Migration Budget Review
Below is a brief review on some of the Federal Budget changes on migration law which come into force from 1 July 2023.
In summary,overall the migration scheme has tightened. The Government has limited the migration places available and increased the costs for migrants to live and work in Australia.
Increase in Fees and Charges
From 1 July 2023, the Government will increase Visa Application Charges (VACs) from 1 July 202 by 6% and 40%. The most relevant increases are 15% for visitor, working holiday, work and holiday, training, temporary activity and temporary work visas and 40% for business innovation and investment visas.
Increase in Temporary Skilled Migration Income Threshold (TSMIT)
The Government will increase the Temporary Skilled Migration Income Threshold from the current rate of $53,900 to $70,000 from 1 July 2023. This will not affect skilled migration applications made prior to 1 July 2023. It will also not affect migrants who currently hold skilled visas. However, for any subsequent visa application (for example; subclass 482 to subclass 494 or subclass 482 to subclass 187), the migrant must earn over $70,000.
For regional employers, paying migrant employees in accordance with the new Temporary Skilled Migration Income Threshold (TSMIT) of $70,000 may make sponsoring employees prohibitive. It is also difficult to see how this will be reconciled with Annual Market Salary Rate (AMSR) which require employers to pay migrant employee the equivalent of an Australian employee undertaking the same job.
One option for employers to consider is negotiating a 5 year Labour Agreement between the company and the government which will allow for employer-sponsored migration who cannot be sponsored otherwise. Concessions can be negotatiated to provide pathways to Permenant Residency, to pay below TSMIT, increase the age restriction from 45 to 55 years old, English language concessions.
The Orana DAMA Agreement is a Designated Area Migration Agreement (DAMA) with RDA Orana and the Government. Companies wishing to sponsor migrants and operating out of these areas can apply to RDA Central west to be endorsed and sponsor employees under this scheme. The Orana DAMA has a number of concessions including salary, age, language and also has a broad number of occupations that reflect the Orana Region’s skilled employee shortages.
Visa processing and compliance monitoring
Funding of $75.8 million over two years from 2023–24 will be given to visa processing and visa compliance. $48.1 million will be allocated over 12 months to support 500 visa processing officers to improve the processing backlog.
We have already seen a huge improvement with the priority of skilled employer-sponsored 482 visa applications being processed quickly, some as little as 1 week but on average around a month.
Temporary Graduate Post Study Rights
Temporary Graduate visa holders with select degrees will be eligible for an extra 2 years of post-study work rights to improve the pipeline of skilled labour in key sectors from 1 July 2023.
International students working hour cap
The working hour cap for international student visa holders was removed during the Covid pandemic. The cap will be reinstated, but increased by 8 hours from pre-pandemic levels to 48 hours per fortnight.
International students working in the aged care sector are exempt from the cap until 31 December 2023.
Skills Assessment - Improved Skills Recognition
The Government is re-scoping two Skills Assessment Pilots to provide onshore migrants with fast-tracked skills assessments, free employability assessments, and access to further training to improve their employment prospects.
This will greatly assist in the sponsorship of skilled trades as the assesisng body TRA takes at least 6 months to process with no avenue to speed up the process.
In addition, the Mechanism for the Mutual Recognition of Qualifications will ensure students from India and Australia will have greater certainty that the qualifications they attain will be recognised by both countries.
If you have any questions on the above changes, please do not hesitate to contact us.