If you held or were applying for a Temporary Work Skilled Visa (Subclass 457) around the 18 April 2017, you would have remembered the major announcement from the Department in relation to the drastic changes to the visa program. Essentially, 216 occupations were removed from the occupations list, and the list was spilt into the following:
- Short-term Skilled Occupation List (Short-term list). If your occupation is listed under the Short-term list, you would no longer be able to apply for PR under the Employer Nomination Scheme (ENS).
- Medium & Long-term Strategic Skills List (Long-term list). Under the new rules, only applicants whose occupations were listed on the Long-term list are able to apply for PR.
To assist with the transitional arrangements, if your occupation was on the Short-term list, you are still able to apply for PR if you meet the grandfathering provisions:
- You held or were applying for a Subclass 457 visa which was subsequently approved, on or before 18 April 2017.
- The age requirement would remain less than 50 (instead of 45 under the new rules).
- The minimum period an applicant is required to have been employed in their nominated occupation as the holder of the TSS/457 visa holder will remain at two years (instead of 3 years under the new rules).
- And most importantly, you must apply before 18 March 2022!
To conclude, under the grandfathering provisions, it wouldn’t matter if your occupation was removed or is only listed on the Short-term list. Given these transitional arrangements are only in place until 18 March 2022, and the fact that you will need to have worked for your sponsoring employer for 2 years to qualify, it is extremely important to start reviewing your pathway to PR now, before it’s too late!
If you would like our team to undertake a free assessment to determine whether you qualify under the ENS, please do not hesitate to contact our team at rob.lu@ozmigration.net.au or give us a call at 02 9407 8788
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Written by Robert Lu.
Robert is the Immigration Manager at Oz Migration Solutions. He has been working in the industry for the last 12 years, passionate about immigration and a believer in “Big Australia”.
MARN: 0848586
