The New TSS Visa Program

The new TSS Visa Programme

On 18 April 2017, the Government announced that the Temporary Work (Skilled) visa (subclass 457 visa) will be abolished and replaced with the completely new Temporary Skill Shortage (TSS) visa in March 2018.

The TSS visa programme will be comprised of a Short-Term stream of up to two years and a Medium-Term stream of up to four years and will support businesses in addressing genuine skill shortages in their workforce and will contain a number of safeguards which prioritise Australian workers.

This new visa is part of the Government’s significant reform package to strengthen the integrity and quality of Australia’s temporary and permanent employer sponsored skilled migration programmes.

Key reforms include:

• Introducing the temporary skill shortage visa with new requirements, including but not limited to:
  • new, more targeted occupation lists which better align with skill needs in the Australian labour market
  • a requirement for visa applicants to have at least two years’ work experience in their skilled occupation
  • a minimum market salary rate which ensures that overseas workers cannot be engaged to undercut Australian workers
  • mandatory labour market testing, unless an international obligation applies,
  • capacity for only one onshore visa renewal under the Short-Term stream
  • capacity for visa renewal onshore and a permanent residence pathway after three years under the Medium-Term stream
  • the permanent residence eligibility period will be extended from two to three years
  • a non-discriminatory workforce test to ensure employers are not actively discriminating against Australian workers
  • strengthened requirement for employers to contribute to training Australian workers
  • the Department of Immigration and Border Protection will collect Tax File Numbers and data will be matched with the Australian Tax Office’s records, and
  • mandatory penal clearance certificates to be provided.

 

• Tightening eligibility requirements for employer sponsored permanent skilled visas, including but not limited to:
  • tightened English language requirements
  • a requirement for visa applicants to have at least three years’ work experience
  • applicants must be under the maximum age requirement of 45 at the time of application
  • strengthened requirement for employers to contribute to training Australian workers, and
  • employers must pay the Australian market salary rate and meet the Temporary Skilled Migration Income Threshold¹.

Changes from March 2018

From March 2018, the 457 visa will be abolished and replaced with the TSS visa. The TSS visa will be comprised of a Short-Term stream of up to two years, and a Medium-Term stream of up to four years.

The Short-Term stream is designed for Australian businesses to fill skill gaps with foreign workers on a temporary basis, where a suitably skilled Australian worker cannot be sourced.  Occupations must be on the STSOL (Short-term Skilled Occupations List)

The Medium-Term stream will allow employers to source foreign workers to address shortages in a narrower range of high skill and critical need occupations, where a suitably skilled Australian worker cannot be sourced. Occupations must be on the MLTSSL (Medium and Long Term Strategic Skills List)

The Short-Term stream will include the following criteria:

• Renewal: Capacity for visa renewal onshore once only.
• Occupations: For non-regional Australia, the STSOL will apply.
• For regional Australia, the STSOL will apply, with additional occupations available to support regional employers.
• English language requirements: A requirement of an International English Language Testing System (IELTS) (or equivalent test) score of 5, with a minimum of 4.5 in each test component. – Genuine entry: A genuine temporary entrant requirement.
• Genuine entry: A genuine temporary entrant requirement.

 The Medium-Term stream will include the following criteria:

• Renewal: Capacity for visa renewal onshore and a permanent residence pathway after three years. –
• Occupation lists: For non-regional Australia – the MLTSSL will apply. For regional Australia – the MLTSSL will apply, with additional occupations available to support regional employers.
• English language requirements: a requirement of a minimum of IELTS 5 (or equivalent test) in each test component.

Eligibility criteria for both streams will include: 

• Work experience: at least two years’ relevant work experience.
• Labour market testing (LMT): LMT will be mandatory, unless an international obligation applies.
• Minimum market salary rate: Employers must pay the Australian market salary rate and meet the Temporary Skilled Migration Income Threshold requirements
• Character: Mandatory penal clearance certificates to be provided.
• Workforce: A non-discriminatory workforce test to ensure employers are not actively discriminating against Australian workers.
• Training requirement: a strengthened training requirement for employers to contribute towards training Australian workers