Employer Sponsored
The Temporary Skill Migration Income Threshold (TSMIT) increases from $70,000 up to $73,150, this affects subclass 482, 494, 186 and 187 visa programs. All employers will need to ensure that the Annual Market Salary rate being offered to a prospective overseas employee is tboth above the TSMIT and is paid at market rate level. We anticipate that certain occupations are likely to be affected by the increase of the TSMIT which is looking to be increased annually by the government in line with Consumer Price Index (CPI) that was 2.75% this financial year.
Changes to visa conditions 8107, 8607 and 8608 following work cessations commence today, see our post here for full details
The Migration Amendment (Strengthening Employer Compliance) Act 2024 improves employer compliance and protect temporary migrant workers from exploitation.
Among other measures, the amendments made by the Strengthening Employer Compliance Act include:
- new criminal offences and associated civil penalty provisions for using a person’s migration status to exploit them in the workplace,
- a measure enabling the Minister to prohibit an employer from allowing additional non-citizens to work for a period of time where the employer has engaged in serious, deliberate or repeated non-compliance, which includes penalties for breaching this prohibition order
- new compliance tools, such as compliance notices, which includes penalties for breaching a compliance notice, and
- increases in the maximum criminal and civil penalties for existing work-related breaches under the Migration Act, in relation to both the general employer and the Employer Sponsorship framework
Health criteria – significant cost threshold
The department have increased the Significant Cost Threshold for Australia’s migration health requiremment from 1 July from $51,000 up to $86,000.
Working Holiday Maker program
Following last years Free Trade Agreement, UK passport holders will be able to be granted up to three Working Holiday (Subclass 417) visas without having to meet any specified work requirements (Regional Work) from 1 July 2024.
Republic of Phillippines passport holders are now eligible to apply for a Work and Holiday (subclass 462) visa. For full details of eligible countries and the annual cap for this program, see link here
Graduates
Post-Vocational Education Work stream (former Graduate Work stream)
- Renamed to the Post-Vocational Education Work Stream
- The maximum eligible age will be reduced to 35 years of age or under.
- Masters (research) and doctoral degree (PhD) graduates or Hong Kong and British National Overseas passport holders will continue to be eligible provided they are under 50 years of age.
- Applicants must hold an associate degree, diploma or trade qualification, closely related to their nominated occupation on the Medium and Long-term Strategic Skills List (MLTSSL). Applicants with a degree level qualification or higher will no longer be eligible for this stream.
- The stay period will remain up to 18 months, with Hong Kong or British National Overseas passport holders eligible to stay for up to 5 years.
Post-Higher Education Work stream (former Post-Study Work stream)
- The maximum eligible age for Post-Higher Education Work stream applicants will reduce to 35 years of age or under.
- Masters (research) and doctoral degree (PhD) graduates or Hong Kong and British National Overseas passport holders will continue to be eligible provided they are under 50 years of age
Stay periods will change to the following:
- Bachelor degree (including honours) – up to 2 years
- Masters (coursework and extended) – up to 2 years
- Masters (research) and doctoral degree (PhD) – up to 3 years.
- Hong Kong and British National Overseas passport holders may be able to stay for up to 5 years.
Stay periods for Indian nationals, as agreed in the Australian Indian – Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (AI-ECTA), remain as:
- Bachelor degree (including honours) – up to 2 years
- Bachelor degree (with first class honours in STEM, including ICT) – up to 3 years
- Masters (coursework, extended and research) – up to 3 years
- Doctoral degrees (PhD) – up to 4 years.
Second Post-Higher Education Work stream (former Second Post-Study Work stream)
There are no other changes to this stream.
Students
Restricting onshore visa hopping to the Student visa program
As part of the Migration Strategy, the Government announced a package of reforms to support integrity in the international education system and to support genuine international students. These reforms ensure that visas are granted to genuine students and that students who earn a qualification in Australia have an opportunity to contribute to Australia’s economic growth.
The legistlative changes that take affect from 1 July mean that migrants that hold the following visas, cannot make an application for a Student (Subclass 500) or a Student Guardian (Subclass 590) whilst onshore
- Temporary Graduate (Subclass 485)
- Electronic Travel Authority (Subclass 601)
- Medical Treatment (Subclass 602)
- eVisitor (Subclass 651)
- Maritime Crew (Subclass 988)
- Visitor (Subclass 600)
Partner
Changes to partner relationships, prospective partners and language relating to family violence have been amended under the provision of Migration Amendment (Family Violence Provisions for Partner Visa Applicants) Regulations 2024.
The changes cover such things as cessation provision circumstances where there is a death of the sponsor, child of relationship and family violence
Visa Application Charges from 1 July 2024
The Australian government released the new Visa Application Charges in line with the Consumer Price Index overnight, raising the majority of the visa fees by 2.75% and rounding up to the nearest $5.
Some base application charges however have been increased significantly, Student visas is increased from $710 to $1,600. The additional applicant charge component for any other applicant who is at least 18 is increased from $530 to $1,190, and the additional applicant charge component for any other applicant who is less than 18 is increased from $175 to $390.
Fuller details can be found in our seperate post, linked here, that includes a summary of the most popular visas that we manage for clients.
Please feel free to reach out to us should you require any further detailed information on any of the changes above.
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