Temporary Skilled Shortage Visa (Subclass 482) – Complete Guide

One of the most controversial and anticipated update

The Department of Home Affairs announced the upcoming changes to the employer sponsored 457 Visa back in 2017. The day finally arrived where the changes came into effect on 18th March 2018, Sunday. The 20-year-old Employer-Sponsored 457 Visa has been subject to many changes in the past but now has been finally terminated and the new visa named Temporary Skilled Shortage Visa Subclass 482 has been officially launched.

What is TSS Visa?

Almost a year ago the detailed requirements along with the common eligibility requirement were also put out where the TSS Visa has 2 main streams, Short Term Stream and Medium Term Stream including a Labour Agreement Stream which is for exceptional cases. The applicant of this visa can be inside or outside Australia.

Below is the snapshot of Short-Term Stream & Medium-Term Stream of the Temporary Skilled Shortage Visa (Subclass 482)

Labour Agreement Stream

The employer can sponsor an applicant as an overseas skilled worker under Labour Agreement Stream if it has a labour agreement with the Australian government by establishing a need that cannot be fulfilled in the Australian labour market and unavailability of standard temporary or permanent visa programs.

As you can notice the visa fees is significantly high and the employer is also required to pay a compulsory annual training levy for foreign worker. If the company decides to hire the employ through permanent schemes like employer nomination or regional sponsored migration visa, then they are subject to pay the training levy of 3000 AUD for business with turnover less than 10 million AUD and 5000 AUD for business with turnover more than 10 million AUD. However, it is not yet clarified when the SAF will come into official effect, so, until then the training benchmarks evidence will not be necessary.

1. What are the Work Experience Requirements for TSS Visa?
2. What about the Standard Business Sponsorship?
3. How is the Australia Market Salary Rate assessed?
4. What are the Key obligations of a sponsor for TSS Nomination?
5. What is the Genuine Temporary Entrant criteria (GTE requirement)?
6. What is Condition 8607? How it affects a TSS Visa applicant?
7. Effects of TSS Visa introduction. Who is Affected?
8. How does it affect the applicants?
9. How does it affect the Employers?
10. What is TSS Visa Processing Time?
11. Transition from 457 to TSS

What are the Work Experience Requirements for TSS Visa?

A proof of full time work experience of at least 2 years in the nominated occupations or in the related field is mandatory. This is expected to be undertaken in a period of last 5 years and need not be continuous.

The flexibility is given for some industries in cases where the work experience is a part of/ gained through

• Research for Master and /or PhD in medical and research based occupations
• Clinical Placements and internships (for example, for the medical practitioners having final year practical training)
• Professional Year Program

Part time work might be considered for highly relevant skills.

What about the Standard Business Sponsorship?

If you got the Standard Business Sponsorship (SBS), you can use it to apply for TSS nominations and Visa application. If the SBS is granted after 18th March 2018 then it will be valid for 5 years in majority cases.

How is the Australia Market Salary Rate Assessed?

There are changes to requirements of the market rate salary as compared to the 457 visa. For the TSS Visa, the Annual Market Salary Rate (AMSR) (excluding the non-monetary benefits) must be equal to or more than the Temporary Skilled Migration Income Threshold (TSMIT) for the applied occupation, unless the Minister waives them off. At present, the TSMIT is $53,900.

What are the Key obligations of a sponsor for TSS Nomination?

The location of the occupation and period must be specified in the nomination. A sponsor must pay the nomination fees and must officially state the legal employment contract abiding by all the commonwealth, state or territory including any national law (if applicable).

What is the Genuine Temporary Entrant criteria (GTE requirement)?

GTE will be applicable

• for the STSOL occupations
• in certain cases, where, the applicant has been living in Australia on temporary visas for at the least 4 years
• while the applicant wants to renew the short-term TSS Visa i.e applying for this visa for the second time.

Further, for every applicant who is granted the TSS Visa, following conditions will be applicable:

Condition 8607, Condition 8501 (A mandatory Health Insurance), and Condition 8303

What is Condition 8607? How it affects a TSS Visa applicant?

An applicant must

• start work within 90 days. For onshore applicant the 90-day period starts from the day of visa grant date and for offshore applicant the count starts after his/her arrival in Australia post visa grant.
• work with approved sponsor for a minimum of 60 days consecutively.
• get a mandatory licence, registration or membership

If the applicant wants to change the occupation then she/he will have to lodge a new nomination and subsequently, a new application.

If the applicant is changing the sponsor/ employer, then he/she is required to be sponsored by a new employer and then lodge only a new nomination, not new visa. However, this is in no manner extends the length of your visa or allows you to work in a new occupation.

Effects of TSS Visa introduction. Who is Affected?

As an effect of this visa, the number of employer sponsored permanent residency visa grants will drop significantly.

Both the employer and the applicants are going to be affected. Especially the international students who are left with slim chances for permanent residency if they opt for this visa.

How does it affect the applicants?

Most of the international graduates will become non-eligible to apply for the visa due to the obligatory 2 years’ relevant full-time work experience requirement and the need for positive skill assessment. It further implies there will be less onshore applicants than the overseas ones.

So, onshore international students are unlikely to have much advantage than their counterparts i.e the overseas applicants.

On the brighter side, the offshore applicants will have a better chance at visa grant provided they have relevant work experience and get a positive skill assessment.

From a slight different perspective, the changes might affect the Australia Tertiary Education sector. When international students will have tough requirements to be met and limited PR pathway, the likeliness of them opting for tertiary education reduces.

How does it affect the Employers?

Tapping the best talents in the world is one of the biggest challenges for the start-ups. They are the ones who are at a major loss here. When funds are tight and you need to excel in the competitive market, the choice for budding talents working for start-ups is very little or almost grim. To add to the existing budget for a company, there is an imposed annual training levy.

Thus, hiring the talent with high level of skills will be a costly affair and a tough call to make for many businesses especially in the tech and management sector. Needless to say it will considerably affect their business growth.

Moreover, the limited pathways to PR for the applicants will cause decrease in the interest among them to apply for the open positions falling under STSOL.

Many caveats also apply to the employers like a minimum of five full-time employees, an annual turnover of at least $1 million, the requisite to pay a higher minimum salary according to the Australian Market Salary Rate to the applicant.

What is TSS Visa Processing Time?

The processing time for this visa is expected to be similar to the 457 visa. However, it will depend on various factors like the number of visas to be processed by the department, the status of the sponsor of the applicant, applicant’s occupation, location of the applicant’s sponsor, processing time for sponsorship and nomination.

It also depends on the number of applications the department has on hand to be processed.

In case of missing documents, the case officer will demand the necessary evidences which might take additional months of time, might be 6 months or more.

Transition from 457 to TSS

The TSS Visa has impacted the other 2 crucial visas Employer Nomination Scheme (ENS) (Subclass 186) Visa and Regional Sponsored Migration Scheme (RSMS) (Subclass 187) Visa. You can check out the effects in the below link.

Must Read: Australia Immigration Changes that affect 457, ENS and RSMS visas

Thus, the introduction of TSS Visa & its structure has varied impact both big and small not just on the applicants but also on the Australia market.

To gain a better understanding of the TSS Visa as per your condition and to explore the possibility of a successful application, you can contact our Immigration Counsellor team. Our registered migration agents are also there to provide critical migration advice. The years of experience has put us in the right position to assess, advice and process any type of Australia Immigration Visa. It will only be wise of you to reach a decision by seeking expert advice. That way you will ensure the best for your future & career.

Book a Consultation with our Immigration Experts