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Number of sc457 refusals double
Official statistics released by the department of immigration show that 4450 sc457 visa applications were refused in the last quarter of 2015 compared to 2130 refusals for the same period in the previous year.
These figures could get worse given that RMAs have been reporting that the department of immigration has taken a stricter stance in its assessment regime. In some cases, the DIBP has given applicants little or no chance to provide additional evidence of their claims after lodgement of the application.
Migration Alliance enquired with the DIBP upon seeing a report that an applicant who lodged their visa late on Friday was refused the Sponsorship application on midday Monday as the required evidence was not uploaded with the application.
Responding to Migration Alliance enquiries, a spokesperson for the Department of Immigration recently warned that sc457 applications including sponsorship, nomination and the visa application must be decision-ready or risk refusal.
RMAs however say that given the amount of information required and the fact that the online system is not setup to accept ‘decision-ready’ applicants, this stance is unfair.
“The online electronic system is such that an application could never be submitted ‘decision ready’. It is impossible. This is due to the way the lodgement system has been designed. Documents cannot be uploaded until such time as the application is submitted and paid for. There is no facility to submit an application with documents already attached. Therefore, there will always be a period of time from when the application is submitted and paid for and it is ready to be considered prior to when the ‘uploading’ of the documents has been completed” wrote RMA Jamie Lingham on this blogsite recently.
Currently, there are 85,900 sc457 primary visa holders in Australia - this is about 5% lower than the previous year.
Almost a quarter of sc457 visa holders are Indian nationals. Citizens from the United Kingdom, and India together make up over 40% of the 85,900 sc457 visa holders currently in Australia. Cooks, Café Managers, Marketing Specialists and Chefs are the occupations in greatest demand. The sc 457 workers are mainly located in NSW (42%) followed by Victoria (24.%) and Western Australia (14.9%).
For the full figures follow this link: http://www.border.gov.au/ReportsandPublications/Documents/statistics/457-quarterly-report-2015-12-31.pdf#search=statistics
Comments
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Wednesday, 16 March 2016Maybe this is why official jobless figures have dipped slightly in recent months.
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Wednesday, 02 November 2016
Yes very inconsistent decisions. How can DIBP approve nomination and then reject 457 visa application on "not genuine position" requirement. when both of these required this to be met.. Also for Standard Business Sponsor applicant who has never been Sponsor before, we used to submit auditable plan, but this is no longer acceptable, so potential sponsor has to start planning 12 months in advance, if they are to become SBS, so they can meet training benchmarks
Immigration blog
One of the main issues we face now is inconsistencies with assessment, we can no longer use experience in advising clients. With cases being approved based on certain qualifications and other cases with the same position and same qualifications being asked for a skill assessment even though no room in law allows for skill assessments. The department will take a grey area of policy in place for special circumstances and start using the policy to manipulate law. If only the public cared about foreign workers as much as asylum seekers maybe this issue would get more spot light..