Abolition of 457 and Replacing with the New TSS Visa Streams

On 18^th April 2017, the Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull announced to abolish the controversial 457 visa program in order to put “Australians Workers First” in Australian labour market.

Subclass 457 visa will be replaced with A new Temporary Skill Shortage (TSS) visa in March 2018.

1. From 19^th April 2017, the occupation lists have been renamed as follows:

• The Skilled Occupation List (SOL) has been renamed as the Medium and Long-term Strategic Skills List (MLTSSL)
• The Consolidated Sponsored Occupation List (CSOL) has been renamed as the Short-term Skilled Occupation List (STSOL)

2. The new Temporary Skill Shortage (TSS) visa will have two streams:

• A Short -Term Stream of up to 2 years; This stream will allow onshore renewals only once.
• A Medium and Long-Term Stream of up to 4 years. This stream will have a permanent residence option after three years, subject to meeting all other eligibility criteria.

3. Significant Changes in Occupations:

• 216 occupations have been removed from the list of eligible occupations for temporary and permanent skilled migrations.
• Caveats added to 59 other occupations.
• The occupation list of STSOL and MLTSSL will be reviewed every six months, based on advice from the Department of Employment to reflect the Australia’s skill needs.

4. Training Requirement:

• Employers nominating workers for the TSS visas, the ENS visa and the RSMS visa will contribute to the training of Australians through a Skilled Australians Fund (SAF) levy. The levy will depend on the size of the business.

(News Resources from Australian Immigration Department )