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Skilling Australians Fund (SAF) levy and it’s impact on employer sponsored visas

On 22 May 2018, the Migration Amendment (Skilling Australians Fund) Bill 2018, and the Migration (Skilling Australians Fund) Charges Bill 2017 received royal assent. On 6 August 2018 legislation was released confirming that the Skilling Australians Fund (SAF) levy will be effective from 12 August 2018. SAF levy Employer sponsored nomination applications lodged on or after 12 August 2018 must…
Mihan Hannan
8 August, 2018
australian immigrationENS VisasGlobal Talent SchemeImmigration UpdatesInnovation

Welcoming the “Global Talent Scheme” and our analysis at first glance

In March 2018, the government announced that they would pilot the ‘Global Talent Scheme’ (GTS) which would comprise of two streams under the Temporary Skills Shortage (Subclass 482) (TSS) visa. Hannan Tew gave our analysis on this initial announcement here. On 1 July 2018 the GTS pilot was rolled out and further clarification has been provided (noting though that it…
Jordan Tew
9 July, 2018
australian resident visa457 visaENS VisasImmigration UpdatesTSS

Immigration Update: Skilling Australians Fund and Labour Market Testing

On 9 May 2018 Bill’s establishing the Skilling Australians Fund (SAF) and tightening existing labour market test (LMT) criteria were passed in Parliament. Although a commencement date for the new legislation has not yet been determined, the changes are expected to come into effect in June 2018. Skilling Australian Fund Levy Legislation The Bill to establish the SAF Levy passed…
Mihan Hannan
15 May, 2018
child migration australia457 visaImmigration UpdatesTSS

Comparison of the Temporary Skill Shortage (TSS) (Subclass 482) visa to the prior 457 visa

On 18 March 2018, the Temporary Skill Shortage (TSS) (Class GK) (Subclass 482) visa came into effect, while applications for the Subclass 457 visa were closed. This represented the culmination of near a year of gradual changes since the Australian Department of Home Affairs (the Department) announced the reforms to the Subclass 457 visa program in April 2017. Below is…
admin
23 March, 2018
child migration australiaENS VisasImmigration UpdatesOccupation Lists

Comparison of the significant changes to the Employer Nomination Scheme (ENS)

After much deliberation, the Australian Department of Home Affairs (the Department) has introduced a host of legislative instruments which establish in law the changes to the Employer Nomination Scheme (ENS) program. These changes have been discussed by the Department for almost 12 months (see our summary here) and largely reflect the initial proposals. A breakdown of the implementation of these…
Mihan Hannan
20 March, 2018
business457 visaENS VisasGlobal Talent SchemeImmigration UpdatesTSS

Our take on the new visa scheme to attract skilled global talent (Global Talent Scheme)

The 457 visa was replaced over the weekend by the new Temporary Skill Shortage (TSS) visa - the culmination of nearly a year of gradual changes being implemented and uncertainty for many businesses and individuals. Since the government’s announcement of the reforms to the 457 visa programme, the changes have largely been criticised by many prominent figures in the tech…
Jordan Tew
20 March, 2018
child migration australiaENS VisasImmigration Updates

February 2018 updates regarding the employer sponsored permanent residency (ENS)

On 19 April 2017, the Department of Home Affairs (the Department) announced reforms of the 457-visa programme, which included flow on affects to employed-sponsored visa applications for permanent residency. These changes were slowly implemented in stages, including on the date of announcement from 19 April 2017, on 1 July 2017 (our summary of which you can find here), and further…
admin
20 February, 2018
child migration australia457 visaImmigration UpdatesTSS

February 2018 updates regarding the TSS visa

On 19 February 2018, the Department of Home Affairs (the Department) announced further details regarding the upcoming Temporary Skill Shortage (TSS) visa, due to replace the existing 457 visa programme in March 2018. Further details have also been announced in relation to the Employer Nomination Scheme (ENS) (subclass 186) and the Regional Sponsored Migration Scheme (RSMS) (subclass 187) visa programs…
admin
20 February, 2018
australian resident visa457 visaENS VisasImmigration Updates

The “Traffic Light Bulletin”: What happens when your occupation is removed from a skilled occupation list?

From 19 April 2017 the occupation lists that underpin the employer sponsored program (including Subclass 457 and Subclass 186 visas) as well as those underpinning the skilled migration program (including Subclass 189 and Subclass 190 visas) were significantly condensed from 651 to 435 occupations, with 216 occupations removed and access to 59 other occupations restricted. The Department of Immigration and…
admin
28 November, 2017
australian resident visa457 visaENS VisasImmigration UpdatesTSS

Transitional Provisions: Good news for existing 457 visa holders

On 19 April 2017, the Department of Immigration and Border Protection (the Department) announced a suite of proposed reforms to the 457 visa programme (including its abolishment and replacement) as well as reforms to permanent employer sponsored visas. The more drastic of these changes are to take place from March 2018. The sudden nature of these announcements cast a lot…
admin
18 November, 2017
Immigration UpdatesTSS

457 visa reforms and the Technology Industry

457 visa reforms and the Technology Industry Australia’s information and communications technology (ICT) workforce has increased significantly over the past few years and is expected to continue to grow from about 640,000 in 2016 to over 722,000 by 2022.  To fill short-term skill gaps, business have understandably turned to ICT workers from overseas. However, the Australian government recently announced a…
admin
6 July, 2017
child migration australiaENS VisasImmigration Updates

ENS and RSMS: What has changed from 1 July 2017?

With the Department's flurry of activity in the days before 1 July 2017, see how the changes regarding occupation lists, age and English, impact your eligibility for permanent residence through Employer Nomination Scheme (ENS) and Regional Skilled Migration Scheme (RSMS) visas. Occupation Lists Eligible occupations for the Direct Entry (DE) stream of the ENS will be those listed in the Short-term…
admin
1 July, 2017