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James Pearson, head of the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry has has sounded the alarm over the “mischievous” immigration debate that has escalated in the lead-up to the Super Saturday by-elections, accusing both Labor and the Coalition of misrepresenting figures. Both parties have ramped up their rhetoric on the hot-button issue of immigration in recent weeks, ahead of five key by-elections on 28 July. “There are lies, damn lies and statistics and I'm sorry to say that the numbers being bandied about in this debate are being bandied about in the most misleading way.” The government was last week spruiking the latest permanent migration numbers - which fell to the lowest level in 10 years - as an endorsement of tougher vetting procedures that cut down on “fraudulent applications”. In response, Labor blasted the government for allowing around 1.6 million people to live in Australia on temporary visas that included the right to work. “What has become an absolute problem has been the explosion, the misuse and abuse, of issuing of temporary work visas,” shadow minister for employment Brendan O’Connor told ABC Radio. “If you want to know why unemployment amongst young people is so high compared to other OECD countries, just look at the amount of visas being issued.” Mr Pearson said the claims and counter-claims were disappointing and confusing to voters and marked an end to many years of relative bipartisanship on the skilled migration program. “I regret the fact that what for so long was strong, bipartisan support for a strong, well-managed migration program … seems to have been put to one side,” he said. Treasurer Scott Morrison hit back at Labor’s claims about the number of temporary workers last week. “Bill Shorten needs to check his facts. I mean, this bloke lies like he has breakfast in the morning. The number of people here on temporary skilled visas, here right now, is 20 per cent less than it was when Labor left office.” The reason for the discrepancy is Labor is counting all temporary visa holders with any right to work, including international students, New Zealanders on special visas, and backpackers, Mr Pearson said. Those numbers do add to around 1.6 million, but he said the figure was misleading. “To suggest for a moment that all of those people are working, let alone working full time, is wrong, because many of them are not,” he said. Working holidaymakers have caps on how much work they can do in Australia, while international students are also limited to 40 hours per fortnight. Carla Wilshire of the Migration Council said Labor was taking a “huge cross-section of different visa categories” and combining them to get a large figure. She too has concerns about the political rhetoric in the immigration debate. “I think we need to be very careful. The Australian economy very much relies on a certain level of migration flowing through,” Ms Wilshire said. Labor claims the international student issue is exacerbated by students who breach their work limits, often under pressure from employers. “You have temporary visas being issued as student visas, where the applicant is not primarily studying,” Mr O’Connor said. The Migration Council said while there were some compliance issues with students, the level of such issues was not “particularly high”. Ms Wilshire said the recent linking of immigration data with Australian Tax Office records had improved compliance.

Massive growth in Australia's ballooning temporary migration is dwarfing the Government's cuts to the permanent intake. The number of people who hold bridging visas — the same kind of visa given to the Commonwealth Games athletes who are seeking asylum — has hit a historic high. At the end of March, 195,000 people with bridging visas were in Australia, including more than 37,000 whose nationality was not specified. That is up more than 40,000 on a year ago, and close to 90,000 since 2014, according to official Department of Home Affairs figures. It has pushed the number of people in Australia on temporary visas to more than 2.2 million — again, a record high. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has said the Government was planning on cutting the permanent migration intake from its traditional level of 190,000 per year, down to approximately 170,000 this year. But that number is dwarfed by the scale of the temporary visa program. In the past year an additional 150,000 visitors are in Australia on temporary visas, including 33,000 more foreign students. The Government has rolled out an overhaul of both temporary and permanent migration programs in the past year. Jonathan Granger, director of Granger Australia and a former national president of the Migration Institute of Australia, described the migration program as "chaotic", saying processing times in major visa streams including the temporary skill shortage (formerly code 457), employer-nominated scheme and skilled independent visas had all grown in recent years. A Department of Home Affairs spokesperson said processing times were driven by a range of factors including: the volume of applications received, completeness of the application, how promptly applicants respond to any requests from the department, and the complexity of assessments in relation to health, character and national security requirements. The boom in bridging visas has been driven by a mysterious component of 37,000 visa holders for whom the Department of Home Affairs will not reveal their nationality. The Department of Home Affairs declined to provide more explanation about this group. Source: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-05-22/bridging-visa-surge-overwhelms-permanent-migration-cuts/9785946

2018 will see the implementation of Temporary Skill Shortage Visas, changes to the Occupation Lists, plans to introduce mandatory provisional visas before permanent residency and changes to Parent and Partner Visas. The Temporary Work (Skilled) Visa (subclass 457) will be replaced with Temporary Skill Shortage (TSS) visa From March 2018, the current 457 visa program will be abolished and replaced with the completely new Temporary Skill Shortage (TSS) visa. The TSS visa will be comprised of a Short-Term stream allowing stays of up to two years, and a Medium-Term stream allowing stays of up to four years. The Short-Term stream visa is renewable only once. The STSOL occupation list will apply for Short-Term Stream applicants. The Medium-Stream visa holders may renew their visas onshore and may apply for permanent residence pathway after working for three years in Australia. The MLTSSL occupation list will apply for Medium-Stream visa applicants. This stream is relatively similar to the current 457 visa. Tighter Regulations for both streams: Increased Work Experience Requirements Higher English Language Levels Requirements Mandatory Labour Market Testing Set Australian Market Salary Rates Additional Character, Anti-Discrimination and Training Requirements More information: https://www.homeaffairs.gov.au/WorkinginAustralia/Documents/abolition-replacement-457.pdf Discuss Temporary Skilled Visas on our forum Changes to Occupation lists in 2018 A number of changes were made to the Medium and Long-term Strategic Skills List (MLTSSL) and the Short-term Skilled Occupation List (STSOL) in April 2017 and again in July 2017. CHECK IF YOUR OCCUPATION IS IN THE MEDIUM AND LONG-TERM STRATEGIC SKILLS LIST (MLTSSL) HERE Though the Medium and Long-Term Strategic Skill List (MLTSSL) is likely to remain the same, the STSOL which is a list of occupations nominated for temporary and short-term visas is likely to see some changes. Some of the occupations flagged for removal from the Short-term Skilled Occupation List are Accommodation and Hospitality manager, Hair or Beauty Salon Manager, Recruitment Consultant and Building Associate.. University Tutor, Psychotherapist, Property Manager, Real Estate Agent and Real Estate Representative may be added to the list. It is also likely that Skilled Occupations List will include Airline Pilots in 2018 to address the shortage of pilots in Australia. Following lobbying from the peak body for regional airlines, it has been reported that the Skilled Occupations List will be revised to allow foreign pilots to come to the country on a two-year work visa. Discuss Skilled Visas on our forum Plans to introduce mandatory provisional visas before permanent residency in Australia and reducing the number of visas from 99 to 10 The Government undertook public consultation to transform Australia’s visa system in 2017. The Australian government discussed plans to introduce mandatory provisional visas where migrants may need to spend a certain period of time before they are granted permanent residency and also to reduce the number of visas from 99 to 10 to simplify the process. The Department received 255 submissions and approximately 184 representatives of industry, academia, community and government participated in roundtables across the country, with an additional 60 industry representatives participating in immigration reform workshops. In December 2017, the department in a consultation summary said while approximately 55% opposed a provisional period, among those who supported the principle of provisional residence, a provisional period of a minimum of two years was most popular. 88% of the submissions supported visa simplification with suggestions that importance be given to transparency around decision making, reduced processing times and a system that was easier to understand and navigate. The department though has not set a timeline for its implementation and says, ‘This is a long-term programme of improvement to the way we deliver our services. There is no immediate impact for visa applicants or holders. The first step will be broad consultation with the market on the design and build of a new visa processing platform.’ We are likely to hear more about these plans in 2018. Discuss Visas, Residency & Citizenship on our forum Temporary sponsored parent visa In the 2017-18 federal budget, a new temporary sponsored parent visa was announced - to be available from November 2017. However, the new visa which will allow migrants’ parents to stay in the country for extended periods has been delayed. The Bill enabling the new visa to come into effect has not yet been approved by the Senate. Here are the six must know facts about the new long stay visa for parents: 3-year-visa will cost $5000, a 5-year-visa will cost $10,000 and a 10-year-visa will cost $20,000, with the opportunity of a single renewal for another five years at the same price. 15,000 people each year will be granted this long stay parent visa. Children/Sponsors will be required to pay for their parents' private health insurance. The children will also need to act as financial guarantor on any extra healthcare costs their parents rack up in Australia. Those on the new visa will not be allowed to work, however, the government hopes they will take on family roles which would see “reduced pressure on childcare facilities.” Those sponsoring their parents for the new visa need to be Australian citizens or permanent residents, or “eligible New Zealand citizens”. The visa-holders would not be allowed to reapply beyond the 10 years and would have no pathway to permanent residency. Discuss Parent Visas on our forum Partner Visa Proposed changes to Partner Visa were expected in 2017 but it has been deferred to 2018. This is because the Migration Amendment (Family Violence and Other Measures) Bill 2016(Cth) (“the Bill”) is still before the Senate and has not been enacted. If the Bill is enacted, it will establish a sponsorship framework for partner visas, placing more focus on the assessment of sponsors. In particular: The sponsorship assessment would be separated from the visa application process Sponsors would need to be approved before visa applications are made Legal obligations would be imposed on approved sponsors If sponsors fail to meet their obligations, sanctions may be imposed In certain circumstances sponsors can be barred from sponsorship The new regulations propose partner visa sponsorship applications would need to be lodged under stricter criteria and approved before the overseas partner visa application could be lodged. The new two-step process is expected to delay the lodgement of the overseas partner application and require the overseas partner to have a valid visa until a visa application for the overseas partner can be lodged. Discuss Partner Visas on our forum

As expected, the federal govt used yesterday's budget to outline its plans to abolish the 457 visa and replace the scheme with short and medium-term streams. Application fees for the short-term, two year visas will increase by $90 to $1150, while four-year visa applications will cost $2400 apiece. In addition to this, companies will also be charged annual foreign worker levies. Under the existing scheme, employers have contributed one of two per cent of their payroll to training if they employed foreign workers. But as the requirements have proved almost impossible to police the govt is taking a different route. From March 2018, businesses that employ foreign workers on certain skilled visas will be required to pay money into a "Skilling Australians" fund. Companies turning over less than $10 million per year must make an upfront payment of $1200 (per visa, per year) for each employee on a temporary visa. They must also make a one-off payment of $3000 for each staffer sponsored for a permanent skilled worker visas. Businesses with turnovers above $10 million will be required to make up front payments of $1800 for each worker on temporary visas and $5000 one-off levies for those on permanent skilled visas. The levy is expected to rake in $1.2 billion over the next four years, which will be funnelled into a new Commonwealth-State skills fund. "States and territories will only be able to draw on this fund when they deliver on their commitments to train new apprentices," Mr Morrison said in his budget speech.

By Robert Williams 03/05/2017 Email admin[at]pomsinoz.com India’s Prime Minister has voiced his reservations to the Australian PM about the Government’s recent decision to phase out and replace the 457 visa next year. India was perturbed by the Federal Govt’s announcement last month that the popular 457 visa would be stopped in 2018 and replaced and replaced with the completely new Temporary Skill Shortage (TSS) visa which will assist businesses in addressing bona fide skill shortages. The TSS Visa is a four year visa is your occupation is on the Medium and Long term Strategic Skilled List (MLTSSL) or two years is your occupation isn't on the MLTSSL The Australian PM described the changes as being “in the national interest”. At present, Indian nationals make up a quarter of 457 visa holders - the most of any nationality. India had hinted the move to replace it could affect trade negotiations, which the two countries had only just pledged to revive during Mr Turnbull’s recent India visit in early April. Now, according to India’s Ministry of External Affairs, Mr Modi himself has “expressed concern” to Mr Turnbull about the possible impact of visa changes. In response to the announced Visa changes, India’s Ministry of External Affairs issued a terse statement, saying that it was “examining the consequences” of the new policy, adding that it would look at the matter “in the context” of trade negotiations. Elsewhere, Anisha Gupta, an Indian migration has suggested that Visa changes will damage Australia’s longer-term ability to attract both skilled workers and students with an eye to their futures. “I’m receiving a lot of calls from the applicants, as well as the people who have already applied for the visa — how will that affect them?” she said. (Current visa holders will not be affected by the changes, which will see the introduction of two new temporary skills visas — a two-year visa and a more specialised one for four years “targeted at higher skills”.) Ms Gupta warns changing the visa system will likely hurt Australian universities’ efforts to attract Indian students, especially those seeking degrees in the 200 professions the Government is removing from the list of those eligible for skilled worker visas. That would affect the students if they think their occupations are out of the list, so they might choose another country which has a more favourable immigration policy for them,” she said.