the following:

Student (subclass 500) visa holders have returned to being given a work limitation of 48 hours per fortnight whilst their course is in session, unless continuing to work in aged care where full-time hours are permitted until 31 December 2023.
Working Holiday makers have returned to generally being limited to working a maximum of 6 months with any particular employer, unless a limited exception applies.
Employers and labour hire companies will now be held liable for any facilitated breaches of the above and other visa conditions.

On 31 July 2023, the Australian Federal Government passed the Migration Amendment (Strengthening Employer Compliance) Bill 2023 (the Bill) which amends the Migration Act 1958 with the purpose of strengthening employer compliance measures and protecting temporary migrant workers from exploitation.

Main components of the Bill:

Creating a criminal offence where a person coerces, or exerts undue influence or undue pressure on a non-citizen to accept or agree to a work arrangement that would involve a breach of a work-related condition.
Creating a criminal offence where a person coerces, or exerts undue influence or pressure on a non-citizen to accept a work arrangement to avoid an adverse immigration status, or that would result in the non-citizen being unable to satisfy a work-related visa requirement.
Establishing a framework where the Minister can declare certain employers to be ‘prohibited employers’ for a specified period of time. Rather than just barring or cancelling the employer’s business sponsorship license, the prohibition applies to the employment of any temporary visa holder.
Mandating the use of the VEVO system for employers to determine whether a non-citizen is lawful and has the necessary permission to work.
Increasing civil and monetary penalties for individuals and business sponsors.

How can employers ensure compliance?

In order for businesses to ensure that they are protected from breaches of the Migration Amendment (Strengthening Employer Compliance) Bill 2023, steps that employers can take include:

Ensuring that the visa status of each overseas worker is known and recorded by the business.
Conducting a VEVO check for all overseas workers.
Ensuring that systems are in place so that the business is updated with any visa changes for overseas workers employed by the business.

For advice regarding immigration compliance and employing overseas workers, please do not hesitate to contact us at info@hartmanimmigration.com.au for Australian immigration assistance.

Disclaimer:

Increase in the Australian Fair Work High Income Threshold

Posted by Rebecca Berkovic on July 31, 2023

On 1 July 2023, the Australian Fair Work High Income Threshold (FWHIT) increased from $162,000 to $167,500.

Why is this relevant to Australian visa applications?

For applicants holding a Temporary Skill Shortage (TSS)(subclass 482) visa who are over the age of 45, whilst they are generally not entitled to apply for Australian permanent residency through the Employer Nomination Scheme (ENS) (subclass 186) visa, an exemption applies to subclass 482 visa holders earning over the FWHIT for a minimum of three years.

For employers, wishing to nominate workers for Australian permanent residency, please feel free to contact Hartman Immigration at info@hartmanimmigration.com.au.

Disclaimer:

Eight Major Australian Visa Changes Occurring in July 2023

Posted by Rebecca Berkovic on July 7, 2023

On 1 July 2023, the Australian Government introduced a series of changes to the Australian visa system. The changes will affect Australian visas in the following ways:

Change 1- Increase in Temporary Work Visas Salary Threshold

The Temporary Skilled Migration Income Threshold for the Temporary Skill Shortage (TSS)(subclass 482) and Skilled Employer Sponsored Regional (Provisional) (subclass 494) visas has increased from AU$53,900 to AU$70,000 for nominations lodged from 1 July 2023.

Change 2- Work Restrictions for Student Visa Holders

From 1 July 2023, work restrictions for Student visa holders will be re-introduced with a cap of 48 hours per fortnight.

However, an exception to the 48-hour work limitation will apply to Student visa holders already working in the aged care sector on 8 May 2023. These Student visa holders will have unrestricted work hours.

Change 3- Temporary Graduate (subclass 485) Visas Changes

International students in Australia who have completed their degree in Australia in the field of health, teaching, engineering or agriculture may access extended subclass 485 visas from 1 July 2023. Acceptable qualifications must be on the prescribed list.

Visa periods will be increased to:

4 years for select Bachelor Degrees
5 years for select Masters degrees
6 years for all Doctoral degrees

First time applicants will be granted a visa with an additional period of two years added to the standard visa period.

Change 4- Work and Holiday Makers

As of 1 July 2023, Papua New Guinea became the newest participant in the Working Holiday Maker (WHM) Program, enabling up to 100 citizens of PNG to journey to Australia using the Work and Holiday (subclass 462) visa. Individuals who have completed a minimum of two years of post-secondary study in Papua New Guinea can now apply for the Work and Holiday visa.

For citizens from the United Kingdom, the age limit for the Working Holiday (subclass 417) visa has been extended from 30 to 35 years old.

In the context of the WHM Program, as of 1 July 2023, Condition 8547 has also been reintroduced for participants of the program. This condition applies to individuals holding either subclass 417 or subclass 462 visas and restricts visa holders from working with a single employer for more than six months. Relevantly, this change does not apply retrospectively, and any work carried out by a WHM prior to July will not be counted towards their six-month limit with the same employer.

Change 5- India-Australia Agreement

The Economic Co-operation and Trade Agreement between India and Australia commenced on 1 July 2023 with the following benefits:

Indian citizens are now eligible to apply for Work and Holiday visas.
Increased Post Study Work visa periods have been introduced for Indian citizens. Indian students graduating in Australia will be eligible for post study work visas as follows:
- upon completion of diploma or trade qualifications- stays of up to 18 months
- upon completion of bachelor degree (including honours)- stays of up to 2 years
- upon completion of masters by research and masters by coursework- stays of up to 3 years
- upon completion of doctoral degrees- stays of up to 4 years.
- Additional year of stay for high-performing STEM bachelor degree graduates (extended from 2 years to 3 years)

Change 6- Increased Immigration Target

On 1 July 2023 the Australian Government increased its intake of permanent migrants to 195,000 for this financial year, up by 35,000, in a bid to help businesses and industries battling widespread staff shortages and reduce reliance on short-term workers.

Change 7- Australian Citizenship for New Zealand Nationals

From 1 July 2023, New Zealand citizens who have been living in Australia for more than four years and arrived in Australia after 26 February 2011 will be eligible to apply directly for Australian citizenship without having to apply for a permanent visa. These changes apply only to New Zealand citizens holding a Special Category (subclass 444) visa (SCV). Protected SCV holders will continue to be eligible to apply directly for Australian citizenship.

From 1 July 2023:

All New Zealand citizens holding an SCV will be considered permanent residents for citizenship purposes
New Zealand citizens granted an SCV before 1 July 2022 will have their period of permanent residence for citizenship purposes backdated to 1 July 2022
New Zealand citizens granted an SCV for the first time on or after 1 July 2022 will be considered a permanent resident for citizenship purposes from the date of their SCV grant.

The above provisions will apply to New Zealand citizens in Australia. It will also apply to New Zealand citizens who are overseas but held an SCV immediately before last leaving Australia.

These provisions will apply to citizenship applications submitted after 1 July 2023.

Change 8- Increase in Governmental Visa Application Fees

From 1 July 2023, Australian Department of Home Affairs (DHA) governmental fees increased with visa application charges increasing from between 6 and 40 per cent across various visa categories. Some of the new governmental visa application charges include:

Visa Type	Subclass	Before	From 1st July 2023
Partner visa (Onshore / Offshore)	820/801 & 309/100	$8,085	$8,850
Skilled visas	189 / 190 / 491	$4,240	$4,640
Graduate	485	$1,730	$1,895
Student	500	$650	$710
Visitor (Onshore)	600	$380	$475
Visitor (Offshore)	600	$150	$190
Working Holiday Maker	417 / 462	$510	$635
Temporary Skill Shortage (Short Term)	482	$1,330	$1,455
Temporary Skill Shortage (Long Term)	482	$2,770	$3,035
Employer Nomination Scheme (ENS)	186	$4,240	$4,640
Significant Investor stream	188	$9,195	$13,860
Significant Entrepreneur stream	188	$4,240	$6,395
All other applicants	188	$6,270	$9,450

For advice regarding Australian visas, please do not hesitate to contact us at info@hartmanimmigration.com.au for Australian immigration assistance.

Disclaimer:

1 July 2023 Australian Visa Application Governmental Fee Increases

Posted by Rebecca Berkovic on June 23, 2023

The Australian Government has announced that visa application charges will increase from 1 July 2023.

The Migration Amendment (Visa Application Charges) Regulations 2023 – F2023L00831 legislative instrument introduced by the Australian Government sets out the 1 July 2023 governmental fee increases which are stated to be as follows:

From 1 July 2023 visa application fees will increase by the 2023-24 forecast CPI of 3.25%.
Visitor, working holiday, work and holiday, training, temporary activity, and temporary work (short stay specialist) visas will increase by a further 21% in addition to CPI.
Business innovation and investment visas will increase by a further 46% in addition to CPI.
The remaining visa application fees will increase by 6% in addition to CPI.
There is no increase apart from the CPI increase of 3.25% for Subclass 403 (Temporary Work (International Relations)) visas in the Pacific Australia Labour Mobility (PALM) stream
The new visa application fee amounts will be rounded to the nearest $5.

For advice regarding Australian visas, please do not hesitate to contact us at info@hartmanimmigration.com.au for Australian immigration assistance.

Disclaimer:

Changes to the Temporary Skill Shortage (subclass 482) Australian Work Visa

Posted by Rebecca Berkovic on June 13, 2023

The Australian Minister for Immigration, Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs, The Hon Andrew Giles MP, announced that in the coming weeks the Australian Federal Government will be introducing the following changes to Australian Temporary Skill Shortage (TSS)(subclass 482) visa program:

Additional Time to Transfer Employers for 482 Visa Holders:

The amount of time TSS subclass 482 visa holders will be given to transfer employers will increase from the current 60 days to a full 6 months to find a new sponsor. In addition, the Minister announced that subclass 482 visa holders will have full work rights whilst they are searching for a new sponsor.

Reduction in time for subclass 482 visa holders to apply for permanent residency:

The time required to qualify for the Temporary Residence Transition stream of the permanent Employer Nomination Scheme (ENS)(subclass 186) visa will be reduced from the current three years to two years. This will enable temporary subclass 482 visa holders to apply for Australian permanent residency a year earlier than they can at present.

All temporary subclass 482 visa holders will have a pathway to Australia permanent residency (with age and English language restrictions still applying):

In the coming weeks, the Minister has announced that rather than the current process in which only those with occupations on the Medium to Long Term Skilled Occupation List have a pathway to Australian permanent residency via the ENS subclass 186 visa program, and those with occupations on the Short Term Skilled Occupation List are precluded from doing so, every person who holds a subclass 482 visa will have a pathway to permanent residency. However, applicants will still be required to meet age, health, character and English language requirements.

For advice regarding sponsorship of skilled overseas workers in Australia, please do not hesitate to contact us at info@hartmanimmigration.com.au for Australian immigration assistance.

Disclaimer:

australian-visa-opportunities-uk-citizens

New Australian Visa Opportunities for UK Citizens

Posted by Rebecca Berkovic on June 2, 2023

The Australia-United Kingdom Free Trade Agreement (Australia-UK FTA) which entered into force on 31 May 2023, is designed to create new export opportunities between the two countries, strengthen diversification and economic recovery and create new export opportunities and jobs. It will also be easier for Australians to live and work in the UK and vice versa.

Following the entry into force of the Australia-UK FTA, new Australian visa opportunities have been introduced for UK citizens.

Under the new arrangements, UK passport holders will be able to:

Apply for an Australian Working Holiday visa if they are between the ages of 18 and 35 years inclusive from 1 July 2023.
Be granted up to three Working Holiday visas without having to meet any ‘specified work’ requirements from 1 July 2024.
Labour Market Testing concessions were introduced on 31 May 2023 for UK citizens which added the Australia-UK FTA to the list of international trade agreements where labour market testing is exempt for those countries. This means that businesses nominating UK citizen employees under the Temporary Skill Shortage (TSS)(subclass 482) visa program will no longer be required to undertake labour market testing, making the sponsorship process smoother.

The Australia-UK FTA also includes provisions to support recognition of professional qualifications between Australia and the UK and increased collaboration between UK and Australian accreditation and regulatory bodies. This will assist in streamlining the process for UK visa applicants applying for Australian visas where accreditation is required.

For advice regarding Australian visas, please do not hesitate to contact us at info@hartmanimmigration.com.au for Australian immigration assistance.

Disclaimer:

Additional Australian Visa Options for Indian Citizens

Posted by Rebecca Berkovic on May 28, 2023

In the wake of approval of the Australia-India Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (ECTA) by the Australian and Indian Governments (which came into effect on March 30 2023), along with heralding in a new era of freer trade and closer cooperation between India and Australia, additional Australian visa pathways have been created for Indian citizens.

Over the next two years, the Australian Government under the ECTA will introduce the following additional Australian visa pathways to Indian citizens:

Post-study work rights; and
Work and Holiday Visa options.

Post-Study Work Rights Extended

Provisions attached to the ECTA are set to increase the amount of time Indian students can remain in Australia post qualification, with provisions likely to be introduced as follows:

Students graduating with a diploma or trade qualification may stay up to 18 months in Australia;
Students who complete a bachelor’s degree may remain and work in Australia for two years;
Students who graduate with first class honours in a bachelor’s degree in STEM or Information and Communications Technology (ICT) will be permitted to stay and work in Australia for up to three years;
Students who complete a master’s degree may remain and work in Australia for up to three years; and
Students who complete a doctoral degree may remain in Australia for up to four years.

Work and Holiday visas

As part of the terms of the ECTA, the Australian Government has pledged to implement a Work and Holiday visa arrangement for Indian citizens within two years of entry into force of the Agreement. Moreover, if India implements a similar youth mobility program in the future with any country, it will extend the opportunity to participate in such a program to Australian citizens.

The agreement opens up 1,000 Work and Holiday Visa places for Indian citizens.

In addition, the ECTA creates access for 1,800 qualified traditional chefs and yoga instructors to receive an Australian four-year work visa.

The agreement also supports a new Professional Services Working Group to streamline recognition of qualifications, licensing and registration procedures between the two countries.

For advice Australia visas, please do not hesitate to contact us at info@hartmanimmigration.com.au for Australian immigration assistance.

Disclaimer:

Changes to Student Visa Work Hours

Posted by Rebecca Berkovic on May 17, 2023

For any business employing Student visa holders, it is important to be aware of the number of hours of work allowed under this visa type to ensure employer compliance with immigration laws.

Until COVID-19 hit, Student visa holders were only entitled to work 40 hours per fortnight whilst their course was in session. During COVID-19, the Australian Government relaxed work restrictions for Student visa holders. In January 2022, work hour limitations were removed entirely to support economic recovery efforts in Australia.

The Australian Government has now announced that from 1 July 2023, work restrictions for Student visa holders will be re-introduced with a cap of 48 hours per fortnight. However, an exception to the 48-hour work limitation will apply to Student visa holders already working in the aged care sector on 8 May 2023. These Student visa holders will have unrestricted work hours.

For advice regarding employment of overseas workers in Australia, please do not hesitate to contact us at info@hartmanimmigration.com.au for Australian immigration assistance.

Disclaimer:

Australian Visas for Conferences

Posted by Rebecca Berkovic on May 17, 2023

It’s always a pleasure helping clients arrange visas for participants to attend conferences in Australia. It’s helpful to know that the following Australian visas are relevant in this situation:

A minority of passport-holders are eligible to apply for an Electronic Travel Authority (ETA) (subclass 601) to enter Australia for a conference, which the applicant needs to arrange themselves.
Various passport-holders can apply for an eVisitor- business stream (subclass 651) visa.
For all other passport-holders not on the list of eligible countries for an ETA or eVisitor visa, we assist in arranging a Visitor- business stream (subclass 600) visa.
For those who are receiving payment for presenting at a conference, they require a Temporary Work (Short Stay Specialist)(subclass 400) visa.

For advice regarding Australian visas, please do not hesitate to contact us at info@hartmanimmigration.com.au for Australian immigration assistance.