With the start of the financial year on July 1st, the Australian Govt. has disclosed a few changes in Australia’s migration program which may open the door to new opportunities for international people. Due to the COVID-19, the recent changes in visa policies may also affect a few visa holders living in Australia.
The recent changes in visa policies from July 1st will give fresh opportunities for skilled workers and new pathways to permanent residency and provide comprehensive options to working holiday makers to work at many places in Australia which were affected due to COVID-19 border closures.
Here are some of the key points mentioned in the recent visa changes:
With this change, it would be easy to apply for permanent residency for the visa holders of temporary skill shortage subclass 482.
According to the Australian Dept. of Home Affairs, 52,440 people were on 482 visas or related to 457 visas, but after March 2018, it was stopped providing residence to new applicants.
From July 1st, they are allowed to apply for a Temporary Residence Transition (TRT) visa. With this TRT visa, skilled workers nominated by their employers can work and stay in Australia permanently, and the latest pathway will be applicable for two years from July 1st.
These changes will also be applicable to visa holders of temporary work (skilled) visa subclass 457, but the occupation must be listed in the Short-term Skilled Occupation List (STSOL)
This particular concession will be given to only those visa holders who are highly skilled migrants and were living in Australia throughout the pandemic.
Another significant change is the exemption of age. Now visa holders of subclass 457 can apply for permanent residency through the TRT stream without any age restriction, which would be effective from July 1st but would be applicable for two years only.
To get the benefit of age exemption, the visa holder of subclass 457 should have a visa from or after April 18th 2017, and they need to live in Australia for at least one year between February 1st 2020 and December 14th 2021.
Now, from July 1st, the former temporary graduate visa holders can apply for a replacement visa who lost time due to COVID-19 travel restrictions. To be eligible for this visa, an applicant should be a temporary graduate visa holder and it should be valid before or on February 1st. Also, the applicant should not be living in Australia between February 1st 2020 and December 15th 2021.
This visa is limited to subclass 485 visa holders, and if they want to apply for a further visa, it would be only based on their work and study.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a border restriction and the doors were closed for the working holiday makers, which indirectly affected the industries relying on them.
So, from July 1st, there is an increase of 30% for the cap in the number of places available to working holiday makers in 2022-23 only.
