The Australian Government notified the public of major upcoming changes to the Australian Migration Program:

1.  Raising the Temporary Skilled Migration Income Threshold (TSMIT) – From 1 July 2023, the TSMIT will increase from $53,900 to $70,000. This will not affect existing visa holders or applications lodged before 1 July 2023.

2.   Pathways to permanent residence for all 482 visa holders – The Department has confirmed that permanent residence through the Subclass 186 Temporary Residence Transitional stream will be available to all Subclass 482 visa holders, regardless of occupation. The eligibility employment period will also be reduced to two years from three years previously. We expect that these changes will occur by the end of 2023, but the Government has not provided a commencement date or released legislative requirements.

3.  No restriction on short-term 482 visas – The Department is removing the limits on the number of short-term Subclass 482 visa applications a visa holder can make in Australia. This has been announced as an interim measure to ensure applicants do not need to travel offshore to make additional applications.

As more information is released by the Australian Government, we will release further updates.  For more information on this alert and for an Australia immigration assessment, please reach out to the T&S APAC team at APAC@tandslaw.com.