By Eva Huang

There have been important measures and initiatives announced in the latest budget of 9 May 2023 which affect immigration – and it’s important we explain these so the information is digestible but accurate.

The following are the most impactful of the Budget’s effects on migration.

1. Skilled Migration

Described by the Government as emphasising the importance of skilled migration in addressing labour market demands, the Budget’s updates include:

1. Allocating 70 per cent of places (137,000) in the permanent migration program (190,000, 5,000 places less than current fiscal year) to skilled migrants.
2. Providing an extra two years of post-study work rights to temporary graduate visa holders with selected degrees.
3. An increase to the Temporary Skilled Migration Income Threshold to $70,000 (this particularly impacts employer-sponsored visa classes TSS 482 and ENS 186).
4. Providing additional training places for Pacific Australia Labour Mobility scheme workers in priority sectors for the Pacific and Timor-Leste and where there are job shortages in Australia.
5. Providing onshore migrants with fast-tracked skills assessments.
6. Removing restrictions to enable TSS visa holders on short-term stream to permanent residence pathways through the Employer Nominated Scheme (subclass 186) visa.
7. Removing one onshore renewal for the TSS short-term stream visa.

The Budget revealed these important adjustments to Planning Levels for 2023-24

For complete Budget documents, visit this website.

2. Fewer business innovation and investment visas

Only 1900 places are now available within subclass 188A, 188B, 188C and 188E visa applicants. This is a significant adjustment compared with last year (when there were 5,000 places for this category).

3. Initiatives encouraging Regional Migration

The Budget includes initiatives to encourage skilled migrants to settle in regional areas, such as regional visas, incentives for employers, and increased investment in regional infrastructure.

4. Family Migration funding is being expedited

Because the Budget acknowledges the significance of family migration in promoting family reunification and social cohesion, funding has been allocated to expedite the processing of family visa applications, reduce backlogs, and improve the efficiency of the family migration program. However, the place for this category has not changed.

5. Citizenship and Integration emphasised in this Budget

Efforts to promote citizenship and integration have been highlighted in the Budget. As such, funding has been allocated to support citizenship applications, enhance citizenship testing processes, and provide language and cultural orientation programs to facilitate the integration of migrants into Australian society.

6. Visa Application Charges

Visa Application Charges (VACs) will increase from 1 July 2023.

7. Significant increase to the Temporary Skilled Migration Income Threshold (TSMIT)

The increased TSMIT may have a difficult impact and may mean some small businesses struggle to sponsor new TSS employees for salaries under $70,000, which is the new threshold salary amount. FCB Smart Visa has an article about what to expect from the threshold change and why we suggest you consider lodging new applications and renewals before 1 July 2023.

The wider picture is we can expect a possible impact on market salaries for all employees in affected occupations.

Read the article here.

As an employer, expect a generally favourable impact but note the increased costs, which may need to be communicated with your current and incoming workforce

The new budget has significant benefit for employers who are seeking skilled workers from overseas, not only with increased places under the budget, but also with improved processing time and alleviated restrictions.

Sponsored employees will have a pathway to permanent residency (subject to meeting all other requirements) with released requirements under the pathway of two years working for their sponsor, instead of three.

What you need to do

Considering the tone of the Budget, we encourage you to do the following:

• Review your business’s permanent residency policy to encompass the implications of the Budget
• Review your lists of who in your workforce holds a visa.

If you have questions about the Budget’s impact on your workforce and how changes to costs and policies this may impact your business, please contact FCB Smart Visa.

Eva Huang is an Immigration Solicitor with FCB Smart Visa.

Eva Huang (Immigration Solicitor, LPN: 5513135) is a solicitor at FCB Smart Visa. Eva provides clients with high standard advice in all areas of the Australian Migration Program. Eva has specific high level of knowledge of all aspects of the employer sponsored program, she delivers comprehensive advice to employers on visa pathways and processes. Eva also advices clients on skill assessment, regional certificate and other matters related to the employer sponsored program. Been a bilingual professional with over 15 years of working experience in diverse environment, Eva values clients from various backgrounds and advices based on client’s best interests. 

Staff shortages are making headlines across the country as high case numbers force many into isolation. This isn’t just an issue in critical industries such as healthcare, either: the Australian Retail Association reports that 76 per cent of retailers had staff isolating in mid-January, and nearly 20 per cent had to temporarily close stores.

To support businesses and keep them open, the Federal Government has announced a temporary relaxation of visa conditions for student visa holders.

In this article, we explain what these changes are and what it means for industries facing critical labour shortages.

What’s changed?

Normally, students holding a subclass 500 visa cannot work more than 40 hours over a 14-day period while their course is in session or be employed and working before their course starts. The temporary removal of these restrictions poses a great opportunity for businesses and international students alike. Businesses can now hire and utilise international students for additional hours during the week, and students can gain more experience and increase their income.

The relaxing of these restrictions extend to both existing and new student visa holders, as well as secondary applicants e.g., spouses and dependent children. These changes are already in place, allowing international students to work more than 40 hours per fortnight, with no current limit on their hours of work and commence employment before their course has started.

Initially, these relaxations were only in place for critical industries but given the dire nature of staff shortages across all sectors, they’ve now been extended across the board. Additionally, students with offers for employment in critical sectors may be eligible to apply for a 408 Pandemic Visa in situations where they’ve finished their course and are within 90 days of their student visa expiring.

These relaxations are only temporary, with the Government set to review the changes in April 2022. Importantly, other visa conditions are still in place. Students must ensure they’re enrolled in a course and maintain satisfactory attendance and progress.

In addition, the six-month work limitation for Working Holiday Maker visa holders (subclasses 417 and 462) will be removed until the end of 2022, allowing these individuals to work for the same employer for longer than six months.

Steps for employers

While employers may have the green light to engage employees holding subclass 500 visas for additional hours than they would otherwise be permitted to, they must keep Work Health and Safety (WHS) at the forefront. Excessive working hours can lead to mental and physical fatigue, and increase the risk of workplace injuries and employee burnout.

Study requirements under the subclass 500 visa are still in place and students must balance any additional hours they work with their course requirements. Employers should consider the individual circumstances of each student and be careful not to overburden them.

As this is only a temporary measure, employers must ensure they’re keeping up to date with visa requirements to ensure they’re compliant.

If you’ve got a question about these visa changes or any other workplace matter, please contact our migration experts at FCB.

By Albert Fang, Migration Manager 

The excitement surrounding the opening of Australia’s international borders early next year isn’t only being felt by those needing a holiday but also by Australian employers who are competing fiercely for onshore talent in an increasingly tight market. The recruitment market has rarely been as competitive as it is now, with businesses preparing for a new beginning in a post-pandemic world.

With businesses unable to fill jobs that once attracted overseas skilled migrants, they’re now turning to onshore talent. So what happens if you find the perfect fit but the candidate has an existing sponsorship? In this article, I explain  the five essential steps that businesses must follow to ensure they complete the process of taking over an existing sponsorship lawfully.

These steps are a timely reminder that the Temporary Skill Shortage (TSS) (subclass 482) visa is relatively portable meaning many businesses are looking inwardly for existing TSS visa holders to fill their vacancies. Given the risks and timing considerations to taking over sponsorship, the following five steps must be done with great care and diligence:

Step 1: Searching for the right fit

Before posting advertisements for a vacant position, always assume that there’s a possibility that the business will receive interest from a candidate who’s already sponsored under an employer-sponsored temporary visa. This means you should be running your hiring campaign in a manner that’s compliant with the Labour Market Testing (LMT) regime. Unless exempt, this will necessarily require advertising on at least three platforms including a mandatory one on the Commonwealth Government’s JobActive website.

If you need some more information on LMT, you’re in luck! Get your FREE best-practice LMT guide from our Smart Visa team today – just get in touch with the FCB Smart Visa team.

Step 2: Conduct a standard candidate interview process

Like every recruitment process, you need to go through the standard candidate screening and interview process and conduct a right to work check. Verifying and confirming the immigration status of the expatriate candidate you’ve shortlisted can be done using FCB Smart Visa Check or VEVO through the Department of Home Affairs.

Step 3: Confirm visa validity

Obtain a copy of the candidate’s current TSS visa grant letter to confirm the balance of the existing visa validity, as well as determine the visa holder’s nominated occupation.

Step 4: Negotiate terms

• If the LMT adverts have already been running for at least 28 days, a Letter of Offer can be executed and used for the TSS Nomination application.
• If the LMT adverts are still within the 28-day period, you can still settle on terms, but the Letter of Offer to secure the candidate should only be executed afterthe 28-day advertising period has lapsed.
• Be careful if you seek to incorporate a bond to recover costs – seek advice as to what is, and what isn’t lawfully recoverable if a candidate leaves pre-term.

Step 5: Acceptance

If the transfer is based on the candidate’s current sponsored occupation, they’ll be able to commence work for you when the new TSS Nomination is approved (i.e., no associated visa application is required to be lodged or granted until closer to their current visa expiry).

On a final note, although your business may have technically taken over the sponsorship of the candidate, they’re lawfully able to serve out any remaining notice period they may have with the outbound sponsor. To minimise the risk of delays (or refusal), businesses are encouraged to seek qualified assistance to manage the transfer process.

If you have any questions about the TSS visa or the process of transferring sponsorships, please reach out to our FCB Smart Visa team.

FCB Smart Visa Check is a cost-effective software solution powered by vSure, that can verify and confirm the visas status of thousands of workers in a matter of seconds.

Albert Fang has been a Migration Agent with FCB Smart Visa since 2018. He has extensive experience in assisting successful entrepreneurs and executives to obtain Australian visas and permanent residence status through employer-sponsored and business migration channels. He has 10 years’ experience in professional services and is particularly skilled in assisting both individual and large corporate clients to achieve positive migration. outcomes.

As we navigate the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic, our thoughts are always with you, your families, and employees who are affected.

FCB is uniquely placed to deal with the employment law and immigration implications relating to the variation in employment arrangements for your workforce. Our teams are fully operational during this time, and we are here to help you through these unprecedented challenges.

FCB Smart Visa is part of two working groups liaising with Home Affairs, Minister Tudge, and Australian Border Force to recommend and relay changes to the migration programme that are of assistance to employers and their sponsored employees. We expect definitive pronouncements on what these changes are within the next 72 hours.

For now, the current rules, obligations, and visa conditions apply to all sponsored visa holders, although policy allows flexibility in terms of LWOP, gardening leave, and reduced hours if certain conditions are met.

We will be pushing out the additional special measures as soon as these are ratified by Canberra. In the meantime, please do not hesitate to book a time for a teleconference if you are concerned about the impact to your business and potential workarounds.

Kind Regards, 

FCB Smart Visa