Changes, critical aspects and key aspects of the legislative instrument for Subclass 482

Compliance with Training Benchmarks after SBS grant

•    The definition of ‘Australian employee’ has changed from ‘an Australian citizen or Australian permanent resident’ to ‘an Australian citizen or Australian permanent resident who is an employee for the purposes of the Fair Work Act 2009’;
•    ‘Employee’, which was not defined, now ‘has the definition provided by section 15 of the Fair Work Act 2009’.

Specification of occupations exempt from Labour Market Testing
•    The new instrument defines occupations exempt from LMT with reference to the current ANZSCO ABS publication in effect as of 18 March 2018

LMT period requirements for new nomination application
•    The period during which LMT must be undertaken has changed from 12 months to:
o    (a) for a nomination application lodged on or after 18 March 2018 and before 18 June 2018 – the 12 month period immediately before the nomination application form is lodged.
o    (b) for a nomination application lodged on or after 18 June 2018 – the 6 month period immediately before the nomination application form is lodged.

Mandatory skills assessment under Schedule 1 of the Regulations
•    The above instrument turns into law what was merely policy before;
•    Two occupations have been specified: Program or Project Administrator and Specialist managers (nec);
•    The positive skills assessment must have been obtained within 3 years before the time of application for the visa;
•    An alternative “arrangement” with the skills assessor is referenced, as are exemptions for some 457 and 482 holders

Sponsorship Applications and Nominations
•    As allowed by Regs 2.61(3B)(a) and 2.73(7), there are circumstances in which an application for SBS and nomination, respectively, may be made in an alternative way. The new instrument replaces one of the required circumstances from ‘the expected time for the problem to be rectified will fall outside of the Department’s business hours’ to ‘it is more likely than not that the problem will not be rectified by the end of the business day on which the problem is identified by the Department’.
•    The new instrument specifies same-day email submission and a special email address to be used if authorised to lodge manually

Specification of Occupations
•    The 457 STSOL was listed first and now the 482 MLTSSL is listed first (easy to get confused)
•    Occupation ‘removed’ from the 457 MLTSSL: Horse breeder
•    Occupations ‘removed’ from the 457 STSOL:
o    post office manager
o    fitness centre manager
o    sports centre manager
o    aeroplane pilot
o    flying instructor
o    helicopter pillot
o    wine maker
o    agricultural technician
o    property manager
o    real estate representative
•    Various caveats removed

482(TSS) English Language Requirements

•    Test date specified as 3 years prior to date of application; test dates after date of application no longer accepted as they were on the subclass 457 visa
•    TOEFL overall reduced from 36 for 457 visa to 35 for 482 ST (Short term) stream
•    Various increases to test score requirements for 482 MT (Medium-Long term stream)
•    Language indicates all components of the language test must be taken on the same day in a single attempt

482 Calculation of Australian Market Salary Rate (AMSR), TSMIT and Related

•    TSMIT is unchanged at 53,900
•    Annual Earnings for high income exemption is 250,000
•    Calculation details of AMSR detailed including priority for Fair Work instrument or State industrial instrument if exists, and guidance for when relevant information such as job surveys may be used

Occupations Exempt from Direct Employment 

•    The occupation list including medical and selected other occupations is essentially unchanged from previous instrument 13/067. Will apply to new TSS/ENS/RSMS applications made starting 18 March 2018

Subclass 482 visa and Subsequent Temporary Entrant Charge

•    Adds subclass 482 to the list of visas attracting the charge if an applicant makes an onshore application for a 482 visa while holding one of the visas listed in Schedule 2

Subclass 482 Sponsorship Notification Method

•    Provides email address and form submitted via ImmiAccount as only methods for SBS and temporary activities sponsors to notify DHA of sponsorship events. Previous methods by mail no longer available.

Designation of Sponsorship Decisions for Automatic Computerised Approval

•    For purposes of paragraph 495A(3)(b) of the Migration Act, approval of sponsorship under Section 104E of the Act is added to the list of decisions that can be performed by a computer

Thanks to Mark Northam for providing this information.  Full details can be found here:

http://immigrationlawnews.com.au/detailed-analysis-tss-instruments/