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Breaking News - 457 Visas Stopped


Guest The Pom Queen

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Guest The Pom Queen

The Turnbull government has adopted a new "Australians First" approach to skilled migration, announcing it will abolish the controversial 457 visa program for temporary skilled migrants.
The 457 visa will be replaced by a new temporary visa specifically designed to recruit "the best and brightest", with tougher english language tests and activity requirements.
"We are an immigration nation but the fact remains that Australian workers must have priority for Australian jobs," Mr Turnbull said on Facebook.
More to come

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Just had this breaking news on my phone from ABC:-

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-04-18/government-abolishing-457-visas/8450310

Hopefully it won't be implemented straight away, which will allow some prospective 457ers time to get in before the gates close?! :-/

Or, presumably, they'll replace it with something else...maybe something targeting more specialised, skilled occupations (as opposed to some of the less-skilled occupations currently on the list)?

Either way, it will be interesting to see how this latest move by Turnbull plays out...

Edited by ItchyFeet76
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Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has announced his government will scrap 457 visas for temporary foreign workers.

In a video statement released on Tuesday, Mr Turnbull said:  'Australian workers must have priority for Australian jobs.'

The 457 visa program, introduced by John Howard's government in 1996, allowed overseas workers to stay in Australia for up to four years.



Thoughts...

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Guest The Pom Queen
34 minutes ago, ItchyFeet76 said:

Just had this breaking news on my phone from ABC:-

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-04-18/government-abolishing-457-visas/8450310

Hopefully it won't be implemented straight away, which will allow some prospective 457ers time to get in before the gates close?! :-/

Or, presumably, they'll replace it with something else...maybe something targeting more specialised, skilled occupations (as opposed to some of the less-skilled occupations currently on the list)?

Either way, it will be interesting to see how this latest move by Turnbull plays out...

Yes it may have been nice of them to get all the information together for people before making the announcement. There are going to be a lot of worried people.

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Guest The Pom Queen
2 minutes ago, Sunset said:

Do visa holders have the right to bring entire families over with them?

I think they can bring over dependants 

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Just now, The Pom Queen said:

I think they can bring over dependants 

So they to become a drain on an ever depleting job front, on a temporary basis of course.

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They also provide required skills and experience; not forgetting tax revenue and contribute to GDP.... It is generally more costly for a company to recruit using the 457 visa. Which is usually only used when the required skills and experience cannot be obtained in the local labour market.

We are dual nationals and find the labour market here in Australia quite discriminatory, so this change in policy is no surprise.


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Abolition and replacement of the 457 visa – Government reforms to employer sponsored skilled migration visas

On 18 April 2017, the Government announced that the Temporary Work (Skilled) visa (subclass 457 visa) will be abolished and replaced with the completely new Temporary Skill Shortage (TSS) visa in March 2018. 

The TSS visa programme will be comprised of a Short-Term stream of up to two years and a Medium-Term stream of up to four years and will support businesses in addressing genuine skill shortages in their workforce and will contain a number of safeguards which prioritise Australian workers. 

This new visa is part of the Government’s significant reform package to strengthen the integrity and quality of Australia’s temporary and permanent employer sponsored skilled migration programmes. 

Key reforms include:

  • Introducing the temporary skill shortage visa with new requirements, including but not limited to: 
    • new, more targeted occupation lists which better align with skill needs in the Australian labour market
    • a requirement for visa applicants to have at least two years’ work experience in their skilled occupation
    • a minimum market salary rate which ensures that overseas workers cannot be engaged to undercut Australian workers
    • mandatory labour market testing, unless an international obligation applies,
    • capacity for only one onshore visa renewal under the Short-Term stream
    • capacity for visa renewal onshore and a permanent residence pathway after three years under the Medium-Term stream
    • the permanent residence eligibility period will be extended from two to three years
    • a non-discriminatory workforce test to ensure employers are not actively discriminating against Australian workers
    • strengthened requirement for employers to contribute to training Australian workers
    • the Department of Immigration and Border Protection will collect Tax File Numbers and data will be matched with the Australian Tax Office’s records, and
    • mandatory penal clearance certificates to be provided.
  • Tightening eligibility requirements for employer sponsored permanent skilled visas, including but not limited to: 
    • tightened English language requirements
    • a requirement for visa applicants to have at least three years’ work experience
    • applicants must be under the maximum age requirement of 45 at the time of application
    • strengthened requirement for employers to contribute to training Australian workers, and 
    • employers must pay the Australian market salary rate and meet the Temporary Skilled Migration Income Threshold1
  • Concessions for regional Australia will continue to be available: 
    • Employers in regional Australia will continue to have access to occupations under the temporary and permanent visas, to reflect their skills needs. 
    • Existing permanent visa concessions for regional Australia, such as waiving the nomination fee and providing age exemptions for certain occupations, will be retained. Consideration will be given to expanding the occupations in regional Australia that are exempt from the age requirement. 
  • Significantly condensing the occupation lists used for skilled migration visas, including the subclass 457 visa, from 19 April 2017.

The implementation of these reforms will begin immediately and will be completed in March 2018. 

Further information on different aspects of the reforms will be published in due course. 

Source: DIBP

Reproduced under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Australia licence.

 
 
 
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About time because some unscrupulous employers were using it for cheap labour. It was never meant to lead to permanent residency but it seems it has done in the past. It was so bad that people were brought in to fill jobs that many home grown applicants were capable of doing. 

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18 minutes ago, Cerberus1 said:

Abolition and replacement of the 457 visa – Government reforms to employer sponsored skilled migration visas

On 18 April 2017, the Government announced that the Temporary Work (Skilled) visa (subclass 457 visa) will be abolished and replaced with the completely new Temporary Skill Shortage (TSS) visa in March 2018. 

The TSS visa programme will be comprised of a Short-Term stream of up to two years and a Medium-Term stream of up to four years and will support businesses in addressing genuine skill shortages in their workforce and will contain a number of safeguards which prioritise Australian workers. 

This new visa is part of the Government’s significant reform package to strengthen the integrity and quality of Australia’s temporary and permanent employer sponsored skilled migration programmes. 

Key reforms include:

  • Introducing the temporary skill shortage visa with new requirements, including but not limited to: 
    • new, more targeted occupation lists which better align with skill needs in the Australian labour market
    • a requirement for visa applicants to have at least two years’ work experience in their skilled occupation
    • a minimum market salary rate which ensures that overseas workers cannot be engaged to undercut Australian workers
    • mandatory labour market testing, unless an international obligation applies,
    • capacity for only one onshore visa renewal under the Short-Term stream
    • capacity for visa renewal onshore and a permanent residence pathway after three years under the Medium-Term stream
    • the permanent residence eligibility period will be extended from two to three years
    • a non-discriminatory workforce test to ensure employers are not actively discriminating against Australian workers
    • strengthened requirement for employers to contribute to training Australian workers
    • the Department of Immigration and Border Protection will collect Tax File Numbers and data will be matched with the Australian Tax Office’s records, and
    • mandatory penal clearance certificates to be provided.
  • Tightening eligibility requirements for employer sponsored permanent skilled visas, including but not limited to: 
    • tightened English language requirements
    • a requirement for visa applicants to have at least three years’ work experience
    • applicants must be under the maximum age requirement of 45 at the time of application
    • strengthened requirement for employers to contribute to training Australian workers, and 
    • employers must pay the Australian market salary rate and meet the Temporary Skilled Migration Income Threshold1
  • Concessions for regional Australia will continue to be available: 
    • Employers in regional Australia will continue to have access to occupations under the temporary and permanent visas, to reflect their skills needs. 
    • Existing permanent visa concessions for regional Australia, such as waiving the nomination fee and providing age exemptions for certain occupations, will be retained. Consideration will be given to expanding the occupations in regional Australia that are exempt from the age requirement. 
  • Significantly condensing the occupation lists used for skilled migration visas, including the subclass 457 visa, from 19 April 2017.

The implementation of these reforms will begin immediately and will be completed in March 2018. 

Further information on different aspects of the reforms will be published in due course. 

Source: DIBP

Reproduced under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Australia licence.

 
 

Thanks very much for sharing this!!

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About time because some unscrupulous employers were using it for cheap labour. It was never meant to lead to permanent residency but it seems it has done in the past. It was so bad that people were brought in to fill jobs that many home grown applicants were capable of doing. 

Some interesting comments. Given that it costs the recruiter more in real terms to recruit using a 457 visa. I find it difficult to believe that this method is used to source 'cheap labour' when I fact it is used to recruit skilled migrants.


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14 minutes ago, starlight7 said:

About time because some unscrupulous employers were using it for cheap labour. It was never meant to lead to permanent residency but it seems it has done in the past. It was so bad that people were brought in to fill jobs that many home grown applicants were capable of doing. 

I think the final outrage was when one of the fast food chains was bringing in 457 staff to work as burger flippers.

So yes the scheme was continually being abused.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-03-02/government-cracking-down-on-457-visas-for-fast-food-workers/8317432

Edited by Parley
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Guest The Pom Queen
8 minutes ago, MelT said:


Some interesting comments. Given that it costs the recruiter more in real terms to recruit using a 457 visa. I find it difficult to believe that this method is used to source 'cheap labour' when I fact it is used to recruit skilled migrants.


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So what about the Dominos Pizza Visa scam?

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These 3 points are quite significant, I think.

 

  • capacity for only one onshore visa renewal under the Short-Term stream
  • capacity for visa renewal onshore and a permanent residence pathway after three years under the Medium-Term stream
  • the permanent residence eligibility period will be extended from two to three years
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