Australia decides to scrap 457 visa programs

The federal government of Australia has decided to axe the 457 visa program for immigrant workers and announced a more stringent replacement. Taking its place would be two new temporary visas that will have more difficult English language tests and stricter labour market testing and will need visa applicants to have a minimum of two years of work experience and a compulsory police check. In addition, the number of jobs available under the two-year and four-year visa schemes has also been pruned as 216 occupations were removed from the existing list of 651 professions eligible for the immigrant 457 work visas. Nurses and cooks, however, will continue to be eligible for 457 visas under the new scheme. Mr Malcolm Turnbull, the Australian Prime Minister, was quoted by the Sydney Morning Herald as saying that they would be giving precedence to Australians first. Saying that it was an immigrant nation, he said that priority must be given to Australian workers for jobs in Australia. That is the reason they were doing away with the 457 visas and they would no longer let 457 visas to be used as passports for jobs that could be done by Australian nationals, it was announced. But people who are staying in the country on a 457 visa currently will not be subject to the new regulations. Meanwhile, application fees for the two-year visa will be increased from A$1060 to A$1150 and it would rise more than twofold to $2400 for the four-year visa. If you want to migrate to Australia before the new regulations for 457 work visas come into place, get in touch with Y-Axis, one of the leading immigration consultancy companies, to apply for a visa from one of its several offices.