This week, the Minister of Immigration made some encouraging announcements for temporary skilled workers seeking a path to permanent residency. These adjustments will help skilled workers who stayed in Australia during the pandemic and persuade them to settle down here permanently.

“Eligible skilled workers, already in Australia, will continue to support local businesses facing critical shortages, particularly in health, hospitality, and our regions,” Minister Hawke stated.

The 457 visa has been replaced by the Temporary Skill Shortage (TSS) visa (subclass 482), which has two streams: the Short-Term Stream and the Medium-Term Stream. The PR pathways for 457/TSS visa holders depend on the stream they are in.

• Short-Term Stream 482 visa: These visa holders has no direct pathway to permanent residency (PR). However, they may be eligible for the Employer Nomination Scheme (ENS) visa (subclass 186) or the Regional Sponsored Migration Scheme (RSMS) visa (subclass 187) if their employer sponsors them and meets certain requirements. The ENS visa requires at least three years of work experience in the occupation for which the visa was granted, while the RSMS visa requires two years of work experience.

• For Medium-Term Stream 482 visa holders, they may be eligible for the Temporary Residence Transition stream of the ENS visa or the Direct Entry stream of the RSMS visa if they meet the relevant requirements. The TRT stream requires at least three years of work experience with the same employer who sponsored their 482 visa, while the Direct Entry stream requires a skills assessment and a formal application process.

In order for sponsored subclass 457/482 visa holders to access this permanent residency pathway, the following requirements must be met:

• The applicant holds or has held a subclass 457 visa that was applied for before April 18, 2017 and subsequently granted, OR
• Is a subclass 482 visa holder (or holds a bridging visa associated with the subclass 482 visa application) who is nominated in an occupation that is currently on the short term skilled occupation list AND the visa applicant must have been in Australia for a cumulative period of 12 months between February 1, 2020 and December 14, 2021.

Why now is the best time to commence?

• The requirements for employer-sponsored visas are only going to get more stringent. The requirements will become very strict after COVD-19. Particularly for your 457 and 482 renewals. The process of proving that the company actually needs the visa holder will require a lot of documentation. Employers will have to offer convincing evidence of a need for the holder of this visa.
• The standards will alter. Additionally, there is a chance that by the time the visa holder needs to renew their visa, they will no longer meet the requirements. Consider sending a visa holder home while the company still needs them in the future because they are no longer qualified for a new visa.
• The Federal Government of Australia spends a LOT of money to maintain Australia. They will need to find every means of recovering this. We anticipate a sharp rise in the cost of SAF applications as well as visa fees.
• There is no denying that the pandemic has reduced workloads in almost every sector. The time to gather the necessary paperwork for the nomination application would be RIGHT NOW. Instead of attempting to resolve this while the company is also attempting to rebuild. For this one reason alone, NOW seems like the ideal time.

Novaturient is a Licensed Immigration consultant that offer Visa services in acquiring Permanent Resident Visa, Student Visa and Visit Visa for countries such as Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Schengen Countries and the UK.

Call us: 9731473738
Email: info@novaturientvisas.com