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457 Visas - Trending Upwards Mon, Jul 18th, 2011 4:32:01 pm Long Stay Business Visas - Subclass 457 The controversial 457 visa is back in vogue, with Australia's most popular temporary skilled migrant category witnessing a dramatic rebound in successful applications in the 11 months to May this year. A closer look at the statistics, however, reveals a deeper skills void to that seen pre-GFC, as the two primary resource-related job sectors soak up a stunning 20 per cent of all new migrants while only accounting for 11 per cent of the national workforce. In all, the number of applications granted for the 457 skilled visa program - controversial for its previous abuse by some employers in relation to workers' rights - reached 42,840 in the 11 months to the end of May. This was a 38.3 per cent lift on the same period last year, but 20 per cent below the pre-GFC record, according to official Department of Immigration and Citizenship data. As the graph below shows, a marked pick-up in applications and grants has been seen since late 2009, culminating in a May rush, when the highest number of 457 visas was awarded since September 2008.
click the image to enlarge The mining, construction, and professional, scientific and technical* sectors have been leading the way, while the health sector - weighed by the stricter English language requirements brought in almost two years ago, lower turnover rates in the key nursing segment and a global dearth of nurses - was the laggard. Not surprisingly, resource-rich Western Australia has emerged as the hot-spot destination for migrants. There have also been some changes in the origin of 457 visa holders, with a significant uptick in the number of Indian, Irish and Filipino migrants (all up over 50 per cent). China, however, has dried up noticeably as a source of 457 visa users - from 6 per cent in the 2007-08 financial year to just 3.3 per cent in the last 11 months - and has moved from fourth on the list to seventh as a result. In fact, the only countries with less than double-digit growth in migrants coming to Australia on 457 visas for the 11 months were Japan and China, as the tighter English language requirements seemingly took their toll. Filling the void Last year, there was a significant tightening of the skilled labour market, with skilled positions filled just 61 per cent of the time, down from 65 per cent, according to data from the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations. Admittedly, the market was better for employers than in 2007 and 2008, but during those two years the unemployment rate was at a level not seen for decades, as the whole country rode the wave of the resources boom.
Now, however, the whole country isn't quite buckled in for the ride, with retail, housing and credit growth all weaker than during the last growth spurt. Yet mining is gearing up for an even bigger boom, with capital expenditure expected to soar well beyond the 2008 highs. PLEASE EMAIL info@australiamigrate.com OR CALL US ON (02) 94116000 for information or advice about your 457 visa or, if you are an employer, and wish to sponsor an overseas person on a 457 visa
Skilled Migration - Priority Arrangements Mon, Jul 18th, 2011 9:31:01 am Priority Processing Arrangements A new Ministerial Direction came into effect on 1 July 2011 establishing new priority processing arrangements for Skilled Migration applications. This Direction determines the order in which the department considers applications. Applications accorded a higher priority under these arrangements are assessed ahead of lower priority applications, irrespective of when the application is lodged. In line with these arrangements GSM has commenced assessing skilled migration applications which fall within its processing responsibility in the current order: Priority 1: Applications from people who have applied for a Skilled - Regional (subclass 887 visa) Priority 2: No GSM applications are included within this group Priority 3: Applications from people who are nominated by a state or territory government agency for an occupation specified on that agency's state migration plan Priority 4: Applications from people who have nominated an occupation on the Skilled Occupation List (SOL) - Schedule 1 in effect from 1 July 2011 (http://www.immi.gov.au/skilled/_pdf/sol-schedule1.pdf) Priority 5: All other applications The Department of Immigration does not anticipate that the creation of an additional priority group, as per this Direction, will impact negatively on the processing of applications which were previously in priority group 4 and are now in priority group 5. This is because recent reforms have impacted on the volume of applicants waiting for a skilled migration outcome.
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