As of 19th April 2017, migrants can be nominated for visas by employers or State and Territory Governments if their occupations are included in a list which is a combined version of the STOL and MLTSSL. This combined list specifically excludes a few occupations that do appear on the stand-alone MLTSSL. Overall, this means that migrants in a large number of occupations can be granted visas through the process of nomination, which was also the case before the recent changes.
Nearly all engineering occupations are included on the combined list, except for the following: 233111 Chemical engineer 233112 Materials engineer 233411 Electronics engineer 233511 Industrial engineer 233513 Production or plant engineer 233612 Petroleum engineer. These six engineering occupations cannot be included in employer or State and Territory Government visa nominations. With the exception of 233612 Petroleum engineer they are, however, on the standalone MLTSSL, and migrants with these occupations can access visas for independent migrants such as the subclass 189 and subclass 485 (Graduate Work Stream) visas. The exclusion of these six engineering occupations from employer and State and Territory Government nominations will make almost no difference to the annual tally of migrant engineers who are granted visas. This is because visa nominations are insignificant compared with the number of visas granted to independent migrants, in particular those who access the subclass 189 permanent residence visa. Recently graduated international students are typically granted either the subclass 485 (Graduate Work Stream) visa or the subclass 485 (Post Study Work Stream) visa, the latter of which does not require an occupation to be listed on the STSOL or MLTSSL. From 19th April 2017, the Skilled Occupation List (SOL) was replaced by the Medium and Long-term Strategic Skills List (MLTSSL).
Every occupation in ANZSCO Minor Group '233 Engineering Professionals' is listed on the MLTSSL, except for the following: 233611 Mining engineer (excluding Petroleum) 233612 Petroleum engineer 233999 Engineering professionals (not elsewhere classified) See Schedule 1 in 'Specification of Occupations, a Person or Body, a Country or Countries Amendment Instrument 2017/040 (IMMI 17/040)', 18 April 2017. The visas that require occupations to be listed on the MLTSSL are typically those for independent migrants (not nominated by an employer or State or Territory Government). The visa that is granted most frequently to engineers is the Skilled Independent (subclass 189) visa. From March 2018, the Medium-Term stream of the new Temporary Skills Shortage (TSS) visa will only be granted for occupations listed on the MLTSSL. The TSS is the replacement for the 457 visa. In the most recent review of the composition of the SOL, submissions for which closed in November 2016, Professionals Australia argued that all engineering occupations should be removed due to the current large oversupply of engineers. The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy argued that some engineering occupations should be removed. In contrast, Engineers Australia and the Australian Council of Engineering Deans separately argued that all engineering occupations should remain on the SOL. The submission by Engineers Australia is critically reviewed in Section 13 (pp.48-58) of the report, and the Australian Council of Engineering Deans' submission is critically reviewed in Section 14 (pp.59-61) of the report. Under new Commonwealth legislation active from today, the Consolidated Sponsored Occupation List (CSOL) has been renamed the Short-term Skilled Occupation List.
Of the 21 occupations in ANZSCO Minor Group '233 Engineering Professionals', only two are included in the STSOL. These are: 233611 Mining engineer (excluding petroleum) 233999 Engineering professionals (not elsewhere classified). See Schedule 2 in 'Specification of Occupations, a Person or Body, a Country or Countries Amendment Instrument 2017/040 (IMMI 17/040)', 18 April 2017. Previously, only three engineering occupations were included on the CSOL: the two listed above, and 233612 Petroleum engineer. In March 2018, the 457 visa will be abolished, and will be replaced with the Temporary Skills Shortage (TSS) visa. There will be two versions of the TSS: a Short-Term stream, and a Medium-Term stream. The Short-Term stream will have a duration of up to two years, and will only be granted for occupations that are listed on the STSOL. The Medium-Term stream, with a duration of up to four years, will only be granted to occupations listed on the newly-named Medium and Long-term Strategic Skills List (MLTSSL), which is the former Skilled Occupation List (SOL). Previously, to access the 457 visa for an occupation, the occupation had to be listed on the CSOL. However, in practice the Department of Immigration and Border Protection added all the occupations on the legislated Skilled Occupation List (SOL) to those on the legislated CSOL to obtain a 'working' CSOL with a much larger number of occupations. Most engineering occupations were listed on the SOL, and it was through this practice that 457 visas could be accessed for all engineering occupations. See Section 10.2 (p.32) of the report for further information. The Federal Government announced today it was scrapping the notorious Temporary Work (Skilled) subclass 457 visa. Based on early reports, this visa will be replaced by two temporary entry visas of two and fours years duration respectively. Eligibility requirements for the new visas will be more stringent than for the 457 visa.
In 2015-16, 1095 migrant engineers were granted 457 visas, compared with 6867 who were granted permanent residence visas, notably the Skilled Independent (subclass 189) visa. At the end of June 2016 there were 2327 engineers working in Australia on 457 visas, some of whom had been granted the visa in previous years. For more information and statistics about 457 visas granted to engineers, see Section 10.5 on page 36 of the report. Due to new information becoming available just before Easter, Table 9 has been updated and Section 14 added. The report is now at Revision 1.
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November 2018
CategoriesAuthorJim Oakley |