Aron

Hi Hex, thanks. yes medicare levy is the only difference that I know, and I know nothing else that is particularly different in terms of tax refund for a 457 visa holder compared with a PR/citizenship.

Hi Hex, Please could you let me know what are the majority parts of tax claim that a 457 visa holder can claim? I am a bit keen to know because for last 2 years, each year I only claimed back a few hundred dollars out of 30K+ tax paid each year, Is this a normal number? I have a feeling that I might have lost a great deal of money.

I have a strong gut feeling that one important factor of getting PR in 5 months is he applied at the end of August, after the training benchmark got abolished. That does not seem to be an coincidence. Since training bench mark is abolished, it is much easier and quicker for case officer to judge a case instead of having to calculate all the figures. Let's see if we can see more approval for applicants after the commence of SAF on August.

Hi Maggie, My agent also told me that I had to first include my wife (if we get married) into my 457 before we can apply 186 TRT together. Thanks for the info.

Hi Deza, you were on TRT or direct entry?

good luck and wish everything goes smooth with your application

thanks mate

My agent just submitted my nomination and VISA application for 186 TRT early this month. I am in a relationship with my girlfriend for two years with a lot of proof. I asked my MA if we get married at the end of this year can I include her in my VISA application? He said no. I have one question: for 186/187, before applying for VISA, a step is to apply for nomination. One should first apply for nomination and include his/her partner in that nomination as well if they want to apply VISA together. So if the guy did not include partner in the nomination, how could he skip the nomination stage and include partner directly into a lodged 186/187 if his/her partner was not nominated together?

Thanks for the information. The one who gave me the answers is a manager in a not small agency with 30 employees and with a good reputation. He is a migration lawyer as well as a migration agent. If he is wrong, I would rather believe it is a careless instead of on purpose. Meanwhile, when I asked the questions, he said he had to check it first and a few days back he came to me with the answers so he spent time on that. To be honest, I don't know what should I believe now, and how can I verify all this.

Hi Ring, where did you get the information? I was in the same situation and I asked the same question to my migration agent, an experienced one. He checked and told me that I cannot add my partner once I have submitted my 186. I am on 186 TRT though. Not sure if that applies to 186/187 direct entrance.

Unfortunately it is not possible. You have to add your partner into your 457 before you can apply 187 together with her. However if your 187 has been submitted already, you cannot add her into 187 after that. And you can only sponser her via partner visa once your 187 visa is granted.

any suggestion please?

Difficult situation: One man was granted 457 for company A under occupation B (on MLTSSL) starting from 2017.02. He worked for the company A under occupation B from 2017.02 to 2018.08, less than two years. On 2018.08, he re-applied nomination and short term TSS visa of company A under another occupation C (beginning 4 digits are not the same as occupation B, and it is on STSOL so not eligible for PR). Then he worked in company A under occupation C on TSS VISA for 2 years till 2020.08. In this case, will this guy be eligible for 186 TRT grandfathering policy, meaning if he can apply 186 TRT even occupation C is not on MLTSSL and even he has only been working with this occupation for two years?

Thank you mates for answering my questions, it indeed helps me out. I will start to prepare police check and I hope everything goes smoothly with you too and all the best!

I have been on 457 visa since 2016 August, and my company is going to apply 186 TRT for me on 2018 August, and we will submit visa application and nomination together at the same time. I would like to know: IELTS test result is valid for three years, so can I use my IELTS received on November 2015? Shall I complete health check and no crime certificate before I submit visa application and nomination, or shall I do it a few months after I submit my nomination and visa application? The homeaffairs website says that Temporary Residence Transition under 186 takes up to 12 months at this moment. This 12 months is for nomination + visa application or it is just for visa application? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks! Kane

For those who may have the same doubt: I called DIBP today and they confirmed I can include my wife in 186 directly when I apply for 186 TRT even she was not in my 457 visa. I do not need to include her first in my 457 before applying 186 with her.

A question: Do I have to include my fiancee ( if we get married) first in my 457 so that we can apply for 186 TRT together, or I can include her in my 186 TRT application even she is not in my 457 visa? Thanks.

Need some advice here. I am on 457 visa. My fiancee (does not have AUS via and is not included in my 457 visa) and I are discovering options to apply PR for her in the near future. Our relation is very stable but we don't want to get married so fast , I live in Australia and she lives overseas so we cannot provide 1 year living together proof. After some researching we see two options: 1. I include her in my application of TRT of 186 after a few months, --- in this case do I have to first include her in my 457 visa or I can include her in 186 TRT even she is not in my 457? This means we need to get married now which is something we try to avoid at this moment, however we will do this if this would be the best way. 2, After I get my 186 visa approved, which may take one or two years, then I apply PR for her. So may I know which way is better or easier? If 2. does not make much difference then we would prefer to not get married now and I sponser her after 2 years after I get my PR. Thanks!

great news! DIBP just again confirmed that 457 visa holders or applicants as of April 2017 will still be able to access to pathway to PR after March 2018 http://www.border.gov.au/WorkinginAustralia/Pages/Newsletters/skilled-visa-enews-september-2017.aspx See "March 2018 update" section in above link. It is a very much relief for me.