Australia Introduces Modifications to its Permanent Residency Program

Australia’s Department of Home Affairs is updating the nation’s permanent residency process for temporary skilled workers as of November 25, 2023. Per the announcements made earlier in the year, those holding category 482 visas are qualified to apply for permanent residency. Those with subclass 482 visas who worked in temporary positions were formerly not allowed to apply for permanent residence. The modifications also shorten the period of employment before applying for permanent residency from three years to two and permit holders of short-term subclass 482 visas to renew their visas forever. The new regulations aim to give more people equal access to Australian permanent residence.

The Employer Nomination Scheme (Subclass 186) (ENS), the Regional Sponsored Migration Scheme (Subclass 187) (RSMS), and the Temporary Residence Transition Stream (TRT) of the Temporary Skilled Shortage visa (Subclass 482) will all be impacted by the proposed modifications.

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The Visa Subclass 482

The Subclass 482 visa is a Temporary Skill Shortage (TSS) visa that enables firms to sponsor a foreign worker with the necessary skills to fill a post for which an Australian candidate is unavailable. The subclass 482 visa comprises multiple “streams,” such as the labour agreement stream, short- and mid-term streams, and others, each of which permits the foreign national to reside and work in Australia for a predetermined duration. Before now, the mid-term and labour agreement streams’ subclass 482 visa holders were the only ones qualified for permanent residency.

Also read: Demystifying 482 Visa Requirements

Extended Routes for Permanent Residency

The TRT stream nomination guidelines will be changed in the ways listed below:

• Empower businesses to propose TSS visa holders in all streams (including the Short-term and Labour Agreement streams).
• Remove the requirement that for nominated occupations to be considered, the TRT stream must be assessed against a list of skilled migration employment. The sponsored worker must continue to work in the occupation nominated for their TSS visa(s), and the nominated occupation must be included in the Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations (ANZSCO).
• Lower the time a TSS visa holder needs to maintain their visa and work in their designated role or profession to two of the three years before nomination to be eligible for a TRT stream employer nomination.

All holders of subclass 482 visas, including those employed temporarily, can apply for permanent residence via the Employer Nomination Scheme Subclass 186 visa’s Temporary Residence Transition (TRT) stream. The vocations that applicants list on their TSS visa nominations must be continued; however, these occupations are not restricted to those on the government’s Medium and Long-term Strategic Skills List (MLTSSL).

Applicants must fulfil all additional nomination and visa requirements for the TRT stream of the Employer Nomination Scheme visa. By November 25, 2023, the TRT stream nomination requirements will have changed to accommodate both newly submitted Employer Nomination Scheme and Regional Sponsored Migration Scheme nomination applications and those that haven’t been determined in full.

The government has lifted restrictions on the number of short-term stream TSS visa applications that visa holders may submit in Australia to support the new permanent residency program. It is meant to be a stopgap measure to help people who are already in Australia but would otherwise have to travel abroad to apply for more visas. New TSS visa applications submitted on or after November 25, 2023, are subject to modification.