Recent reforms to Australia's employment and skilled migration program

Over the past 12 months there have been significant changes made to Australia’s skilled / employment migration program. This culminated in the termination of the 457 visa program in March 2018 and the introduction of a new Temporary Skill Shortage (TSS) visa, subclass 482 in place of the 457 visa category. In structure, the new 482 TSS visa is the same as the old 457 visa category in that it still has 3 parts being:

• Standard Business Sponsorship
• Business Nomination
• 482 TSS visa application

The real impact of this change is in the detail and the additional requirements that have been introduced. There have also been changes made to The Employer Nomination category, subclass 186 which is the category available to sponsor employees for permanent residence. These changes are referred to later in this paper.

There are a number of transitional arrangements that have been introduced to ensure that an employee that held a 457 visa before 18 April 2017 or had lodged a 457 application prior to this date that was subsequently approved will not be affected by these changes for he next 4 years ie eligible overseas workers will need to lodge an application for permanent residence before March 2022.

The following requirements apply to applications lodged under the TSS visa category, subclass 482 after March 2018.

1. Eligible occupations‍

There are now 3 occupations lists, as follows:

• Medium and Long Term Strategic Skills List (MLTSSL)
  Applicants with occupations on this list may be nominated for 4 years. This stream will also provide visa holderswith a pathway to permanent residence after being employed in the nominated position with the sponsor for 3 years
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• Short term Skilled Occupation List (STSOL)
  Applicants with occupations on this short term list will be granted a TSS visa for an initial period of 2 years.This stream will however allow one onshore renewal for a further 2 years butthere is no pathway to permanent residence.
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• Regional Occupation List (ROL)
  The Combined current list of eligible skilled occupations can be found here.

2. Minimum English language requirements

 The following tests are accepted to determine level of English language proficiency:

• International English Language Testing System (IELTS)
• Occupational English Test (OET)
• Test of English as a Foreign Language internet-based test (TOEFL iBT)
• Pearson Test of English (PTE) Academic test
• Cambridge English: Advanced (CAE) test

The test must have been completed within three years from the date of lodging a valid visa application and the required test scores outlined below must have been met.

Required test scores

The required test scores that primary applicants must meet are summarised below. 

Short term stream

For the short term stream, the required results are as follows:

• IELTS overall band score of at least 5.0 with a score of at least 4.5 in each of the test components
• OET score of at least ‘B’ in each of the four components
• TOEFL iBT total score of at least 35 with a score of at least 3 for each of the test components of listening and reading, and a score of at least 12 for each of thetest components of speaking and writing
• PTE Academic overall test score of at least 36 with a score of at least 30 in each of the test components
• CAE overall test score of at least 154 with a score of at least 147 in each of the test components

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Medium term stream

For the medium term stream, the required results are as follows:

·       IELTS overall band score of at least 5.0 with a score of at least 5 in eachof the test components.

·       OET score of at least 'B' in each of the four components

·       TOEFL iBT total score of at least 35 with a score of at least 4 for each of thetest components of listening and reading, and a score of at least 14 for eachof the test components of speaking and writing

·       PTE Academic overall test score of at least 36 with a score of at least 36 ineach of the test components

·       CAE overall test score of at least 154 with a score of at least 154 in each of thetest components.

Exemptions from English language proficiency

It is not required  to demonstrate English language proficiency if visa applicants fall into one of the following categories of exempted persons:

• you are a passport holder from Canada, New Zealand, the Republic of Ireland, theUnited Kingdom or the United States of America
• you have completed at least five years of full-time study in a secondary or higher education institution where instruction was conducted in English
• you are nominated for an occupation which will be performed at a diplomatic or consular mission of another country or an Office of the Authorities of Taiwan located in Australia
• the person is an employee of an overseas business who is coming to Australia to work for that company, or their associated entity, and the position has guaranteed annual earnings of at least AUD96,400
• your occupation requires you to hold a licence, registration or membership and:
• to be granted the licence, registration or membership you must demonstrate a level of English language proficiency thatis equivalent to or better than the level described above, and
• you have been granted the licence, registration or membership. 

3. Evidence of Market Salary

To read more, download our April 2018 newsletter here.