Migration Newsletter – Edition 24

Hello everyone!

It’s been 6 months since the last edition of our newsletter. Apologies for taking so long!

So let’s not waste any more time and skip to the part which matters: news about Australian immigration.

Student Visa Work Rights

As many of you may know by now, the relaxation of the work limitation for student visa holders will end on 30 June 2023. However, the working hours cap from 1 July 2023 will be higher than it used to be, with student visa holders being able to work 48 hours per fortnight (compared to 40 hours per fortnight before the pandemic).

Graduate visas

Graduates of certain university qualifications can now enjoy a longer graduate visa (subclass 485). If you are studying a bachelors or masters degree in the fields of health, teaching, engineering or agriculture, from 1st July 2023 your 485 visa will last 2 years’ longer than usual: 4 years for Bachelor degrees (compared to 2 years’ duration) or 5 years for Masters degrees. Also, all doctoral degree graduates will enjoy a 6-year graduate visa, regardless of the field of study! This is in addition to the right to apply for a second 485 visa of up to 2 years if you have studied and continued to live in a regional area of Australia.

What’s more, Graduate Visa holders whose visas expired or will expire between 1 September 2022 and 1 July 2023 may apply for an extension of their work rights using a 408 COVID-19 Pandemic event visa with two years of validity.

Job Ready Program

If you are currently undertaking the Job Ready Program, I am sure TRA is already testing your patience. Trades Recognition Australia has announced that they have been experiencing a high volume of applications, and currently, the average processing times are:

• Registration and eligibility (Step 1): Up to 6 months from application
• JRE (Step 2) program engagement, application assessment and follow-up: up to 8 months from application
• General document processing: 2.5 months from upload
• JRWA Completion: Up to 4 months from application
• JRFA outcome: 45 days from application

491 in Victoria

The Victorian government has announced that candidates living and/or working in metropolitan Melbourne can also submit a registration of Interest (ROI) for the Skilled Work Regional visa (subclass 491) nomination. Once nominated, these applicants must be prepared to move to a designated regional area of Victoria and secure regional employment since subclass 491 visa holders cannot live or work in Melbourne.

491 in Northern Territory

The “Top End” makes migrating to the state easier for offshore applicants. Changes include:

• Reduced work experience requirement (one year down from 3 years for most occupations)
• More occupations added to the Priority Occupations Stream
• Expansion of the Family Support Stream to enable regional provisional (subclass 489, 491 and 494) visa holders to support family members applying for nomination

491 in New South Wales

Ahead of the end of the program year in June, two regions of New South Wales have already reached their migration quota and are no longer issuing new nominations for the 491 visa. Hunter and Riverina are not accepting applications for this program year, so if this is the region you intended to apply for, you will only be able to do it in July, when a new program year starts.

Streamlined Health Requirements

If you have applied for a temporary visa in the last 6 months, you may have been surprised with the visa grant without requiring health examinations. This is because the Government is currently adopting streamlined requirements to fix the massive backlog of visa applications in the pipeline and is usually not requiring medical exams for certain temporary visa applicants in Australia.

However, you will still be required if you have been requested to undertake medical exams on your visa application. This is because the relaxation is based on a series of factors, including nationality, previous residence and proposed length of stay, and because, yes, the Government has all the right to request it since health is still a criterion on your visa application.

See you next time!