Australian Immigration Daily News

1. TSS Update

The Department of Home Affairs (Home Affairs) advises that TSS applications will be processed in the following order:

1. applications lodged by accredited sponsors
2. applications lodged for positions that are located in a regional Australia
3. applications lodged under the Labour Agreement stream
4. all other applications

Processing time for TSS applications depends on a number of factors including the Stream under which an application is made as well as whether the nominee is an existing 457/482 visa holder.  On average, the processing time for a TSS application (as per updated Global Processing Time) is between 32 to 50 days in 75% of all cases.

Home Affairs also confirmed that it will no longer accept priority processing service requests as of 5 September.  This means that any TSS applications lodged on or after 6 September with accompanying priority processing request will result in the request no longer being acknowledged and the TSS application will be processed under the abovementioned arrangements.

Sponsors are encouraged to gain accreditation where possible. There are four categories of accreditation status currently available:

1. Commonwealth, state and territory government agencies
2. Australian Trusted Traders
3. Low volume usage and high percentage of Australian workers
4. High volume usage and medium percentage of Australian workers

Further information on accreditation is available here: https://www.homeaffairs.gov.au/trav/visa-1/482-?modal=/visas/supporting/Pages/482/sponsorship-accreditation.aspx

Home Affairs is sending the following reminders to sponsors as well as visa holders:

• standard business sponsors to encourage them to renew their standard business sponsorship (SBS) before its expiry date; and
• visa holders to remind them, if their sponsor has notified the Department that they have ceased employment, that they have 60 or 90 days of their employment cessation date (depending on when their visa was granted), to find themselves another current business sponsor who will nominate them or depart Australia

This arrangement commenced on 9 August 2018.

2. LMT Update

New arrangements concerning labour market testing (LMT) commenced on 12 August 2018.

To satisfy the LMT requirement per the new current rules, a business sponsor at the time of lodging their 482 nomination must provide the following information:

• Copy of the job advertisement
• Paid invoice for the advertisement (if the advertisement has been paid for)
• Number of applications received in connection to the position
• Reasons why other applicants were not suitable for the role advertised

In practice the nomination form will require the sponsor to input the relevant LMT data such as the number of applicants that applied for the position and the number of applicants hired.  Nonetheless, accompanying evidence such as copy of the advertisement and invoice (where applicable) should be uploaded via Immi account on lodgement.

• At least two advertisements conducted in English
• On a recruitment website that has a national outreach
• LinkedIn’s online recruitment platform
• A general classifieds website or an advertisement through social media notification such as Twitter and Instagram are not an acceptable method
• If the sponsor is accredited, the advertisement can be published on sponsor’s website

Examples of suitable recruitment websites accepted by the Department of Home Affairs for LMT purposes include Seek, Indeed and CareerOne.  The Department will not accept advertisements placed on Gumtree.  If an external recruitment company was engaged to conduct LMT on behalf of the sponsor, a letter of support from the recruitment company outlining the recruitment activities as well as copy of the advertisement should satisfy the LMT requirement.

In addition to the above, the advertisement must specify the title or a description of the position.  The skills and experience will need to be listed as well as the salary for the position if the intended annual earnings are below $96,400.00. The Department will accept LMT evidence where a salary range is published.  For example, it is acceptable to publish salary as “$60,000.00 to $70,000.00 per annum”.

3. SAF Levy Update

Home Affairs confirmed that SAF levy cannot be covered by a nominee. Employers are responsible for paying the SAF levy for ENS/RSMS applications, not nominees.  A nominee being asked to pay the SAF levy for an ENS/RSMS application may be a breach of payment for visa sponsorship legislation. 

In circumstances where an employee is transferring their visa across to a new employer, the sponsor should nominate and pay SAF levy for the intended period of employment.

SAF refunds are:

• only available from November for situations where the employment period is more than one year and
• discretionary only. That is, a refund request may be declined where there are concerns that companies are engaged in activities designed to avoid the intended operation of the SAF levy scheme.

4. Skilled Migration Ceiling Updated

Home Affairs updated Skilled Migration Occupation ceilings on 29 August.  Full list of occupation ceilings for the current migration year can be found here:

https://www.homeaffairs.gov.au/trav/work/skil#tab-content-3

5. Cessation of Snow Sports Labour Agreements (SSLA)

SSLA’s ceased on 31 August 2018 following discussions with industry stakeholders.  Accordingly, SSLA’s will no longer be available to new sponsors.  On advice from Home Affairs, applicants should be using Temporary Work (Short Stay Specialist) (subclass 400) visa by the snow sports industry where overseas workers are required during the ski season to meet recruitment needs.

Subclass 400 visa is for people who want to travel to Australia to:

• do short-term, highly specialised, non-ongoing work
• in limited circumstances, participate in an activity or work relating to Australia’s interests.
• Generally the stay period allowed is up to three months but up to six months may be considered in limited circumstances if supported by a strong business case.

Full version of the skilled newsletter is available on Home Affairs’ website: https://www.homeaffairs.gov.au/trav/work/Newsletters/september-2018