The March implementation of the Subclass 482 – Temporary Skill Shortage (‘482’) visa changes are the biggest change to employer sponsored migration in more than 10 years. The changes are likely to make recruitment of international talent more difficult and costly across the board. For many organisations who are need of specialist skills it will be difficult to attract and retain key talent in areas where there is no pathway to permanent residency.
Employers will need to be more resourceful and strategic about when and where they seek to access skilled staff from offshore. One key strategy will be looking at the broader visa program to identify alternative visa options which may enable the business to achieve their goals, such as short-term assignments in lieu of traditional long-term transfers.
Implementation of the 482 visa
Many of the features of the 482 visa are similar to the previous 457 visa program. These include the requirement for a valid Nomination, skills and language requirements, and a need to meet health and character requirements.
A number of critical changes have nonetheless been implemented. These include:
- Dividing the visa into 2 distinct streams based on occupation lists: ‘Medium & Long Term Strategic Skills List’ (MLTSSL) and ‘Short Term Skill Shortage List’ (STSOL). These occupation lists are dynamic and will change every 6 months based on data held by the Department of Jobs and Growth and submissions made to government.
- Introduction of a 2 year work experience requirement for all applicants
482 STSOL stream
The STSOL stream will be eligible for a 1 or 2 year visa. This visa can be renewed a maximum of 1 time onshore (ie, it is possible to hold 2 x 2 year visas). After this the visa holder must travel offshore in order to re-apply and they will need to meet a ‘genuine temporary entrant’ requirement which demonstrates they intend to remain in Australia temporarily before returning home.
There is no pathway to permanent residency through the Subclass 186 – Employer Nomination Scheme (‘186’) visa unless the occupation moves to the MLTSSL. This means the program will effectively operate as a ‘guest worker’ program where visa holders are permitted to remain in Australia for a fixed period before returning home. Companies will, therefore, need to look outside the 186 visa for permanent residency options such as the State Nominated Skilled visa, Labour Agreements or the proposed Global Talent Scheme visa.
482 MLTSSL stream
The MLTSSL stream will be eligible for a maximum of 4 years. The visa can be renewed indefinitely while the occupation remains on the MLTSSL.
Visas in this stream are eligible for access to permanent residency provided the occupation remains on an eligible skills list (to determine this it is necessary to look at the occupation lists for the relevant Employer Nomination Scheme Subclass 186 or Regional Skilled Migration Scheme 187 visa).
Accredited sponsorship
The Department of Home Affairs (formerly Immigration and Border Protection) have recently relaunched the Accredited Sponsor program. The program enables low-risk sponsors to obtain preferential treatment such as priority processing times and lower documentary evidence.
Current processing times for standard Business Sponsors are lengthy and causing significant difficulties to many businesses. Obtaining Accredited Sponsorship should be a key strategic goal for any organisation relying on timely staff transfers to Australia.
Access to Permanent Residency (PR)
The pathways to permanent residency have been reduced substantially. Based on application numbers in previous years, approximately 60% of past applicants will no longer qualify for permanent residency. This will have major impacts on how businesses recruit and retain staff.
PR grandfathering arrangements
The government has introduced relatively generous grandfathering arrangements which will allow most or all 457 visa holders who held the visa as at 18 April 2017, or had applied, to continue to access permanent residency on the basis of the old rules regardless of occupation.
PR tighter requirements
Aside from many future 482 visa holders not having access to permanent residency because of the STSOL / MLTSSL division, the requirements for permanent residency have again tightened. Age has been reduced to 45 years maximum, English requirements have been increased in some cases and a number of exemptions have been abolished.
Skilling Australia Fund Levy
Currently, the 482 visa program continues to operate on the basis of the previous ‘Training Benchmark’ system. However, it is expected that a new training system, based on a ‘user pays’ training levy will be implemented shortly. This system is unlikely to come into effect this financial year. This is likely to mean that existing sponsors must fulfill training obligations for the 2017-18 Financial Year to comply with their Sponsorship Obligations.
It is expected that once the training levy is introduced the existing Training Benchmark system will effectively cease and employers will have any related obligations removed.
Costs for the new system will be significant in many cases. Refunds are not expected to be available except where a nomination is refused or in a limited number of other circumstances.
| Business Turnover <$10M | Business Turnover >$10M | |
| 482 Nomination – charge per year | $1200.00 | $1800.00 |
| Permanent Residency – once per application | $3000.00 | $5000.00 |
Summary
- A number of additional employer costs now apply or are expected to come into play in the near future (such as the Skilling Australia Fund Levy)
- Many 482 visa applicants will not be able to access permanent residency through employer sponsorship. Employers may wish to consider
- How this will affect attraction and retention of top talent
- Whether other visa programs are available to circumvent limitations such as directing staff to independent skilled migration options
- Visa processing times are currently very long – up to 12 months for non-accredited sponsors. Employers should look:
- Identifying whether it is possible to become an Accredited Sponsor
- Alternative ways to get workers onshore in a compliant manner such as Short Stay Work Subclass 400 visas, Training Subclass 407 visas, and other options
- Where limitations in the occupation lists mean access to skills is not possible or limited employers should consider:
- Engaging with industry and employer groups to participate in submissions to government
- Direct engagement with Members of Parliament
- Whether Labour Agreements are a realistic option to overcome limitations
Dealing with these challenges are likely to remain a major issue for Australian businesses with political debate on the role of temporary migrant workers remaining highly contentious and an upcoming Federal election likely to be fought on populist grounds.
Additional Resources
On Wednesday, May 2, 2018, Roam Migration Law held a breakfast seminar exploring this topic. Below are the slides used in that seminar.
