Changes in Policy regarding 457 workers sponsorship

New changes have been made under the present Coalition government that is associated with the sponsorship of skilled workers, and it has already taken effect on the 1^st of July of this year. The unpredictability over the end result of the latest election does not leave us with a lot of comfort regarding what is to happen in the area of migration and employment, or if there are going to be more changes which will take place in the future.

The attention on the immigrants in recent times has slightly shifted away from the treatment of Australia to asylum seekers, instead it has focused more on high-lighting to the country (and the rest of the world) that there is a HUGE number of immigrants that are presently employed in Australia through the subclass 457 visas, as well as other skilled working visas. However, a recent report from ABC described this as a problem which is ”corruption and widespread rorting ‘undermining the immigration programs of the country.”

It is also stated in the article that while the Australian government has been giving a lot of attention to the asylum seekers and doing everything they can in stopping the boats, there are a lot of immigrants who have taken advantage of the situation and because of this, have been able to get skilled 457 visas even if they have used misleading and fraudulent information given to the Department of Immigration and Border Protection (DIBP), and that because of dishonest and unethical practices by not just the migrating individual, but also by the sponsoring employer, and the migration agent.

If elected, the Labor Party has promised that it will crack down on the exploitation that is being done to the skilled workers migration program, as well as on the exploitation being done to migrant workers themselves, establishing an improved Advisory Council on Skilled Migration as an independent statutory agency that is given the responsibility to keep a close eye on the skilled visa programmes and if migrants and sponsoring employers are complying with the program. A Shorten Labor government is also going to introduce more strict and thorough requirements for evidence when it comes to labour market testing, a requirement that is pointed to making sure employers have done their jobs in testing the Australian market for individuals who will be suited for the job,before they make a decision to hire a skilled worker from another country.

Under the present government, the Coalition has also made steps in strengthening the skilled migrant program by the immigration department coming out with new policies that are applicable to the 457 visa program on the 1^st of July, 2016.

The changes on July 1st

These changes come in the form of more strict requirements that would apply to employers who would like to sponsor and nominate skilled workers from overseas. The new policies have an increased focus on the requirement of ‘genuineness’. This type of requirement would necessitate employers to be able to provide proof to the Department of Immigration and Border Protection that there is indeed a position that is within the business, and that it requires the skills if the migration employee, and that the labour market of Australia has been sufficiently tested to make sure that there are no Australian employees available to do the job. The increased attention on the requirement of genuineness is aimed to deal with situations wherein a nominated position may have been made to make sure a particular migration outcome is secured, in situations where the need for a skilled migrant is not really true.

These new guidelines will also be able to help officials from the DIBP in being able to pick out which application for nomination might not be genuine by being able to provide certain ”flags” which could prove a certain nomination is fraudulent. These flags are the following:

• There is enough information that suggests the nominated position was made just so a family member could be assisted to come to Australia
• There is information that suggests the responsibilities of the position are not in line with the tasks of the nominated position which is being described in the Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations (ANZSCO), which describes all the occupations in the work forces of both Australia and New Zealand.
• The nominated position is not consistent with the size or the nature of the business.

Aside from the new measures to keep the 457 program from being exploited, there also were other new measures that were introduced on the same date so that the process for employers who have a history of good dealings with the DIBP can be sped up. These employers are going to be classified as ”accredited sponsors.”

These accredited sponsors have been given the honour of being called so as they have also been able to provide certain requirements imperative to their nomination applications, such as having a turnover of at least $4 million for the last 3 years,and having at least 75 per cent of their workforce in Australia also consisting of workers from Australia. The moment a sponsor becomes an Accredited Sponsor, then the sponsorship will be valid for 6 years (compared to the standard 5 years which is the usual period given to business sponsors). They are also going to get priority processing for visas as well as nomination applications.

Source: www.mondaq.com