Australia Launches New Skills In-Demand Visa Pathways to Fill Critical Job Roles

Excellent news for workers with expertise. Australia has recently unveiled three Pathways for a new Visa category. Let’s explore this new Visa category in detail in this special update.

The Australian government unveiled a new immigration plan in December 2023, introducing a new category of Skills In-Demand Visas. There are three different Pathways under this Visa category. They are listed below:

1. Specialist skills pathway (salary over 135,000 Australian dollars)
2. Core skills pathway (salary ranging from 70,000 to 135,000 Australian dollars)
3. Skills In-Demand pathway (salary under 70,000 Australian dollars)

As part of its new Visa category, the government has assigned jobs and skills to analyze the labor market and include stakeholders. JSA will notify the government of the necessary professions that Australia’s workforce is lacking.

After examining the Australian and New Zealand standard classification of occupations skill levels 1 to 3, JSA recently released a draft Core Skills Occupation List (CSOL). These professions will fall within the new Visa category’s key skills pathway.

Additionally, the draft CSOL is available for consultation and has been split into three sub-lists. These are the listings below;

• Occupations JSA is confident will be on the new Core Skills List
• Occupations JSA is confident will not be on the new Core Skills List
• Occupations for further targeted consultation

Further Details

While comments are welcome on all three of these lists, JSA is specifically looking for input from stakeholders on the focused list, which includes labor market surveys, independent research, and company recruitment experiences. Additionally, the opinions of job seekers, nationals, and migratory laborers

Remember that the deadline for applications is May 10, 2024. Accounting and auditing, hospitality management, engineering, biotechnology and life sciences, specialized medicine, cyber security, ICT support, and nearly all crafts are among the professions that Target consults on.

How will this Visa compare to the Subclass 482 TSS Visa?

The Australian government’s migration strategy states that the Skills In-Demand Visa and the current Subclass 482 Visa, which is used for employer sponsorship, are comparable.

It will have a 4-year stay validity in Australia, similar to the Subclass 482 TSS Visa, allowing the bearer to stay and work in Australia for a maximum of 4 years. There will be certain pathways for the new Visa to become permanent residents.

Through the Subclass 482 TSS Visa, all Visa holders have access to PR regardless of whether they follow independent or supported streams. Whether they are on the long-term or short-term stream, they will have 180 days starting in November 2023 to find a new sponsor and find employment. In this period, Visa holders will be able to find new employment and have more time

The Subclass 482 TSS is currently Visa, which only allows you to look for work for 60 days. Working for any approved sponsor for the necessary duration of time may help meet PR requirements for the Skills In-Demand Visa. the Australian government plans to construct a skilled occupation list; will there be adjustments to the occupation list and processing time; and allow migrants to change employers without risking their admission?

Skills Pathway of the Skills In-Demand Visa

Business stakeholders believe the current skilled occupation lists are inflexible when it comes to deciding a migrant’s eligibility for a Subclass 482 TSS Visa and would like a more flexible and evidence-based approach. It is expected that the Skills In-Demand Visa will process more quickly than the Subclass 482 TSS Visa.

As of February 27, 2024, 90% of medium-term stream Subclass 482 TSS visas are processed in 75 days, while 90% of short-term stream Subclass 482 TSS visas are processed in 63 days. The government plans to investigate ways to expand accredited sponsorship to smaller Enterprises and startups to provide more businesses with access to Priority Visa processing when sponsoring talented migrants on a Skills In-Demand Visa.