Come March 2018, and the recruiters/firms in Australia will have to shell-out a training tax which will reportedly go towards the Skilling Australians Fund.
It will reportedly finance the training of the local people in apprenticeship and trainee schemes to improve and cultivate their expertise.
As per the updates, very soon there will be some improvements in the visa costs for numerous visa classes.
Allegedly, the development may not be called a very positive development, from the perspectives of both the Australian firms/job-providers and the workers from abroad, keen to work in the country.
The latest decision by the Australian Government is allegedly targeted to equip the local manpower and make them at par with the overseas workers, in terms of in-demand skills.
While the same will replace the present training benchmarks for the recruiters/firms, employing the 457 and ENS schemes, it is expected to make it easier for the recruiters/firms to fulfil the training condition, although it will be somewhat more expensive.
Reportedly, the extra tax will depend on the volume of the business with those with turnover of not less than $10 million will shell-out more. The payments will be applicable to these, namely, the Temporary Skills Shortages (TSS) Visa, and the Permanent Employer Sponsored Visas (ENS and RSMS).
The payment for the holders of the TSS Visa will be applicable on a yearly basis per worker. At present, it is not known how exactly the charges will be gathered. Either these could be given up front with the visa petition charge, or an invoice could be released towards the close of every Fiscal Year (FY). It allegedly seems that the charges will be applicable based on each sponsored worker based on the fraction of the year the worker was offering his professional services for the recruiter/firm.
For the permanent employer sponsored petitions, the charge will be a one-off charge, and is expected to be duly obtained on petition.
The training taxes are given here under:
- TSS–Small Business—$1,200
- TSS-Large Business (turnover $10m or more)–$1,800
- RSMS/ENS–Small Business—$3,000
- RSMS/ENS–Large Business (turnover $10m or more)–$5,000
Now let’s see the entire particulars of the costs for the new Temporary Skills Shortages Visa even as these are in sync with the anticipations and are given here under:
- Short-Term Stream (2 year validity)–Main Applicant–$1,150
- Short-Term Stream (2 year validity)–Dependent 18 or Over–$1,150
- Short-Term Stream (2 year validity)–Dependent Under 18–$290
- Medium-Term Stream (4 year validity)–Main Applicant–$2,400
- Medium-Term Stream (4 year validity)–Dependent 18 or Over–$2,400
- Medium-Term Stream (4 year validity) Dependent Under 18–$600
Temporary Sponsored Parent Visas
Additional details on the new temporary sponsored parent visas were made accessible.
The latest visas will be launched in the month of November this year, and will necessitate sponsorship by a permanent resident or citizen child in the country. It is rather likely that the parent would not have to fulfil the balance of family test, distinct from other the Parent Visas.
The visa will have a legal validity of either 3 years, or 5 years. And the cost of the petition for the 3-year option will be $5,000 whereas the cost of the 5-year option will be $10,000. Though one will be able to renew the visa, it will require to be done from outside Oz. A stay of a maximum of 10 years will be permitted altogether.
While the parents on the new visas will not be qualified for Medicare, the sponsoring child will be accountable for any medical costs, comprising aged care.
Significantly, 15,000 of the new Temporary Sponsored Parent Visas will be obtainable every programme year. That it is a major swell from the present allocation of 8,675 positions for the Parent Visas cannot be allegedly denied.
Therefore, it is expected that the waiting times would be significantly shorter than the Contributory Parent Visas (2 years+) and the Non-contributory Parent Visas (30 years+).
The present Parent Visa streams will continue to be open to petitions. Despite the fact that the holders of the new Temporary Parent Visas will not be in a position to submit an application onshore for the Permanent Parent Visas, it is possible they could be in a position to submit a petition offshore.
One will require cooling his heels for the particulars of related to number of positions that will be available for the Permanent Parent Visa classes even as it is likely to have a major effect on the waiting times.
At present, it is not still clear if the extra 15,000 positions will be taken into consideration as part of the migration scheme. In general, the migration scheme will carry on being at 190,000 spots.
Visa Petitions Cost Jumps
The charges will be boosted on a yearly basis in sync with inflation. Allegedly, it returns the preceding norm which applied before 2007.
The new charges will be applicable from July 1, 2017. For majority of the visa types, the swell is nearly 2%.
Improvements for Some Widely Used Visa Kinds
| Visa Type | Current Fee | From July 1, 2017 | % Increase |
| Student | $550 | $560 | 1.8% |
| General Skilled Migration | $3,600 | $3,670 | 1.9% |
| Graduate Temporary Subclass 485 | $1,470 | $1,500 | 2.0% |
| Partner Temporary | $6,965 | $7,000 | 0.5% |
| Parent (Contributory) | $3,695 | $3,945 | 6.8% |
| ENS/RSMS | $3,600 | $3,670 | 1.9% |
| Visitor | $135 | $140 | 3.7% |
| Bridging B | $140 | $145 | 3.6% |
| Business Migration | $4,780 | $4,875 | 2.0% |
| Significant Investor Visa (SIV) | $7,010 | $7,150 | 2.0% |
| 457 | $1,060 | $1,080 | 1.9% |
Good news for the candidates for the Contributory Parent Visas! The swell to the application charge is just 6.8% from July 1 – preceding indications hinted that the costs could be hiked considerably.
The fact sheet on the charge improvements also shows that the fee improvements are not applicable to the Second Visa Application Charges even as the second Visa Application Charge for the Contributory Parent Visas is big (presently $43,600 per parent).
Wrapping up, the Budget has, allegedly, established that the recruiters/firms will have greater transaction costs when offering sponsorship to the workers from abroad. The training tax will be applicable from March 2018, and the costs for the TSS Visa will be nearly 200% of the present charges for the 457 Plan.
The introduction of the new Temporary Parent Visas will signify that kids will be in a position to more easily sponsor their parents, to reside in the Kangaroo Land.
Still, the charges will be high even as the family will require meeting any health costs the parent invites through their stay in the country. Though there is no clear effect on the present Permanent Parent Visa Scheme, one will require waiting for a statement on the figure of the spots earmarked for the period 2017-18.
Though the improvements will be applicable to the visa application costs from July 1; these will be roughly 2% for the maximum number of candidates.
Summary: From March 2018 onwards, the recruiters/firms in Australia will have to shell-out a training tax which will go towards the Skilling Australians Fund.
