SC 457 visa and student visa program to go through major overhauls

It has been announced that two of the most popular visa categories offered by the Department of Immigration and Border Protection, the student visa and subclass 457 visa, are both going to go through major changes which will come into effect tomorrow. But that is not all, as more changes are going to take place from the 1^st of July of this year.

The immigration department of Australia has told an inquiry into migration facilitated by the Productivity Commission, that it was currently working on important reform of both the temporary activity and skilled migration visas which they expect to make a huge impact on the competitiveness of the country, and its ability to win over highly skilled migrant workers.

It is stated in the report that because of these changes, ”a new simplified system that deregulates visa requirements, improves the process for applying for visas, and reduces overlapping pathways.”

Mr Peter Dutton, the minister of the Department of Immigration and Border Protection, explained that the Australian government has been making an effort to work on the reforms for a long time now. ”The government understands that the current skilled migration and temporary activity visa programs are difficult to navigate,” Mr Dutton stated. ”We are committed to smarter regulation in this area, improving integrity in our visa programs and increasing the contribution of skilled migration to Australia’s productivity and economy.”

The 1^st round of changes that will happen to the sc 457 program will start on the 19^th of April of this year.

The purpose of the Migration Legislation Amendment (2016 Measures No. 1) Regulation 2016 – F2016L00523, according to the Explanatory Statement, is stated below:

• To take action on the improper use of the subclass 457 visa programme, an obligation on the standard business sponsors would be enforced to oblige them not to engage in practices wherein potential employees are discriminated against on the grounds of citizenship or an individual’s status of immigration.
• So that the processing of subclass 457 visa applications can finally be streamlined by necessitating the visa applicants to provide details of a proposed sponsor or a nomination of the sponsor when submitting a visa application via the internet.
• To take out the visa criteria which asks to provide evidence of English language proficiency from applicants of the subclass 457 visa who are already being asked to show such proficiency so they can get occupational registration or licensing.

Amendments on Student Visa will begin 1^st of July 2016

The month of July is going to see categories in the Australian student visa cut down to just 2 types: the subclass 500 (student) visa, and the subclass 590 (student guardian).

According to the Explanatory Statement, these amendments are to:

• To streamline the processing requirements and the application for those who will be applying for a student visa. This includes a criteria that would relate to English language requirements, enrolment, financial capacity, as well as the genuineness of the application for entry and stay in the country as a student.
• To simplify a number of requirements that would include enrolment and financial requirements, as well as requirements that would relate to visas that were held previously if the application was made in the country.
• That the provisions in connection with the present regulatory assessment level framework as well as the streamlined processing provisions be repealed and new requirements be introduced so the programme’s integrity can grow stronger by the provision of a wider range of elements for those who will be the ones to assess genuineness as well as the need for applicants to give proof of their English and financial proficiency.
• For a condition that is set on student visas be revised just so visa holders can be clear on the types of courses they are authorized to take as long as their visas are valid and when they would need to submit an application for another visa if planning to shift to another course.
• So that it would be possible for other amendments to be made so provisions that are redundant can also be repealed and how related provisions operate can be explained well.

The Global Special Humanitarian visa (subclass 202)

It has also been announced by the instruments that there are going to be changes made to the Global Special Humanitarian visa (subclass 202) giving clarifications that when it comes to making a decision whether there are strong reasons for special considerations to be given so the Subclass 202 (Global Special Humanitarian) visa can be granted to an applicant, if an individual proposer was the one who proposed for the said applicant. It stated that ”the Minister must have regard to the capacity of the Australian community to provide for the permanent settlement of persons such as the applicant in Australia”

Source: MigrationAlliance.com.au