Australian Immigration Daily News

1.      MORLA

Home Affairs announced important changes to Minister of Religion Labour Agreement (MORLA).  The purpose of the changes is to facilitate sponsorship of additional occupation Religious Assistant (ANZSCO 451816). The new initiative broadens MORLA to sponsorship options outside tthe only occupation available under the agreement - Minister of Religion.

All questions in the MORLA request form should be answered as they currently are for applicants requesting a MORLA.

• When specifying details in the ‘Position Details’ section of the request form, only one ANZSCO occupation code and type will be available for selection—that is—Minister of Religion (ANZSCO 272211)—you will need to select this option.
• A free text field will then be displayed that will allow additional information to be entered about the occupation—you will need to specify the following in this field: Religious Assistant (ANZSCO 451816)
• Complete the nomination table/s specifying the number of TSS and/or ENS visas you are seeking for each year of the agreement. You should only specify the number of overseas workers you are seeking to sponsor as a Religious Assistant. A separate MORLA request will need to be made if you are seeking a labour agreement to also sponsor Ministers of Religion.

It should be noted that holders of existing MORLAs wishing to sponsor Religious Assistants will be required to negotiate a new MORLA.

General Requirements for negotiating MORLA

Salary

In contrast to the standard skilled visa programs, non-monetary benefits can be counted when assessing whether the annual earnings for the equivalent Australian worker and the nominee are at least at the level of TSMIT.

Skills     

For Ministers of Religion, the nominee must:

• have been 'ordained' or have ‘professed to a religious life’ as a Minister of Religion (or under an equivalent accreditation process within a religion); and
• possess the minimum qualifications equivalent to a relevant Australian Qualification Framework (AQF) bachelor degree, or
• have undertaken at least five years of relevant structured training or instruction. Experience does not substitute for this requirement.

For Religious Assistants, the nominee must:

• possess the relevant qualifications equivalent to a relevant AQF Certificate II or III (ANZSCO Skill Level 4); or
• have at least two years of relevant experience as substitute for the formal qualification listed above.

English 

Standard Short term stream TSS visa requirements apply unless concession awarded on the grounds that the nominee will be operating in a monastic or other cloistered environment.

ENS visa applicants must demonstrate English proficiency to the level of IELTS 5 with a score of at least 4.5 in each of the four test components or equivalent unless they meet standard English exemptions available under the ENS program.

Permanent residence    

ENS visa available after three year transitional period where a strong business case is provided.

Age       

No age requirements for TSS visa.

ENS visa nominees can be up to 60 years old – i.e. there is an age concession.

2.      Visas for GPs

The Visas for GPs initiative will manage growth in Australia’s medical workforce by regulating the number of doctors entering Australia to work in the primary healthcare sector through the skilled migration program. 

Sponsor nominating a position that will be filled by a doctor who needs a visa to work in occupations listed below will be required to obtain certification (a Health Workforce Certificate) from a Rural Workforce Agency (RWA).

A Health Workforce Certificate is a letter issued by a RWA confirming the genuine need to fill a primary healthcare position at a given location in Australia by a doctor in the following three occupations:

• General Practitioner (ANZSCO 253111)
• Resident Medical Officer (ANZSCO 253112)
• Medical Practitioners not elsewhere classified (ANZSCO 253999).
• Employers will be required to attach a Health Workforce Certificate to their nomination application for any of the following employer sponsored visas:
• Temporary Skill Shortage (subclass 482) visa
• Employer Nomination Scheme (subclass 186) visa
• Regional Sponsored Migration Scheme (subclass 187) visa.