Hello everyone!
Behold for the biggest migration reform of the last 20 years!
The Minister of Home Affairs Clare O’Neil held a breakthrough press conference on Thursday and announced a 186-page report called “Review of the Migration System”, in which the Government outlines its intentions of a complete overhaul of the migration system.
Among the major changes, the first one to be implemented (and possibly the most polemic one) has been the increase of the income threshold of certain visas, like all employer-sponsored visas and the visa regional 491, from $53,900 to $70,000 from 1st July 2023. According to the Minister, over 90% of all full-time workers in Australia are paid over this income. This increase only reflects where the threshold would have been now if the previous Government hadn’t frozen the index for 10 years.
Understandably, this is keeping many immigrants awake at night. However, the Government has also announced that the system should soon be split into three tiers:
- a high-salary cohort, which will offer a streamlined assessment process for high-earning workers;
- a mid-level cohort: for employer-sponsored visa holders with salaries between the $70,000 figure and the high salary cohort. On this level, a more complete assessment will be made to ensure nominees are being paid a fair market-based salary and are not displacing Australian workers.
- a lower-paid cohort, for salaries below $70,000. This will be focused on critical sectors and industries experiencing persistent shortages and it will be subject to a higher level of scrutiny to ensure visa applicants are not being exploited by employers and are not taking jobs from Australians. This tier might look something like a country-wide DAMA, but there is no confirmation if this will also come into effect from 1st July 2023.
Other important changes to come include:
Pathway to PR for short-term 482 visas
By the end of 2023, all employer-sponsored visas will offer a direct pathway to permanent residency, including 482 visa holders in the short-term stream.
Changes to the Points Test
The current points test table should be recalibrated to give more weight to factors considered by the Government as determinants in distinguishing candidates that are most likely to succeed and offer the greatest long-term economic benefit. Age, English level, salary and partner skills should be favoured, with the replacement of the current points-by-age brackets system for a gradual decrease of points proportional to the increase in age.
International Students and 485 Visa
The 4th largest export industry is also included in the review. Under the changes, cheap and poor-quality VET course institutions should be targeted, and the Government is planning to replace the current Genuine Entrant Criteria (GTE) for a ‘Genuine Student’ (GS) criterion, which should focus less on the student’s ties to their home country and more on the purpose of the course of study. There is also a possibility of an increase of English level requirements for non-ELICOS student visa applicants and the graduate visa, which should be automatically granted for eligible students.
Employer-sponsored visas
In some good news for employers and nominees, the 28-day Labour Market Testing (LMT), in which sponsors need to advertise a position on recruitment websites for 4 weeks before nominating a visa applicant, may be abolished under the new reform.
The Government is also planning to increase the period for temporary work visa holders to find a new employer to 6 months if changing jobs and facilitate the payment of fees and charges for employers in monthly instalments, with the instalments being transferred to the visa holder’s new employer in case they change sponsors.
In the medium to long term, the Government also plans to replace the current system of ‘occupation’ lists with a system of ‘skills’ lists to better align with the country’s needs.
See you next time!
Hello ,
Thank you for keeping me updated with any changes in the migration laws.
I am about to apply for Partner visa and my current visa is Post graduated Visa wort expiration In August.
Are there any changes for Partner Visa ?
Hi, so far, there are no changes announced for the partner visa. If we have any other news about it, we will post it on our social media.
Temos muito interesse em buscar uma oportunidade na Austrália, ainda não entendi se essas mudanças irão ajudar ou dificultar mais.
Depende muito do perfil do imigrante. O ideal sempre é buscar o auxílio de um agente de imigração para ajudar no seu plano de imigração e verificar a sua elegibilidade. Esperamos ter ajudado.