The Australian Government has announced changes that will allow short-term 457 or 482 visa holders to have a pathway to permanent residency in Australia after 2 years. If you have held and worked on a 482 visa for at least 2 years, you can apply from November 25, 2023.

Employers will be able to nominate holders of all Temporary Skill Shortage (TSS) 482 Visa, 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.

Before, only Temporary Skill Shortage (TSS) 482 visa holders whose occupations are on the Medium and Long-term Strategic Skills List (MLTSSL) could apply for an Employer Nomination Scheme (186) visa under the Temporary Residence Transition (TRT) pathway after 3 years of full-time employment with the sponsoring employer while on a 457 visa or 482 visa.

Short-term 482 to PR 186

From November 25, 2023, the 186 Temporary Residence Transition stream will become available to the majority of 482 Temporary Skill Shortage visa holders. It will no longer be restricted to 482 visa holders with occupations listed on the Medium and Long-term Skilled Occupation List. In addition, the required length of employment with your sponsoring employer will be reduced from 3 years to 2 years.

If your occupation is on the Short-term Skilled Occupation List (STSOL), you will also be eligible to apply for the 186 Temporary Residence Transition after working in Australia for your employer-sponsor with a 482 visa for 2 years.

Medium-term 482 to PR in 2 years

Previously, medium-term occupations required 3 years on a 482 visa to be eligible to apply for permanent residency. When the changes start, all 482 streams can access PR and the work experience requirement will now be reduced to 2 years.

Common medium-term occupations include roles such as Registered Nurse, Diesel Mechanic, Carpenter, and more.

Below we have summarised what the changes mean:

Changes to the TSS visa

Another change from November 25, 2023, is that all short-term stream TSS visa applications can be lodged in Australia. Limits on the number of Short-term stream TSS applications visa holders can make in Australia will be removed. Applicants who wish to lodge a third or more Short term-stream TSS visa can do so from onshore.

Short term stream TSS holders with visas expiring betore the changes will need to travel outside Australia to lodge a third short term-stream TSS application.

What Short-term occupations will benefit from the change?

The occupations include Marketing Specialist, Primary School Teacher, Cook, Cafe or Restaurant Manager, Enrolled Nurse, ICT Sales Representative, ICT Support Engineer, Middle School Teacher, ICT Project Manager, Finance Broker, Graphic designer, Accommodation and Hospitality Manager, Barber, Hairdresser, Jewellery Designer, Project and Program Administrator, Metallurgical or Materials Technician, Veterinary Nurse, and Conference and Event Organiser.

You can check all the occupations on the Occupation List.

Who will be eligible to apply for the 482 visa to 186 visa?

The changes will benefit most 482 visa holders, including individuals with occupations listed on the Short-term Skilled Occupation List. But there is still a requirement to meet 186 visa criteria, which includes:

• Competent English - either all 6.0 IELTS or all 50 PTE
• Being under the age of 45, unless specific narrow exemptions apply

You can find more information about the 186 visa on our website.

What about those over 45 years old on a 482 visa?

Changes will be made to age exemptions for regional medical practitioner applicants and high-income earning applicants aged 45 years and over to allow for a two-year pathway. The high-income threshold is currently $167,500.

Apart from this, there are no other changes to the age requirement for 186 (PR).

What about nominated occupation 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 visas).

The applicant must use the same ANZSCO code for the 186 TRT visa as they hold on the 482/457 visa. Will this be the 4-digit or 6-digit ANZSCO?

The nominated occupation will need to have the same 4-digit ANZSCO occupation unit group code as the occupation in relation to which the identified person’s most recently held Subclass 457 visa or Subclass 482 visa was granted. This is an existing requirement and will not be changing. It goes along with the requirement for the 457/TSS holder to have been employed in the same position with the sponsoring employer.

For example, if your occupation is Marketing Specialist (ANZCO code 225113), you can also be nominated as an Advertising Specialist (ANZCO code 225111) because the first 4 digits are the same. However, you can't be nominated as a Sales and Marketing Manager (ANZCO code 131112) because the first 4 digits are different from the Marketing Specialist ANZCO code.

We can assist you with applying for the 186 employer-sponsored visa. We are highly experienced in all parts of an employer-sponsored visa application process. Contact us for more information.

Sources

https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/news-media/archive/article?itemId=1136

https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/news-media/archive/article?itemId=1057

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