Australia: Further Details Released on Forthcoming Changes to Temporary Skill Shortage and Employer Nomination Scheme

The Department of Home Affairs announced further details of the expected changes to the Employer Nomination Scheme (ENS) and Temporary Skill Shortage (TSS) visa program, which are expected to take effect on November 25, 2023, subject to legislative approval.  Specifically, visa holders will no longer be limited to submitting a maximum of two short-term TSS extension applications if they file on or after November 25, 2023. However, it is currently unknown if these unlimited applications will affect applicants trying to show that they are only entering Australia as a “genuine temporary entrant”, which is required for this category, as this requirement has not yet been removed by the government. Short-term TSS visa holders with visas expiring before the changes are implemented will still need to lodge their third short-term TSS visa from outside of Australia. There are also a number of changes to the requirements for the Temporary Residence Transition (TRT) stream of the ENS program which will apply to new ENS applications submitted on or after November 25, 2023, as well as those pending finalization on this date.  For example, beginning November 25, 2023, employers will be able to nominate holders of TSS visa streams for employer-sponsored permanent residence, including the short-term and Labor Agreement streams, as long as the 457 or TSS visa holder has worked for their employer for two out of the last three years in their nominated occupation. Previously, they must have worked for their employer three out of the last four years in their nominated occupation. Additionally, nominated occupations will no longer be assessed against the skilled occupation list, whereas previously, only applicants in nominated occupations under the medium/long-term list were able to apply for an ENS visa under the TRT stream, among other minor exceptions. Instead, the nominated occupation only needs to be listed in the Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations dictionary. Moreover, regional medical practitioners and high-income earning applicants aged 45 and over will be able to access age exemption provisions after two years, down from three years. These changes are intended to provide more certainty to employers and more equitable access to permanent residency for all TSS visa holders.