The Department of Home Affairs vide their email dated 3 November 2023 with subject line “Expanding Employer Sponsored Pathways to Permanent Residence (PR)” has informed all Registered Migration Agents about the Australian government’s plan to create clear pathways to PR for all Temporary Skill Shortage visa streams and for this purpose it is working on implementing changes to the Temporary Skill Shortage visa, Temporary Residence Transition stream (TRT) of the Employer Nomination Scheme and Regional Sponsored Migration Scheme.
At present there are limited pathways to PR for temporary skilled visa holders, therefore the government has proposed the following changes to create clear pathways to PR for all TSS visa streams:
- Changes to TSS Visa
- All short-term stream TSS visa applications can be lodged onshore.
- There will be no limit on the number of onshore Short-term stream TSS applications by the visa holders. Applicants can lodge 3 or more onshore Short-term stream TSS applications. However, short term stream TSS holders with visas expiring before the changes will need to travel outside Australia to lodge a third shot term-stream TSS application.
- Changes to nomination requirements for the TRT stream of the ENS and RSMS visa subclasses
- Eligible visa requirements for ENS/RSMS nominations
- Employers will be able to nominate holders of all TSS visa streams, including Short-term and Labour Agreement streams. The nominated person will need to have held their TSS (or subclass 457) visa(s) for 2 out of the 3 years before nomination.
- The RSMS visa will continue to be restricted to transitional 457 workers and transitional 482 workers.
- Nominated occupation & work experience requirements
- Nominated occupations will no longer be assessed against skilled migration occupation lists.
- The nominated occupation will need to be listed in the Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations (ANZSCO) and the nominated worker will need to continue to work in the occupation nominated for their TSS visa(s).
- The period in which TSS visa holders are required to have worked in a position with their sponsoring employer (or in the occupation for medical practitioners and certain executives) will be reduced to 2 out of the 3 years before nomination.
- Changes to visa requirements for the TRT stream of the ENS and RSMS visa subclasses
- Age exemption requirements
- Age exemptions for regional medical practitioner applicants and high-income earning applicants aged 45 years and over to allow for a two-year pathway will be changed.
- COVID-19 related age exemptions that will become redundant as a result of the two-year pathway, will be ended.
Changes to the TSS visa will apply to new applications lodged on or after 25 November 2023 and changes to the Temporary Residence Transition (TRT) stream nomination requirements will apply to new ENS/RSMS nomination applications and applications that are yet to be finally determined as at 25 November 2023.
