News in immigration – 26 April 2017

Temporary Skill Shortage Visa

The new visas will come into force in March 2018 ( click here for more information).

The TSS visa programme will be comprised of a Short-Term stream of up to two years and a Medium-Term stream of up to four years.

While more than 650 jobs are currently available for 457 holders, that number will be reduced by 200 under the new program. The new visa classes will have higher requirements than the current 457 program, including:

• "a higher standard of English";
• "a proper police record, a criminal check";
• a two-year work experience requirement; and
• "mandatory labour market testing".

Fact sheets that provide more detail about the reforms are available at: