Temporary Short Stay Subclass 482 (TSS) visa

By Sourabh Aggarwal

Education Embassy and Bullseye Consultant

On 18^th March 2018, the Government abolished the Temporary Work (Skilled) visa (subclass 457 visa) and replaced with a completely new Temporary Skill Shortage (TSS) visa. Most of the Indian Diaspora has received their PR (Permanent Residency) through subclass 457 visa pathway.

It was the most popular visa subclass amongst South Asian community as they just need to be nominated by an approved sponsor to work in an occupation from the list of eligible skilled occupations and meet the skill requirements, along with certain level of English.

Government had to replace this particular visa subclass as there was a media hype that especially in the past decade, hundreds of thousands of workers have been employed on subclass 457 visa where they have been exploited by their employers. Department of Immigration and Home Affairs (DoHA) has little detail on the employment of these workers.

457 holders were the most affected by the changes made by DoHA on Easter holidays of 2017. Former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull in sudden move decided to abolish the subclass 457 in addition to Skilled Occupation List and Consolidated Skilled Occupation List. Former PM introduced Short-term Skilled Occupation List (STSOL) and Medium and Long-term Strategic Skills List (MLTSSL) for all the visa sub classes from 18^th April 2017 which includes Employer Nomination program such as Subclass 186, Subclass 187 and Subclass 482 along with General Skilled Migration program such as subclass 489, subclass 189 and subclass 190. Other visa subclass such as Training visa subclass 407 and temporary graduate visa subclass 485.

Due to growing pressure from opposition, migration agents and 457 visa holders, Grandfathering provisions was clarified in December 2017. According to grandfathering arrangement Subclass 457 holders as of 18 April 2017, and anyone having applied before that date but granted thereafter, can apply for the subclass 186 and 187 Temporary Residence Transition Stream (TRT) under old rules. This was a huge relief for all the visa holders which means they can further make permanent residency application under previous pathway program after completion of two years with their existing employers, however they need to have competent English language requirement unless they are exempt. Applicant can seek exemption on the basis of age, skills and language ability.

The TSS visa consists of two distinct streams, a Short-Term stream of up to two years and a Medium-Term stream of up to four years. There is also Labour Agreement stream which is least popular and we wouldn’t be talking about that. So if applicant has their nominated occupation on STSOL they will be granted a visa for up to two years with a further extension for another two years. However, if the nominated occupation is on MLTSSL than visa will be granted for up to 4 years. If your occupation is on MLTSSL, good thing is that you can be eligible to apply for Permanent Residency after three years with same employer.

Basic requirement to meet eligibility for TSS by visa applicant are:

• Occupation to be on STSOL and MLTSSL
• Vocational English (Overall 5 with no less than 4.5)
• 2 years of relevant work experiencerequired
• Meet health and character requirements
• Employer tests the Australian labour marketbefore an application to sponsor (LMT)
• Employer must pay the Australian Market Salary Rate (AMSR)
• Employer must pay SAF (Skilling Australians Funds) levy

Department of Home Affairs has finally implemented a long awaited SAF Levy on 12 August 2018. The levy amount is determined by annual turnover generated by the sponsor. For example, a business with an annual turnover of less than $10M can expect to pay a $1200 per year per nomination or $1800 per year per nomination for a business with an annual turnover of more than $10M.

Labour Market Testing currently in place for subclass 482 visas is further tightened and the new requirements is applicable to all subclass 482 nominations lodged on or after 12 August 2018.

In order to know your eligibility and chances of success through proper procedural guiding, you need to contact a good MARA consultant who can guide you through the entire process and chalk out an eligible pathway that is easy to achieve and is practical.

Our professional team of Migration agents will help assess your eligibility keeping in mind Migration Regulations and Migration Act of 1958.