Key terms: Subclass 189 Skilled Independent visa – Subclass 190 Skilled Nominated visa – Subclass 489 Skilled Regional Sponsored visa – SkillSelect – Expression of Interest (EOI) – Invitation to Apply

Earlier today the Minister for Home Affairs and Minister for Immigration and Border Protection, Peter Dutton introduced a new legislative instrument which will increase the minimum points required for skilled visa applications.

Key terms: Subclass 190 Skilled Nominated visa – Subclass 489 Skilled Regional Sponsored visa – Immigration SA – State Nomination – End of Financial Year 2018

Immigration SA (South Australia) has announced that the online application system for the subclass 190 State Nominated Visa and subclass 489 Skilled Regional Sponsored Visa (State) nominations for South Australia will close at 9 a.m. Monday, 25 June 2018 (South Australian time).

If you do not submit and pay for the SA State Nomination application before the system closure, the incomplete application will be deleted.

You are advised to submit your SA state nomination application before the system closure, so that you are protected from any possible new changes on 1 July 2018.

However do note that you should only submit complete and well supported applications, to allow smooth processing of your application and a positive outcome.

If you need an assessment of your SA State nomination application, please contact Work Visa Lawyers as soon as possible to have an assessment.

In an earlier article posed on 28 March 2018, we discussed the Government’s plans to introduce the Skilling Australians Fund (SAF) which employers would have to contribute to before a work visa can be approved.

We can now confirm that the legislation which introduces the fund was passed by the Australian Senate on 8 May 2018.

What is the Skilling Australians Fund?

The Australian Government introduced the SAF to fund projects that support apprenticeships and traineeships, and will focus on training Australian workers in new skills.

"This fund will ensure an ongoing source of revenue to support Australian skills development and the take-up of apprenticeships and traineeships. The new fund will replace the existing training benchmarks, which have not been successful in generating training opportunities to allow Australians to fill skill gaps,” the government said in the Budget.

A new visa to attract highly skilled workers from around the globe is set to increase Australian visa options.

The Australian Government has announced that the new Global Talent Visa will come into effect from 1^st July 2018 and will be trialled for one year.

It is believed that the new visa will attract people with exceptional technical skills and talent, which can be transferred to the Australian work-force and in turn encourage business growth.

“Industry figures say globally mobile, highly skilled and experienced staff can act as ‘job multipliers’ in Australian businesses, helping them to hire more local staff and fill critical areas of need.”

 - Minister for Jobs and Innovation, Michaelia Cash

This is an older article. Click here to learn the current criteria for the Global Talent Visa

Highlights of the new Global Talent Visa Scheme

A key feature of the Global Talent Scheme is that it will be split into two streams:

• Established business stream
• Start-up stream

Successful applicants under both streams will have access to a 4-year visa within the Temporary Skills Shortage (TSS) Visa Programme which came into effect on 18 March 2018, providing visa holders a pathway to permanent residency after three years and certain age cap concessions.

Applications will be simpler and have faster processing times.

The new visa scheme in its current form is not limited to a specific list of occupations.

The features of the two streams:

Established business stream

• Business must be publicly listed or have an annual turnover of at least A$4 million for each of the past 2 years
• Access up to 20 positions per year
• Available to accredited sponsors and other businesses
• If the position ends, the visa holder has 60 days to find a new sponsor and a new visa or depart Australia
• Business must show a good history i.e. no breaches of workplace or immigration law
• Business must demonstrate a track record of giving first preference to Australian workers
• Labour market testing for the specific position
• Applicants must meet health, character and security requirements
• They must have no family relationship with directors/shareholders
• Qualifications must be compatible with the highly skilled role
• Applicant must have at least 3 years work experience directly relevant to position
• Capacity to pass on skills and help develop Australians workers
• Position must have minimum annual earnings of A$180,000

 Start-up stream

• Business operates in STEM-related (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) field
• A ‘start-up authority’ must endorse the business
• Access up to 5 positions per year
• Business must show a good history i.e. no breaches of workplace or immigration law
• Business must demonstrate a track record of giving first preference to Australian workers
• If the position ends (eg the start-up ceases trading) the visa holder has 60 days to find a new sponsor and a new visa or depart Australia
• Labour market testing for the specific position
• Applicants must meet health, character and security requirements
• They must have no family relationship with directors/shareholders
• Qualifications must be compatible with the highly skilled role
• At least 3 years work experience directly relevant to position
• Capacity to pass on skills and develop Australian workers
• Minimum annual earnings at the market salary rate (this can include equity, but must have a cash component that is no less than the Temporary Skilled Migration Income Threshold (currently A$53,900)).

More developments in the Entrepreneur/Start-up space

There is increasing interest in the area of innovation and entrepreneurship. The South Australian State Government has also recently announced that, with the cooperation of the Federal Government, South Australia will be trialling a new visa to attract budding entrepreneurs.

The newly announced South Australian Entrepreneurs visa is consistent with the South Australian Government’s aim to make Adelaide the start-up capital of Australia. We will provide more details as they become available.

In Conclusion

The Government recognises that there is increasing competition internationally for people with high-tech skills and experience, and believes that the new Global Talent Visa will allow Australian businesses to access the best talent across the world, leading to business growth, innovation, skills transfer and job creation.

From now until the visa is introduced on 1^st July 2018, the initial settings will be refined, with an industry advisory group to provide ongoing guidance.

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Do you need help with an Australian visa application?

At Work Visa Lawyers we are experienced in assisting applicants in all matters relating to Australian visa applications. Our areas of expertise include Skilled Migration visas, Business Skills Migration visas, Employer Sponsored Work Visas, Partner and other Family Migration visas as well as the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) Review, Judicial Review and Ministerial Intervention.

If you require further information regarding your Australia visa options you can contact us through:

(08) 8351 9956 or +61 8 8351 9956 

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Key terms: Migration Policy Changes – 17 January 2018 Changes – Subclass 189 Skilled Independent – Subclass 190 Skilled Nominated visa – Subclass 489 Skilled Regional Sponsored visa – MLTSSL – STSOL – Occupation Lists – Subclass 187 Regional Sponsored Migration Scheme -

The Department of Home Affairs (DHA) has released updates to the following skilled occupation lists:

- Medium and Long Term Skills Shortage List (MLTSSL) and Short Term Skilled Occupation List (STSOL) for Skilled Independent and Skilled Nominated visas (subclass 189, 190, 489)

https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/F2018L00046

- Medium and Long Term Skills Shortage List (MLTSSL) and Short Term Skilled Occupation List (STSOL) for Temporary Work (Skilled) visas (subclass 457)

https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/F2018L00044

- Medium and Long Term Skills Shortage List (MLTSSL) and Short Term Skilled Occupation List (STSOL) for Employer Nomination Scheme (subclass 186) – Direct Entry Stream

https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/F2018L00045

- Medium and Long Term Skills Shortage List (MLTSSL) for Temporary Graduate visa (subclass 485) – Graduate Work

https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/F2018L00046

- Medium and Long Term Skills Shortage List (MLTSSL) and Short Term Skilled Occupation List (STSOL) for Training visa (subclass 407)

https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/F2018L00047

• 300 Skilled Independent visa invitations were issued
  • applications with 75 points or more were invited
  • applications submitted 18 October 2017 have been invited
• 5 Skilled Regional Sponsored visa invitations were issued
  • applications with 85 points or more were invited
  • applications submitted 4 January 2017 were invited

Key terms: Mid-year Economic and Fiscal Outlook report – MYEFO – Social Welfare Benefits – Australia Permanent Resident – Family Tax Benefit – Paid Parental Leave – Carers Allowance – Assurance of Support – Partner Visa – Parent Visa

Australia has released its Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook (MYEFO) report and there are implications for new and prospective migrants to Australia. There are two changes proposed to be implemented on 1 July 2018, namely:

Key terms: Public Interest Criterion – 4020 – False or misleading information – Bogus documents – Visa cancellation – Visa refusal

UPDATE:

The Legislative Instrument which introduced the change has been disallowed on 5 December 2017. This means that all future applications will be subject to 12 months' of consideration for PIC4020.

Applications which were lodged between 18 November 2017 to 4 December 2017 will be subject to the 10 years' consideration.

Conditions targeting fraudulent or misleading information in visa applications made much tougher – PIC 4020 soon to cover last 10 years

Section 4020 is currently targeting bogus documents or information that is false and misleading provided to the Australian Government in the last 12 months prior to an application.

The changes will extend the time to documents and information provided in the last 10 years.

Here is a description of the changes:

PIC 4020 (1)(b) which relates to bogus documents, has been amended to broaden the powers to refuse a visa on the basis of bogus or fraudulent documents submitted in relation to visa applications:

- In the previous 10 years, rather than the previous 12 months; and

- In relation to previous visa applications, as well as visas previously granted