In August 2022 the States and Territories were only given a total of 810 allocations for 188 visas.  All states and territories aside from Move to South Ausralia have now run out of business visa allocations.

On 8 December 2022, the Migration Program Planning Levels for 2022-2023 were released.

Unfortunately, the Federal Government did not allocate any more places to any of the states/territories for Business Investment Visa 188.

So with no state nominations available, the Federal Government has effectively closed the 188 visa for this migration year, up until the 30 June 2023.

This is a type of stealth closure, without an announcement by the Federal Government, but with the same effect.

The 188 visa is called the Business Innovation and Investment Program (BIIP).

There are four streams of the 188 visa:

• Business Innovation stream-  188a Visa - for succesful busines owners. 
• Investor stream-2.5 million Investment Visa 188B Australia
• Significant Investor stream- 5 Million Investment Visa Australia - Visa 188C SIV 
• Entrepreneur stream- Visa 188E Australia. This visa stream lets you carry out entrepreneurial activities in Australia. You can stay for up to 5 years .

Each stream requires that the applicant to obtain state nomination before lodging a visa.

With no further allocations available to the states from the Federal Government, the 188 has been effectivly closed up until 1 July 2023.

How did the news break about the closure of 188 visas?

The Federal Government has not publicly announced the closure of the business programs.

It has been left to the states to make announcements in relation to running out of allocation and then not being given any more.

The 188-visa allocation story so far this 2022 to 2023 program Year

So far this year the Federal Government gave 810 allocations, divided between all the States and Territories.

The States and Territories and many potential applicants were eagerly awaiting further allocations.

On 21 December 2022, Move to South Australia confirmed its final nomination allocation for business visas remained at 70 places for this program year ending 30 June 2023. Hence, it closed the nomination to Investor Stream (188B) and Significant Investor Stream (188C). There are a very limited number of places available for Business Innovation Stream (188A) (closing on 31 January 2023) and Entrepreneur Stream (188E).

In the meantime, New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, West Australia, and Australian Capital Territory are closed for this program year due to reaching out the allocation of places.

How many Business Visa Allocations were planned for 2022 to 2023? What happens to unused allocations?

There was a planning level of 5,000 places for Business Innovation and Investment visas at the beginning.

The 188 Business Investment visa has been a very popular visa stream in Australia which attracts a lot of high net-worth people from around the world.

The last 2021-22 planning level for Business and Investment Visa was 13,500 places.

This year, the Federal Government has only sent out 810 allocations for all states and territories.

It means almost 4,200 places will be left unused this year.

There is no official announcement on how the Australian Government will be using these places for.

However, with the current biggest invitation round in the history of 189 Visa (35,000 invitations in December), the unused places could be sent to skilled visa streams to address skills shortages.

What are the reasons for the Federal Government closing the 188 visa?

The Australian federal government has started a review process for the Australian migration program. submissions were due by the 15th Of December.
It appears that the federal government has already made its mind up in relation to the direction that the Australian migration program will take, by the closing of business investor and entrepreneur visas.
This could be due to the influence of the Grattan Institute, which has published a paper, claiming that business migrants pay less tax over their lifetime than skilled visa migrant workers.

The Grattan Institute is in favor of abolishing the Business Innovation and Investment program (BIIP) on the basis that applicants for these visas tend to be older, and they claim earn lower incomes and cost more in health services.

Please refer to ‘The $119 billion free lunch’ by Brendan Coates, Tyler Reysenbach by this link

The Busines Visa program was introduced by the Labor Gillard government in 2012. But more recently Federal Home Affairs Minister Clare O'Neil has criticised the BIIP program.

She indicated:” It is a visa program (Significant Investor Visa) that I think isn’t adding value to the country and it’s something that we will be looking at”

She also said: “At the moment, I can’t see a lot of reasons to maintain it as part of our program.”

As this program year only has 6 months left, we think that the Federal Government is trying to focus its 100% effort on the skills shortages rather than business and investment visas.

Skilled workers are in high demand, especially those in Agriculture, Hospitality and Healthcare.

Australian Business and Significant Investor Visas Subclass 188 Closed - New Visa Expected in 2024! Read more here! 

What other options are available?  Are these other options suitable?

188 visa potential applicants may consider other visa options, for example,

• Global Talent Visa
• General Skilled Visa
• Employer Sponsored Visa
• Family Visa – Partner Visa, Parent Visa

However, many of those that were planning for a 188 visa might not be in a position to meet the requirements for these other visa options.

The employer sponsored and general skilled visas have higher English and lower age requirements.

Parent visas are very slow to be processed and rely on the applicant having at least half of their children in Australia as holders of Australian PR or Citizenship. 

So in many cases, unfortunately, those that would have applied for a 188 Business or Investor visa might struggle to meet the criterai for other visas. 

Comments by Immigration Lawyer, Chris Johnston

The closure of the business visa 188 has left many potential applicants frustrated and the states with interested applicants but with no nominations. 

We understand this is very difficult for many applicants who are planning a 188, with the allocation of 5000 not being reached. 

Hopefully, more allocations will be available in the new financial year starting 1 July 2023.

We suggest that the Grattan Institute’s model does not measure all the far-reaching benefits that flow from business migrants.

The Grattan Institute has failed to measure all the income generated by the visa holder, does not measure the benefit of the investment on Australian employment, property developments, Australia exports or business activity and does not offset the effect of private health cover which almost all business and investor visa holders have on the costs side of the equation.

The benefits of business migrants can be seen in an example published in an article in LinkedIn by Luke Headland from Investment Migration Industry Group (IMIG):

"Case Study of SIV visa holder 1:

Investment Capital:

SIV Complying Investment  $  5,000,000.00

Additional capital brought to Australia  $ 15,000,000.00

Investments remaining home country  $8,000,000.00

Total investment capital $28,000,000.00

Australian Income:

Income from SIV complying investment  $337,000.00

Income from business employment activity in Aus $250,000.00

Income from additional Aus investments $360,000.00

Total Australian sourced income $947,000.00"

As we can see, there may be a few taxes associated with this visa holder:

• Income tax
• Capital gains taxes on the re-balancing of investments

There are many tax payments and expenditure not measured by Grattan, including  high international student fee rates and luxury family home with double the level of stamp duty.

I have also observed that business migrants often invest much more in Australia through upgrading businesses and buying extra businesses, than is required to get a visa.  

My view is that the Grattan Institutes figures used to criticise business visas are flawed, as they:

- do not measure all the forms of tax income from SIV holders, effectivey underestimateing the income SIV holders generate for the government.

- overestimate the health costs, as almost all SIV holders have private health insurance. 

It is also important to note that by closing the 188 visa, the Government is closing all four streams.

This means the government is closing to business innovation applicants or the 188A.  This is a visa that is for successful overseas business owners, which are required to establish or buy an Australian business, and to successfully operate the business for at least two years.

This means the government is closing the Entrepreneur visa or the 188E, which is aimed at promoting Entrepreneurs to move to Australia and to start new and exciting businesses.

Australia is lagging further and further behind in relation to attracting innovation.  Many other countries have now put in place digital nomad visas, which are designed to attract young people that have online and remote businesses. 

Australia has closed the Entrepreneur visa and does not have a Digital Nomad visa.

I am concerned that while the Minister for Home Affairs has made some negative comments about the 188 SIV visa, the recent measures of failing to give out allocations to the states, are closing all four business visa streams. 

It is hard to believe that Australia does not want high net worth business owner migrants, investors or entrepreneurs?

Most State and Territory governments have been supportive of business, investor and entrepreneurs visas.  Different states have varying focusses based on their states characteristics.

As the centres for big business in Australia, NSW and Victoria have favoured the Significant Investor Visas.

South Australia Visa 188 Program has supported business visas for SA exports and property development and entrepreneur visas to innovation and new industries. 

Queensland has been involved in all types of business and investor visas. 

The State Governments of Australia are usually keen for high net worth business owners, investors and entrepreneurs.

Does the government modeling include the stamp duty from property purchases (nope a state tax) or the benefits of state based exports, property developments and business expansions (nope, all benefiting states and not measured by the Grattan Institute).  Not to mention that the Grattan Institute's policy of huge GSM numbers straight to PR on a 189 will deliver all the migrants to Melbourne and Sydney, putting infrastructure under pressure and with no benefit to other states and territories).

So when I say Australia, it really means the Federal Government does not want high net worth business and investor visa applicants.

Why not reform the 188 visa rather than totally cut it?

The Federal Government could reform the 188 visa, to reduce age concessions, for example, if worried about aging migrants.  But it seems they might be searching for that Djokovic moment, for some  popularist migration related publicity.  Cutting visas for wealthy people and those pesky influencer gen Z entrepreneurs. 

More about the Business Visa Australia Agents and Lawyers at Work Visa Lawyers

With rapid changes in the migration policy in Australia and this unstable period, having a someone, who is specialized in the field, with you on your Business Investor Visa journey would be the best way to start.

Understanding the difficulties in choosing the best Australian Business Visa options, Business Visa 188 Agents and Lawyers team at Work Visa Lawyers has strong immigration knowledge and committed to keep updating our website and Business Innovation and Investment news in Australia.

Work Visa Lawyers ® is a migration firm founded by Lawyer Chris Johnston in 2011. Our team is focused on providing quality immigration services to our clients, wherever they are in the world. We speak English, Mandarin, Cantonese, Punjabi, Hindi, Tagalog (Filipino), Portuguese and Vietnamese.

We can help you with the Business Innovation and Investment (Provisional) visa (subclass 188) for the following four streams and Global Talent Visa:

• 188A visa - Business Innovation stream
• 188B visa - Investor stream
• 188C visa - Significant Investor stream SIV
• 188E visa - Entrepreneur stream
• 858 Visa – Global Talent Visa 

We are experts in Business and Investor Visas 188 and Global Talent Visa 858 in Australia. We help overseas business owners, investors to create a new life in Australia with their family much faster through those visa streams.

Book an Appointment

Sources:

https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/what-we-do/migration-program-planning-levels

https://www.migration.sa.gov.au/news-events/skilled-and-business-migration-program-update-final-nomination-allocation-received-2022

https://grattan.edu.au/news/the-119-billion-free-lunch/

Like Headland  from Investment Migration Industry Group : https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/significant-investor-visa-economic-benefits-australia-luke-headland-%3FtrackingId=RSh3gNd6SfqK%252BAGqwbFMiA%253D%253D/?trackingId=L43kMQg1RTSOibkKU2mXPw%3D%3D

Today’s ever changing economic climate can result in necessary changes to business plans.

What happens if you were approved for state nomination based on a particular business plan, and then this plan changes after your 188A visa is granted?

Overview of 188a Business Innovation Visa Australia

Social Workers is one of the occupations that are in great demand in Australia and worldwide.

According to Health Direct of Australia, Social workers are allied health professionals who help people who are in crisis and need support.

The target clients of social workers are elder people, disabilities or people who have suffered from family violence…

Social workers will provide counselling, supporting information, and referral to other services to address the issue.

This is a highly skilled occupation in Australia, and it is currently in very high demand.

Social Work is on the Medium and Long-term Strategic Skills List (MLTSSL) of Australia.

That means clients who are working as Social Workers can apply for all the General Skilled Migration visa options, including 189 visa, 190 Visa, and 491 Visa.

Being listed in MLTSSL can be beneficial for migrants who are seeking for employer sponsorship program which will give them a pathway to Permanent Residency.

This article only discusses the options in the Skilled migration program including 189, 190, and 491 visas.

There are many more occupations that are popular to get Australian PR by Skilled Migration program.

Here is the article for the best 10 courses to study to get Australian PR>>

Qualification for practicing as Social Worker

To be qualified as a social worker in Australia, you must complete at least Bachelor course in Social work.

There is no registration required to work as a social worker.

This is recommended to be working as a social worker and getting Australian Skilled Visa (PR).

Most courses in social work provide internship programs during the last year which is very helpful for Skill Assessment and securing job in the future.

Bachelor of Social Work in Australia usually takes 4 years to complete while a master’s degree only takes 2 years.

Please be advised that the pre-requisite for Social work course could be complicated.

You may need to seek professional advice to see if you are eligible for the course entry requirement.

Skilled Migration program - Get PR as Social Worker

There are 3 main streams under skilled migration program which we will talk about later and how social workers can secure one of the three to get their Australian Permanent Residency.

189 Visa – Skilled Independent Visa Pathway

This is a points test based permanent residency visa which requires applicants to calculate their points through the Expression of Interest system.

The minimum 65 points must be met to be eligible to lodge EOI for 189 Visa.

In the recent invitation round, Social Workers with minimum of 65 points received invitations from the Department of Home Affairs to apply for the 189 visas.

190 Visa State Nominated – Permanent Residency

190 Visa is state nominated visa which only happens when applicants are invited by a state or territory to apply.

Each state or territory has its own occupation list and nomination requirements.

Please refer to each state’s website for their criteria.

491 Skilled Regional Visa Pathway – 5-year temporary visa

The state nomination requirement also applies to 491 skilled regional visa applications; however, the other requirements are much easier for 491 visas comparing with 190 visa criteria.

Especially some occupations are not required to have work experience to be nominated 491 visas.

You also have a permanent residency pathway through 191 Visa after meeting certain requirements.

The benefits of 491 visa is that you will have Medicare card even though you have yet a permanent resident.

In the current 2022-2023 financial year, Social Worker is on every single state/territory’s occupation list.

Social Worker as mentioned, is a very demanding occupation in Australia.

Social Work graduates may easily find ways to get Australian PR through a skilled migration program.

Let’s look at an overview of the state and territory’s nomination requirements.

NSW State Nomination requirement for Social Workers

 Social Worker is on the Visa 190 occupation list of New South Wales. Applicants need to have been living in NSW for at least 6 months.

NSW just get rid of their minimum points requirement.

This, in our opinion does not make much difference unless there is no applicant with points over 65 or 70 like the last minimum points for social workers.

VIC State Nomination requirement for Social Workers

VIC is open to all occupations this Financial Year. Applicants who meet the standard criteria can apply.

The more experienced you are and the higher points you have, the you are more likely to get an invitation.

SA State Nomination requirement for Social Workers

As always, SA’s state nomination policy is steady and friendly, especially to its international graduates. - if you have been working as a Social Worker in SA in the last 3 months, you will be eligible for a 190.

However, there are more streams for social workers from interstates or offshore to be invited.

Please refer to Move to SA website for more information.

WA State Nomination requirement for Social Workers

WA reduced its entry criteria this financial year. It got rid of the Job Offer and English requirements for its graduates.

WA is becoming one of the most attractive states for the Skilled Migration program in Australia.

ACT State Nomination requirement for Social Workers

Social Workers remain on its Critical Occupation List. However, the 190 Matrix points are relatively high.

TAS State Nomination requirement for Social Workers

The new Attribute system is introduced this year. Extra attribute points can be claimed for Social Workers.

Skill Assessment for Social Workers

The Social Workers’ skill assessment authority is AASW. There are five Criteria that must all be met for a positive assessment for migration and employment purposes:

Criterion 1: The qualification must be a specific qualification major in social work.

Criterion 2: The qualification must be regarded as a professional social work qualification in the country of training.

Criterion 3: The learning outcomes of the professional social work qualification is comparable to the learning outcomes that graduates of AASW-accredited social work qualifications must demonstrate.

Criterion 4: At least 980 hours of field education in at least two placements and with two contrasting practice foci, with a requirement that one placement must be in direct practice.

Criterion 5: English language with only IELTS accepted at 7.0 each band

To most applicants, demonstrating the high-level English skill the biggest challenge in this process.

If you are struggling to get the required English level, then you may be assessed as other occupations, including:

• Community Worker 411711
• Welfare Center Manager 134214
• Disabilities Services Officer 411712
• Family Support Worker 411713
• Residential Care officer 411715
• Youth Worker 411716

The above occupations are assessed by ACWA, which offers an English waiver.

However, those occupations are not included in the Medium and Long Term Strategic Skilled List which may give you fewer PR options.

Souce:

• https://www.aasw.asn.au/careers-study/assessment-of-social-work-qualifications-international-or-australian-for-migration-and-or-employment-purposes
• https://www.acwa.org.au/migrants/skills-assessment-criteria/

All that you need to know about Global Talent Visa is on this page: CLICK HERE

Getting a PhD degree from an Australian university is not easy. It takes a lot of hard work, sacrifice and expense to successfully complete a PhD degree. So, congratulations to all PhD graduates.

However, PhD graduates still have big decisions to make after finishing their degree.

While some PhD graduates decide to go back to their home countries or move to other countries, some choose to stay in Australia for the various opportunities on offer.

This includes job opportunities and perhaps because of the options for permanent residency in Australia.

Many PhD graduates found it complicated to secure an Australian Permanent Residency until the born of Global Talent Visa program.

However, with the current news and budget allocations this financial year, focus has been distributed to other skilled visa 491/190 streams.

States and territories have announced new state nomination criteria to attract those research students and planning to migrate in Australia.

In this article, we will discuss 2 options for permanent residency for PhD graduates – the Global Talent Visa and the state-nominated visas 491 or 190

Global Talent Visa Australia

One good option for PhD graduates is the Global Talent Visa.

Since opening, Global talent visa is designed for PhD students not just in Australia but around the world to get Australian PR.

Many PhD graduates have been nominated for Global Talent visa 858.

It became increasingly popular in Australia during covid-19 being the only stream for highly skilled talented people to get into Australia while travel restriction is still around.

During that time, applicants could get Global Talent Visa within months and moved to Australia with the whole family.

Recent PhD graduates who can attract or is earning a very high salary will be considered favourably for this visa.

High salary means that you are currently earning or has the ability to earn a salary equivalent to or higher than Australia’s Fair Work High Income Threshold (FWHIT) which is currently set at AUD$162,000/per annum.

More information about the Global Talent Visa requirements here >>

Applicants relying on their PhD degree need to show that they have internationally recognised achievements, are prominent in their field and must have their PhD degree conferred in the last 3 years.

Applicants with a PhD still must show that they meet the other criteria for the grant of the Global Talent Visa.  More information about this visa and the eligibility requirements can be found on our website.

These are the 4 core requirements for Global Talent Visa Australia:

1. Skills in the 10 targeted sectors
2. Internationally recognized for outstanding achievement in your field -career history, publications, journals, awards throughout your career
3. High salary income threshold at 162,000 AUD per annum
4. Nomination from Australian organizations or Australian Permanent residents who must be prominent in the same field as you.

Please check out our Global Talent visa recent news here >>

State nominated visa 491/190

If you are a PhD graduate but will not be able to meet the criteria for the Global Talent Visa, like for example you do not meet the high-income threshold, there are still other options for you such as the state nominated visas.

South Australia state nomination for PhD students

One state nominated visa option for international graduates is South Australia’s nomination under its Highly Skilled and Talented stream.

This is a new stream recently announced by South Australia.

The stream is slightly similar to Global Talent Visa but much easier with lower income requirement.

Most PhD graduates have been struggling with income threshold requirements for Global Talent Visa.

This is the chance for you because this SA Nomination Stream is open for interstate applicants.

The requirements say you must::

1. Under 45 years of age
2. Positive Skill Assessment
3. at least Proficient English (IELTS 7.0 or equivalent)
4. EOI 65 points including State nomination points
5. Be earning a high base salary threshold commensurate with the expectations of the Highly Skilled and Talented stream (at least $80,000 per annum) and working full time (at least 30 hours per week or 60 hours per fortnight)
6. Onshore applicants are also required to show that they:
   1. Have extensive experience, working in highly skilled jobs, in senior or executive level roles; and
   2. already commenced employment in South Australia

OR

have an employment contract for a position you plan to relocate to in South Australia. If you are currently working for a company in another state, and intend to relocate to the South Australian office of your current company,

OR

Have demonstrated specialised experience or niche skills that are highly desired in one of South Australia’s critical priority sectors.

If you meet the above requirements, South Australia may potentially nominate you for the sc-491 or sc-190 visa.

For some South Australia PhD graduates, you will be encouraged to apply for state nominated visa in Australia.

You can go for SA Graduate stream with high-performing graduate pathway.

If you have positive skill assessment of your nominated occupation, you might be eligible for a visa 491 or 190.

Queensland

 Another state which has a great visa option or pathway for high-performing PhD graduates is Queensland.

Migration Queensland allows PhD graduates of the state to seek 491 visa or 190 visa nominations.

To be eligible you must:

1. Be living in Queensland
2. have a points test result, including the state nomination points, of at least 80 points (for the sc-190 visa) or 65 points (for the sc-491 visa). However, having higher points is always better
3. at least proficient English
4. have completed all of your PhD or Doctorate at a Queensland based institution
5. have had a decision of their thesis and graduated in the last 2 years
6. have an occupation listed on LIN 19/051 or the Specification of Occupations and Assessing Authorities Instrument 2019. LIN 19/051 is the Legislative instrument that lists the occupations in the Medium and Long‑term Strategic Skills List (or the MLTSSL.)

One advantage of this pathway is that if you are a PhD graduate you do not have to provide evidence of employment unlike for Master’s Degree or Bachelor Degree graduates who need to show that they have a job offer or employment in their nominated or closely nominated occupation.

Tasmania

Tasmania is also another state that is currently providing a good pathway for its PhD graduates.

Tasmania has introduced a colour-coded system to rank the applicants’ Registration of Interest (ROI).  These are the Gold, Green and Orange pass or attributes.

Those who have the Gold attribute are likely to be invited immediately to apply for the Tasmanian state nomination. These are the candidates who have their skills assessment and related employment for at least the past 3 months in Tasmania’s critical roles list. This list can be found on the Migration Tasmanian website.

Candidates who can claim one or more Green attributes are likely to be invited within 2 weeks of their ROI submission.

And those who have Orange attributes may still be invited depending on the ROIs received by the state and number of priority attributes recorded. This means that those who can only claim Orange attributes have less chances of getting invited. However the more Orange attribute you can claim, the better your chances are of getting invited to apply for the Tasmanian state nomination.

PhD graduates or candidates who cannot claim to have the Gold Attribute still has a good chance of getting invited to apply for the Tasmanian state nomination and claim a Green attribute if they have completed at least 2 years of their PhD in Tasmania.

They also have to meet the following minimum requirements:

1. have completed a course of study and obtained a letter of completion from a tertiary institution in Tasmania registered on the Commonwealth Register of Institutions and Courses for Overseas Students (CRICOS)
2. have lived in Tasmania for at least two calendar years from the commencement of their course and for the duration of their studies
3. their course must have been completed full-time and on-site in Tasmania and
4. currently be living in Tasmania and intend to continue living in Tasmania.

If you are an onshore PhD graduate or candidate and wants to know more about your Australian visa options or who wants to know how we can assist you with your permanent visa options please contact us on (+61) 08 8351 9956 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Our team of experienced Immigration Lawyers and Migration Agents look forward to assisting you with your Australian visa or appeal.

You can also book an appointment online.

Australia's 2022-23 Migration Program will be vastly different to the 2021-22 program, not just in size but also in composition.

This program has a significantly greater skill visa stream at 142,500 places.

This is the biggest in Australian migration history.

The top news in December is the effects of the new Ministerial Direction 100: Skilled Visa Processing priority

It indicates the order of processing priorities for General skilled migration and the Business Innovation & Investment Program (BIIP).

Generally speaking, it appears priority is being given to trades and Technical skills to assist with the shortages.

The visa backlog has now dropped to 755,000 from almost 1 million thanks to an additional 300 staff.

It is expected to be at a manageable level before Christmas, said by Minister Andrew Giles.

More news will also be discussed in this article.

Why may Jobs and Skills Summit 2022 outcomes worsen Australia’s immigration systems and increase skills shortages?

*This article is written based on Immigration Lawyers’ view and suggestion on the current Migration plannings by the new Federal Government”

One of the major outcomes from the Jobs and Skills Summit 2022 is that the number of Australian Permanent Residency visas will be increased to 195,000 (an increase of 30,000), with additional funding provided to get through a backlog of visa applications.

As further discussed in this article, whilst not unwelcome these changes nevertheless fall acutely short in terms of actually addressing core problems.

The current Australian immigration system is not fit for purpose – the Australian Government needs to reform and modernise immigration policy.

This article will consider:

• What are the skills shortages?
• Why the Skills Summit outcomes will not actually fix skills shortages?
• How can skills shortages be addressed through immigration policy reform?

If you want to know the likely outcome of the Skills Summit migration policy, then skip to the end of this article.

The TSS subclass 482 visa was introduced on 18 March 2018. It replaced the 457 visa which will no longer be granted. While applications for the 457 Visa are no longer being accepted, applications that were filed before 18 March 2018 will still be processed. View the full list of 457 and 482 Visa differences here.

10 points on the TSS 482 Visa:

1. Stages and Streams
2. Labour Market Testing
3. Training Requirements and Sponsor Obligations
4. Genuine Need for Position
5. The Annual Market Salary Rate (AMSR)
6. Skills Assessments and Work Experience requirements
7. Providing Complete Documents
8. School Fees and Giving Birth in Australia
9. Alternatives to the 482
10. Pathway to PR in Australia

 1) Stages and Streams In The TSS 482 Visa

A key feature of the TSS Visa 482 is that it splits the list into three streams:

• Short-Term stream
  • $1,330, per applicant over the age of 18.
• Medium-Term stream
  • $2,770, per applicant over the age of 18.
• Labour Agreement Stream
  • $2,770 per applicant over the age of 18.

Short-Term stream:

• Only allowed visa for duration of up to 2 years
• Only one onshore renewal possible – this means that after 4 years on TSS the applicant will have to go offshore to apply again.
• Occupations listed on STSOL
• No pathway to PR provided for short term occupation (unless covid-19 concessions apply for 186 TRT Stream, this is a new temporary concession for 482 Visa short term to PR 186)

Medium-term stream:

• TSS visas granted for up to 4 years
• No limit on number of onshore renewals
• Occupations listed MLTSSL
• Offers a pathway to Australian PR after 3 years holding visa with the same employer through:
  • ENS Temporary Transition (subclass 186)
  • (Only for certain applicants)RSMS Temporary Transition (subclass 187)

This means that if you are applying through the medium-term stream, your 482 visa will be valid for up to 4 years. You will then be able to meet permanent employer sponsored visa requirements, which are not available to 2-year TSS visa holders. You should note that if you are applying under the Short-term stream, you will need to meet Genuine Temporary Entrant (GTE) requirements.

We have writtern a blog related to the GTE issue for student visa in the 7 Policy Reforms For Australian Migration

Labour Agreement Stream:

The Labour Agreement stream is for where occupations are not on the TSS list. The employer applies for a Labour Agreement to allow them to sponsor specific occupations not on the list or to access certain concessions to requirements.

This includes DAMA, industry labour agreements, GTEs and company-specific labour agreement.

2) Labour Market Testing

While there are many requirements for the labour market testing, the most important features include:

• Advertising in at least three instances or mediums (one of which must be Workforce Australia)
• Running the job ad for at least 28 days
• Job ads must have been run in the last 4 months before lodging nomination stage
• Mentioning the salary of the position in the advert (If salary is less than $96,400)
• You may be exempted from the Labour Market Testing, if International Trade Obligations apply.

However, once the Skilling Australians Fund is implemented, 28 days of advertisement will be required.

3) Training Requirements and Sponsor Obligations

Since the Skilling Australians Fund was implemented, the TSS 482 visa programme no longer utilises training benchmarks A or B which were used by the 457 visa. Instead, employers have to contribute towards the Skilling Australians Fund by paying the nomination training contribution charge upfront when lodging the nomination application. The levy will differ according to the length of the visa and size of business. There are a large number of requirements for approved 482 Business Sponsors and 482 visa holders to comply with. 

Conditions applicable for business include:

• Applicant works in the nominated occupation
• Business should retain all the records
• Cooperate with any inspections

Conditions applicable for the applicant:

• Primary applicant can only work for the approved sponsor
• There are a limited number of occupations with exemption to work rights
• They must inform Department of Home Affairs if applicant stops working
• Must find have new nomination within 60 days if employment ends
• Ensure equivalence between Australians and foreign workers

The department undertakes monitoring upon all approved business sponsors.

4) Genuine Need for The Nominated Position

There must be a genuine need for the nominated position, which must be on the 482 occupation list. A leading reason for refusals is failing to demonstrate that the position is genuine and required for the business. The 482 occupation list can be regularly revised by the department, so you will need to check the list to see if your occupation is there when you are lodging the 482 nomination application. It is highly advised that all applicants submit strong and supported nomination applications for the 482 Visa.

5) The Annual Market Salary Rate (AMSR)

The Annual Market Salary Rate (AMSR) replaces the market salary rate previously required for the 457 visa applications. The AMSR is now more defined with strict differentiation between monetary and non-monetary remuneration. The salary must be at or above the Temporary Skilled Migration Income Threshold (TSMIT).This is the income threshold that is set by the Department of Home Affairs. Currently, the TSMIT is set at $53,900.

We advise that employers check with their migration agents or immigration lawyer to ensure the structure of the remuneration package for their sponsored employee meets AMSR requirements. Having too much of a non-monetary component as remuneration may result in the AMSR not being met.

6) Skills Assessments and Work Experience Requirements

Currently, a specified list of occupation and country of passport pairing are required to provide skills assessments for the TSS visa application. The list required to do skills assessments is mainly for trade related occupations plus for the occupation of program and project coordinator. The Department has not made any steps to extend this requirement so far. When the skills assessments are made compulsory (due to holding a specified passport when applying for a specified occupation), applicants will need to make sure they have enough time to complete the skills assessments before visa application is lodged, otherwise different options may need to be considered.

There is a new work experience requirements for the TSS 482 visa.

• TSS visa applicants will now need to demonstrate 2 years of relevant work experience before they can apply. 

This is a major change from the previous 457 visa requirements. Many international graduates may not have the 2 years of full-time and relevant work experience to apply for the TSS visa. This has been a major barrier to international graduates in Australia being able to seek employer sponsorship.

7) Providing Complete Documents

To avoid refusal of any application stage, it is important that all necessary documents are attached to your application. Furthermore, there have been cases where applications are refused due to only one or two documents missing from the employer or applicant. After the application is submitted, applicants may not be requested to provide further documents, especially for nomination applications, so it is advisable that all documents be attached to the online applications at the time of submission.

8) School Fees and Giving Birth in Australia

TSS visa holders need to be aware there if you have school age children enrolled in public schools, additional school fees may apply. For example in the state of South Australia, TSS 482 visa holders are expected to pay a levy for each child in school, which can amount to:

• Approximately $5900 per primary student per year
• Approximately $7000 per secondary student per year

Also, many temporary work visa holders are unaware that your health insurance coverage may not cover delivery or birth of newborn children in Australia. If you give birth to a baby in Australia while holding a TSS 482 visa, you may have to pay medical fees applicable to a foreign visitor, which will be a high amount.

9) Alternatives to The 482 Visa

If your Occupation is not on the list or you do not have the experience:

• Labour Agreement –The Labour agreement process is usually extended and would require professional assistance.
• Other temporary work visas such as the 407 training visa or 400 specialist temporary activity visas might be considered.
• Partner visa - might be an option if you have an Australian Partner.
• Or the Student visa – to increase your skills, as Australian has world class education providers

This is not the full range of options, but just some of the most common.

10) Pathway to Australian Permanent Residency (PR)

Permanent Australian residency is only available for the medium-term stream and not the short-term stream. For Medium-term Stream Visa:

• The pathway will be through the temporary transition ENS 186 (or RSMS 187 Visa, in rare cases)
• After working with the approved Sponsor for three years, applicants can apply for a Permanent Visa

Previous holders of the 457 visa may still be able to access a two year pathway to permanent residency. Legacy 457 visa workers may also be able to access an age concession.

Do you need help with a Sponsorship or TSS visa application?

At Work Visa Lawyers we are experienced in assisting applicants in all matters relating to Australian visa applications.

• If you are a holder of a 457 visa or intend to apply under the new rules, we can assist you.
• We assist businesses of all sizes that are looking to sponsor and nominate a visa applicant.
• Advise businesses how to meet the Labour Market Testing requirements.
• We advise visa applicants on their eligibility to make the 482 visa application or who are transitioning from a 457 or 482 to permanent migration.
• We assist permanent migration for eligible 457 visa holders through the ENS 186 visa pathway.
• Advise visa holders with responses to the Department meeting the 8607.
• Advise visa holders with responses to ‘Notices of Intention to Cancel’.
• Advise Employers of their ongoing sponsorship obligations.
• Assist employer with application for accredited sponsorship.

If you are a potential visa applicant, please book a consultation to discuss your visa options. We are experienced in all types of Employer Sponsored visas.

Our areas of expertise include Skilled Migration visas, Business Skills Migration visas, Employer Sponsored Work Visas, Partner and other Family Migration visas as well as the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) Review, Judicial Review and Ministerial Intervention.

If you require further information regarding your Australia visa options you can contact us through:

(08) 8351 9956 or +61 8 8351 9956

or   This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Federal Budget 2022 - Business Investor Visa Allocations

New Federal Budgets have revealed the Migration Program planning levels.

The quota for Business Innovation and Investment Visa program has been reduced to 5000, comparing to 13,500 last year.

This will mean that it is more competitive and challenging to secure a place in the program.  

We are talking about the four streams of the 188 visa.

• The Business Innovation or 188a
• The Investor of 188B
• The Significant Investor or 188C
• The Entrepreneur or 188E

States have announced that they are running out of allocations as they are working from a interim allocation of about 800 places. 800 places for all states and territories are too short to fill up the demand of the Business and Investor visa program in Australia.

Watch our full video about Business Visa news in November 2022 here:

In that, QLD and NSW have already used up their interim allocation and closed the program temporarily. VIC and SA are very careful in selecting the applicants. SA decided  to temporarily close the Investor Stream 188B and Significant Investor Stream 188C streams.

Hopefully, the states can receive further allocations for the Business Visa Australia shortly after the Federal Budgets announcement and open to all the streams.

Now, let's look at some of the most popular stream in Business Visa 188 Australia and why should you go for it.

The 188A Business Innovation stream remains popular among applicants all over the world. This is because it has lower capital rewquiremetns than the investor path, and builds on the applicants existing business skills.

The 188C Significant Investor stream is the most simple one except for the amount if investment fund with NOT much criteria including:

• No Age limit (good for parents who are not able to do parent visa 143);
• No English Requirement (You only need to pay for the secondary fee for non-english applicant);
• No  Qualification or Business Skills and experience required;
• No Points Test (Business Innovation stream 188A and Investor Stream 188B requires Points Testing)

In order to find your best Business and Investor Visa Australia, please use our Business Visa Compare tool:

Business and Investor Visa news recap

There is still a shadow over the 188C visa which requires a 5 million dollar investment.

In Sep 2022, the Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil commented with Sky News that the SIV program “isn’t adding value to the country”. 

In the talk, Minister Clare O’Neil mentioned:

"I think most Australians would be pretty offended by the idea that we've got a visa category here where effectively you can buy your way into the country,"

"I don't see a lot of great benefits to the country currently." When she was asked by Andrew from Sky News if the Golden Visa Australia (Significant Investor Visa 188C) might be abolished.

The minister has criticized the Significant investor visa to be bringing in older people who can cost the budget.

There are also comments from Grattan Institute which raised concerns if the SIV will be removed shortly.

=> Applicants wish to put in a SIV application need to take actions as soon as possible.

Or, you may consider to apply for a 188B - Investor Stream instead.

Similar to 188C, 188B Visa requires applicants to invest 2.5 million Australian Dollar to the complying investment fund of Australia. It also has a pathway to Australian Permanent Residency.

The 188B Visa has grown in popularity recently and the comments on the SIV may make more people consider the visa 188 Investor stream.

The final category is the 188E Entrepreneur Stream.

While it has no capital investment requirement, the level of interest is surprising low.  This may be because the of the requirements being harder to quantify or predict.

The 188E visa requires applicant to show innovated business ideas.

State such as SA and Victoria require endorsement from service providers or investor incubator bodies.

There is a pathway to permanent residency after you hold the visa for 2 years and have a successful record of entrepreneurial activities. 

Ministerial Direction 100 - Business Visa Processing

Following the Federal Budget, there is a new Ministerial Direction 100 for skilled visa processing priority instruction published recently.

The new labor government has pointed out that their primary focus at this stage is to:

- Clear the visa backlogs caused by the delay in processing time during Pandemic Covid-19.

- Address skills shortages 

The government will still process efficiently those skilled visas in the near future to make the visa backlogs to a manageable level before Christmas.

The following skilled visas are subject to Ministerial Direction No. 100:​

• Subclass 186 (Employer Nomination Scheme)
• Subclass 187 (Regional Sponsored Migration Scheme)
• Subclass 188 (Business Innovation and Investment) (Provisional)
• Subclass 189 (Skilled - Independent)
• Subclass 190 (Skilled - Nominated)
• Subclass 191 (Permanent Residence (Skilled Regional)
• Subclass 457 (Temporary Work (Skilled))
• Subclass 482 (Temporary Skill Shortage)
• Subclass 489 (Skilled - Regional (Provisional))
• Subclass 491 (Skilled Work Regional (Provisional))
• Subclass 494 (Employer Sponsored Regional (Provisional))
• Subclass 858 (Global Talent)
• Subclass 887 (Skilled - Regional)
• Subclass 888 (Business Innovation and Investment (Permanent).

In the last point of the Direction 100 Factsheet, it says that the Government will reduce priority to some programs to shift attention to skilled visas such as State Nomination, Employer Sponsorship program.

The report states that this reduction will help increase efficiencies in reducing processing times across caseloads. This is reflected by the total allocation number of those programs this financial year 2023.

However, Visa applications for the Global Talent and Business & Investment program will still be processed efficiently in line with the planning levels of the Migration Program.

Read full details of the Ministerial Direction 100 - Skilled Visa Priority Processing >>

Summary of current Business Investment Visa Australia situation

In summary, the allocations are now lower, at 5000.  But with only 800 state allocations so far, there is still over 4000 potential places to be sending out in the next 7 months.

The demand on the Business Investment visa 188 is still high so the new allocations could be filled quickly. Imagine the 800 allocations have been filled within 2 months since announcement, the rest is expected to be running out soon in 3-4 months.

This leads to a more selective process from the government. That means your documents and profile must be clear and well-managed to be successfully get the visa 188.

An application for business or investment visa Australia must be handled with care as it involves demonstration of significant assets (AUD 2.5 - 5 million) and the preparation to liquidate the amount for transfer into the complying investments before the visa is granted. 

The team at Work Visa Lawyers has extensive experience in compiling financial and business documents from different countries and submitting the information in an organised manner for the DHA to process the documents smoothly.

Australian Business and Significant Investor Visas Subclass 188 Closed - New Visa Expected in 2024! Read more here! 

Work Visa Lawyers works with accredited fund managers to provide options to our clients for the complying investments.

Our team of experience Immigration Lawyers and Migration Agents look forward to assisting you with your Australian visa.

We are available in English, Mandarin, Cantonese, Vietnamese, Punjabi, and Tagalog.

So that is the news about the Business Visa space.

Please stay tuned for further update. 

Australia's skilled visa programs are designed to select people who will make a positive contribution to the Australian economy and labor market and assist Australian businesses to access workers with skills that cannot be met in the local labor market.

Since the new government has been in place, the Department of Home Affairs has finalized over 2,780,000 Visas. 

This includes over 43,000 temporary skilled applications and over 47,000 permanent skilled visa applications.

This has been shown clearly in the processing of the Visa 189 invitations.

The new labor government has pointed out that their primary focus at this stage is to:

- Clear the visa backlogs caused by the delay in processing time during Pandemic Covid-19.

- Address skills shortages 

Minister Andrew Giles states that the visa backlog will come to a "manageable" level before Christmas.

Currently, the government has produced new direction 100 to address the issue of businesses crying out for skilled workers.

Two years of international border closures that locked out migrants and led to labour and skills shortages across the economy makes it difficult to fathom Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil’s decision to cull 27 jobs from the list of occupations eligible to receive a priority skilled visa to work in Australia.

Amid the hacking of Optus, Australia is now shaking up to find highly skilled people in Cyber security and IT field and sending them to the back of the queue.

As clearly seen, during covid-19, where every single work had been shifted to online platforms and the wave of migrants and international students running out of the country, the needs of highly skilled and talented people have been raised significantly.

That opened up a new popular Global Talent Visa program, a fast tracked permanent residency of Australia pathway for skilled migrants who are recognized internationally with projects and researches.

Up until today, there have been many ups and downs regarding the popularity of the Global Talent Visa program.