There will be a number of changes happening from tomorrow, 1 July 2023, concerning a wide range of visas. Here is all you need to know.
Application fee increases
The Department of Home Affairs (DOHA) visa application fees will be increasing around 10%.
Citizenship application fees will be increasing.
The Administrative Appeals Tribunal and Federal Court fees will be also increasing.
Skilled / Sponsored visas
The Temporary Skilled Migration Income Threshold (TSMIT) will be increasing from $53,900 to $70,000.
Third Temporary Skill Shortage (subclass 482) visa in the STSOL stream can only be applied onshore until 1 July 2023. Legislative instrument extending this period has not been issued yet.
No minimum income threshold for applicants for the Permanent Residence (Skilled Regional) (subclass 191) visa.
The Skilled Independent visa (subclass 189) New Zealand stream will be permanently closed. New Zealand citizens holding a Subclass 444 Special Category visa who arrived in Australia after 26 February 2001 and who have been living in Australia for four years or more will be eligible to apply directly for Australian citizenship by conferral.
In April 2023, the Australian Government also announced that by the end of 2023, all Temporary Skill Shortage (subclass 482) visa holders will be eligible for Employer Nomination Scheme (subclass 186) visas (ENS) sponsored by their employers, and that the eligibility period for the ENS Temporary Residence Transition stream will be reduced to two years. A legislative instrument affecting this change has not been issued yet.
Students and Graduates
Student visa (subclass 500) holders will be subject to restricted working hours again, being 48 hours per fortnight. The only exception is Student visa holders, who were working in the aged care sector on 9 May 2023.
Student visa (subclass 500) applications will be subject to more scrutiny to ensure that the applicants are genuine students.
Temporary Graduate (subclass 485) Graduate Work stream visa applicants will be required to nominate an occupation one the visa application form from the eligible list of occupations, and they are also required to undertake a skills assessment.
International higher education graduates with “select degrees”, will be able to extend their Temporary Graduate (subclass 485) Post-Study Work stream visa by 2 years. The select degrees include certain Bachelor, Masters and Doctoral degrees and are across medicine, health care, engineering and information technology (to be reviewed on an annual basis).
Working Holiday Makers
The age limit for UK citizens will increase to 35 years on 1 July 2023.
The 6-month work limitation for Working Holiday Makers in Australia will commence again from 1 July 2023. However, any work that is carried out before 1 July 2023 will not be counted towards the 6-month limitation period.