'457 visa' programme

• The Australian government has scrapped the Australian “457” visa programme that allowed Australian companies to hire foreign workers in a number of skilled jobs for a period up to four years.
• The programme will be replaced with a more stringent system, making it difficult to hire non-Australian citizens.
• This is aimed at giving priority for Australian workers for Australian jobs.

New Proposed System:

• The number of eligible jobs for the visas will be cut from 651 to 435, and application fees will rise. Visas will be restricted to filling critical skills shortages.
• The new visas will require at least two years of previous work experience, better English language ability, stricter labour-market testing and a criminal background check.
• new Australian visa will have two streams: one for the short term, allowing entry for up to two years, and a medium-term option granting up to four years access, which will similar to the current 457 visa. “The occupation list for the four-year visa includes IT professionals, so there continues to be visa options for skilled Indian nationals.”
• But both streams will come with several riders such as mandatory labour market testing with limited exemptions, a new non-discriminatory workforce test, criminal history checks, a market salary rate assessment and a new two-year work experience requirement. Further, English language requirements will be tightened for the medium-term stream.
• The new visa will also include a strengthened training obligation for employers sponsoring foreign skilled workers to provide enhanced training outcomes for Australians in high-need industries and occupations.

About 457 visa:

• The 457 visa was introduced in the 1990s to quicken the entry of business professionals and highly skilled migrants but over time it was opened up for a broad category of workers.
• The programme was hit by controversy with allegations that the visa was being misused by employers to import cheap workers who lack necessary skills.
• Analysis:
• The move is expected to impact Indian IT and other companies. India provides the highest number of temporary skilled workers to Australia of any country; eight out of the top 10 occupations for Indian 457 visa holders (as at December 2016) were IT professionals. According to the Australian Department of Immigration and Border Protection, Indians constituted 76% of the total ‘457’ visas issued in the three IT streams, and 57% of permanent migrant visas issued in the skilled stream of workers last year.
• This may perhaps impact not merely Indian companies in Australia but also Australian companies - many of who tap into international skills in digital, analytical and engineering areas.
• However, the Australian Prime Minister did advise that there will be a new visa category introduced for the critical skills shortage areas, and I hope this will impact positively on the Indian IT/ICT (information technology/information and communication technology) industry, among others.

By: Vishal