Most people know by now that there will be significant changes to employer-sponsored visas from March 2018. There will be additional requirements for Labour Market Testing, Work Experience, and English… but have you considered the cost to a visa applicant or business?
For temporary skilled workers, the considerable cost increase can be a huge barrier to applicants and to businesses. Not only will the visa lodgement fees be higher, but the introduction of the Skilling Australia Fund levy (paid up-front and in full at the time of application) will deter smaller businesses from accessing the TSS program.
For families, this is a whopping 49% to 368% on application costs for a temporary visa. For single applicants, it’s a massive 175% to 604%!
Those seeking permanent residency are also hit with an increase care of the Skilling Australia Fund levy, which will replace the training benchmark expenditure requirements.
These fees apply to both the Direct Entry and Temporary Residence Transitional streams, so applicants moving from a 457/TSS to an ENS or RSMS will be required to pay two sets of fees.
A less eye-watering 43% to 77% increase, but still a big hurdle for applicants.
Our advice? If you can, lodge by the end of February 2018 – especially for 457 applicants – to avoid the fees and any other surprise changes the Government may bring in.
AMVL Migrations has an experienced employer-sponsored migration team who can assist applicants and businesses with 457, 186 ENS and 187 RSMS applications. Contact us for an assessment and advice.
