The Australian Immigration Policy has mostly been framed in the interest of both the nation and the migrants. The Department of Immigration and Border Protection (DIBP), the concerned organization, drafts the different immigration rules and regulations in such a way that while the nation gets the cream of the workers from all parts of the globe, the overseas professionals get a chance to earn in dollars, and live in this highly developed global economy, on a permanent basis.
New Australia Immigration Policy & Skilled Visa 457
However, as per a report published some time back, Canberra will introduce tougher visa conditions for the qualified employees from abroad, including India. Allegedly, the improvements to its employer-sponsored temporary skilled work visa scheme is tailored to guarantee that the nation fulfill its requirements for the trained labor force.
By March 2018, the 457 Plan will be substituted by a new temporary skill shortage work visa. The same will have two categories. While a short-term stream will enable admission for a maximum period of two years, another medium-term category will provide for enabling admission for a maximum period of four years, comparable to the 457 Visa.
As per Turnbull, the 457 Visa Plan would be done away with, to give preference to the staffing of the local people of Oz. He stated that the latest arrangement will be noticeably, strictly, and determinedly conducted in the interest of the nation.
The development surfaces days post the in-office Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s recent trip to India. As per the available data, the Indians are the topmost beneficiaries of the scheme only to be followed by the British and the Chinese workers. So, naturally, the development has not gone down well with many, here in India.
Coming back to the 457 Visa Plan, it’s employed primarily to engage the overseas manpower in the restaurant, IT and medical businesses and the maximum number of the beneficiaries move in from India, Britain, and China. The plan permits the firms to hire the overseas labor force for a maximum of four years in the skilled employment opportunities for which there is famine of the Australian employees.
Allegedly, the move denotes an additional cutting down of the professional possibilities for the Indian skilled experts as the US is considering slapping restrictions on the H1B Visas. In the wake of the Brexit, the UK also is slightly shutting down its doors.
Visa 457- What Exactly Was It?
It was basically a 4-year Business Visa which permitted the people to reside in the nation along with their immediate relatives.
Though the same was molded to fill the gaps in trained workers it had earlier been condemned as being very accessible.
During 2016, the medical workers, cooks, developers, and programmers were the major beneficiaries of the 457.
As per the available government data, during 2016, as high as 95,758 persons were staying in the country on the 457 Visas, even as the highest figure of people were from India (24.6%), the UK (19.5%) and China (5.8%), in that order.
What are the improvements?
- The present 4-year 457 structure will be replaced by visas continuing for either two or four years.
- For the visa with the smaller validity, over 200 jobs will be removed from an existing list of roughly 650 qualified vocations.
- The list for the visa with extended validity will be even stricter.
- The amendments will also necessitate the candidates to be more qualified in the English language, face a criminal background check, and also be subjected to a labor market testing.
As per Turnbull, the changes will have no impact on the present 457 Visa holders. But what about the future ones—is the question troubling many, especially in India.
Reactions & Observations
Predictably, there has been a lot of discontent over the issue. India has not only taken not too kindly to the changes it is also reviewing the magnitudes of the latest Australia immigration policy in consultation with the different stakeholders involved.
In a related development–Harinder Sidhu, the in-office Australian High Commissioner to India—has reportedly stated that the admission of the trained workers is crucial to the economic development & prosperity of Oz.
She added that the continuing success necessitates continuous calibration to guarantee the best possible outcomes for the local people and the impermanent skilled manpower alike.
She also said that India offers the highest number of the impermanent skilled workers to Down Under of any country; eight out of the top 10 professions for the Indian 457 Visa holders (December 2016) were IT experts.
As if justifying the development and the changes, she indicated that it is crucial that businesses still receive access to the skills they require to grow and invest, so that the 457 Visa will be substituted by a new impermanent visa, specially crafted to sign-up the finest and the most talented in the interest of Oz.
Whatever may be the justifications and claims, the fact remains that the newest Australia Visa 457 Immigration Policy has disappointed many here in India, and this does not include only the skilled workers from this part of the world keen to work in the Kangaroo Land.
