On 9 May 2017 the Treasurer for the Government of Australia announced the latest budget for Australia. Below are the areas of Australia migration affected by the newly announced Budget.

 Visa Application Fees:

Visa application fees will increase on 1 July 2017. Increase is being determined at slightly above the CPI level with rounding to the nearest AUD$5.

• A visitor visa (Subclass 600) will now cost AUD$140.
• A subclass 457 visa will cost AUD$1080 (single applicant).
• Permanent residence applications such as subclass 186 will be AUD$3670 (single applicant).
• TSS Visa will cost anywhere between AUD$1150 to AUD$2400 depending on the stream applied for.

Full pricing table can be found here: http://www.border.gov.au/ReportsandPublications/Documents/budget/visa-price-increase-fact-sheet-2017-18.pdf

 New Visas:

Starting in November 2017 a temporary sponsored parent visa will be available for sponsored parents to stay in Australia for a period of 3 years or 5 years. A cumulative stay of 10 years is possible under this temporary parent visa. This temporary parent visa does not lead to a permanent visa and the sponsoring child will need to make health insurance arrangements for their parents.

The 2017-18 Budget brings into effect the Coalition’s election commitment to introduce a new temporary sponsored parent visa, which provides for a stay of up to five years in Australia. The visa application fees for the visa are:

– $5,000 for a 3-year visa

– $10,000 for a 5-year visa

The existing Parent visas (subclass 103, 173) and Contributory Parent visas (subclass 143) will still be available for new applications.

Permanent Migration programme

Australia’s permanent migration programme for 2017-18 will remain at a ceiling of 190,000 places.

Temporary Skills Shortage visas

As previously announced the Subclass 457 visa will be abolished and replaced by the dual stream Temporary Skills Shortage visa.

The Skilled Occupation List is replaced by the Medium and Long-term Strategic Skills List. The Consolidated Sponsored Occupation List is replaced by the Short-term Skilled Occupation List.

Training Benchmarks – Skilling Australians Fund Levy

This levy will replace the current training benchmarks for employers sponsoring workers on Subclass 457 and permanent Employer Nomination Scheme Subclass 186 visas.

From March 2018, businesses with turnover of less than $10 million per year will be required to:

• make an upfront payment of $1,200 per visa per year for each employee on a Temporary Skill Shortage visa
• a one-off payment of $3,000 for each employee being sponsored for a permanent Employer Nomination Scheme (subclass 186) visa or a permanent Regional Sponsored Migration Scheme (subclass 187) visa.
• Businesses with turnover of $10 million or more per year will be required to:
  • make an upfront payment of $1,800 per visa year for each employee on a Temporary Skill Shortage visa
  • a one-off payment of $5,000 for each employee being sponsored for a permanent Employer Nomination Scheme (subclass 186) visa or a permanent Regional Sponsored Migration Scheme (subclass 187) visa.

This measure is estimated to achieve revenue of $1.2 billion over the forward estimates period, which will be used to meet future skills needs, with a particular focus on apprenticeships and traineeships.

Refugee resettlement & Humanitarian Programme:

In line with the Coalition’s commitment to increase the number of refugees resettled under the Humanitarian Programme in 2017-18 there will be 16,250 places in the programme, 2500 more than this year’s intake.

Included in the increase to the Humanitarian Programme this Budget sees the implementation of Australia’s commitment made at the Leaders’ Summit on Refugees in New York last September to expand the Community Support Programme for sponsored refugee resettlement to 1000 places.

Source:

• http://www.minister.border.gov.au/peterdutton/2017/Pages/budget-2017-18.aspx;
• https://www.border.gov.au/ReportsandPublications/Documents/budget/visa-price-increase-fact-sheet-2017-18.pdf;
• http://www.afr.com/news/policy/budget/budget-2017-foreign-worker-levy-will-hit-business-20170509-1nxuxp
• http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2017/05/09/treasurer-scott-morrisons-budget-2017-speech-full