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After the good news about the increased age limit from 30 to 35 for Canadian and Irish passport holders, there’s even more good news for all backpackers in Australia! More areas From November 5, 2018, there will be more regional areas eligible to work in (agriculture, plant and animal cultivation) to use to stay in Australia for a second year. Currently only working holiday visa makers in Northern Australia are eligible. 6 – 12 months with same employer From November 5, working holiday visa holders can stay with the same agricultural employer for 12 months instead of only 6. 3rd year on a WHV After July 1st 2019, working holiday visa holders who undertake 6 months of specified work in a specified regional area during their second year will have the option of staying for a third year in Australia. Increase in annual cap In the next few weeks the annual cap will be increased for a number of countries participating in the 462 visa program. (Check eligible countries). The reason behind these changes is the fact that the Australian government is trying to increase the number of WHV holders available for seasonal work in Australia. What is plant and animal cultivation? This type of work generally includes: the harvesting and/or packing of fruit and vegetable crops pruning and trimming vines and trees general maintenance crop work cultivating or propagating plants, fungi or their products or parts immediate processing of plant products maintaining animals for the purpose of selling them or their bodily produce immediate processing of animal products including shearing, butchery, packing and tanning manufacturing dairy produce from raw material Where are the new regional areas? Apart from Northern Australia, the regional areas will also be located in parts of NSW, QLD, VIC and WA as well as all of the NT, SA and Tasmania. The exact details of the specific postcodes will be published on the Department’s website soon. You’ve got more questions about the working holiday visa? Check out our Factsheet!  

RPL is short for Recognition of Prior Learning and it means exactly that. Based on your prior learning you will be recognised as an Australian qualified professional in your occupation. What does “prior learning” mean? Prior learning takes into account the skills and knowledge that you have gained through previous training, work or life experience. For example: You have worked as a hairdresser but do not have official qualifications to prove that you are a qualified hairdresser. You can undergo an RPL Assessment to receive an official Australian qualification as a hairdresser without having to study for any exams, simply by submitting evidence. More on evidence see below. What evidence do I need? The evidence you need to provide can include the following: Work samples (videos or photos of your work) Resume Employment contracts Reference letters Overseas qualification Transcripts/Assessment from any former qualifications Apprenticeship papers (if applicable) Where can I get the RPL qualification from? The Qualification is used by an RTO which is a Registered Training Organisation in Australia. An assessor assesses your skills and qualifications against the requirements and if satisfied, you will be issued with the official qualification, just as if you had studied the course in a classroom. There are companies who help you put together your evidence and work together with the RTO on your behalf. One of these is Skilled To Qualified. How does RPL help me? An Australian recognised Qualification can help you with Finding employment opportunities Reducing the duration of further studies (e.g if you wish to pursue a degree) Obtaining a license to work in a certain profession Strengthening your Australian visa application RPL for ICT professionals Professionals in the field of ICT that do not have any or tertiary ICT qualifications, will be assessed by the Australian Computer Society (ACS). A registered migration agent can help you with this process. How much does it cost? The cost will vary depending on factors such as: Where you get the assessment done What qualification/s you wish to obtain Previous work experience Request a free assessment from Skilled to Qualified to get a quote for your individual situation. Generally speaking, an RPL is cheaper than undertaking the same course through classroom based training. How long does it take? As a general rule of thumb a soft copy of the certificate is issued between 3 – 4 weeks. Do I have to be in Australia? Yes and No. For certain occupations you will have to be in Australia, whereas for others you can be overseas. Please contact Skilled to Qualified for a more exact answer or visit their website to find out more. Should you have any questions about RPL for Migration Purposes, feel free to give us a call on (02) 4626 1002 or contact us online.    

The Government’s ‘new’ migration strategy is to send migrants to live and work in regional areas in Australia because cities such as Sydney and Melbourne are overcrowded. The minister for population explains how the issue of overpopulated cities is not so much ‘historically high immigration levels’, but rather a backlog in major infrastructure. He further says that the biggest challenge with bringing more migrants to regional areas will be finding the right incentives and conditions for migrants to move to regional areas and smaller cities. “People are finding the trains are full and the roads are congested and people are blaming it purely on the growth rate when there is actually a number of issues at play,’’ Mr Tudge said. While many quickly tend to blame migrants for congested roads and population growth, he also says the issue is “the lack of infrastructure keeping up with that growth”. Tudge also mentioned introducing a “designated area migration scheme” (see current designated areas of Australia) which would mean that new migrants arriving in Australia would have to spend a certain period of time in a regional area or smaller city. How will it work exactly? There is criticisim as to how exactly the idea of moving jobs from Sydney or Melbourne to a small town in the regional area should take place. After all, migrants are migrating to the major cities because that’s where their skills are in demand. That’s where they have been sponsored to work or that’s where there are likely to find a job and contribute to the Australian economy. One should also not forget that the Government has already introduced certain visas to attract migrants to the regional areas, such as subclass 489 or subclass 187. There are even Government sponsored regional visas in additional to state sponsored ones (see Occupation Lists for all states and regions). While those incentives exist already, the question remains whether migrants will remain there long-term as hope for by the Government. One should also never forget that migrants often have some family members here living in the bigger cities, another reason for them to move closer to their family and friends. People after all have the right to freedom of movement and will be interesting to follow if and how the Australian government will try to settle migrants permanently in regional Australia. Another important factor to keep in mind is that the majority of migrants are temporary visa holders and international students make up the largest cohort of those migrants. Often they live in major cities out of pure necessity seeing how the majority of training institutions and universities are also located in the major cities. Conclusion: While there is no deny in Melbourne and Sydney dealing with congested roads and full trains, simply channelling all new migrants to regional areas won’t be as simple a solution. Infrastructure, planning and job creation will have to be in place first. Let us know what you think with a comment below!   You might also like: Entice migrants to regions rather than major cities, Tudge says Opinion: Sending migrants to regional centres is not the answer New visa could keep migrants in regional Australia  

The TSS visa (482 visa) replaced the 457 visa in March 2018 and left many employers and employees confused. While there are certain changes in place, there are not as many as often portrayed and the visa process also remains similar. There are basically 3 steps involved if you wish to hire a non-Australian citizen or permanent resident. 1.Become an approved Standard Business Sponsor If you still have a valid 457 visa sponsorship, then this can also be used to hire employees under the 482 visa. You need to be lawfully operating in Australia and to provide documents such as the ABN registration certificate. For a full document checklist you can contact us and/or refer to the official Government’s website. 2.Nominate the occupation At this stage the employer shows how the nominated position fits into the business and that the market salary rate will be offered. You can nominate positions from this list. If there are caveats for the nomination, the business will need to meet those. If and which caveats apply to a certain position can be found here. The business also proves that Labour Market Testing has been in place. 3.Visa application The applicant will have to provide evidence of at least 2 years relevant work experience in the nominated occupation. The work experience must also be met in addition to any requirements as outline by ANZSCO. For example: If you are nominating a marketing specialist, you can check ANZSCO here. You will then see what skills are required (in this case a formal qualification of at least a Bachelor degree or 5 years of experience if the nominee doesn’t hold a degree). You will also see the tasks and duties the specific occupation usually includes. What are the costs? Standard Business Sponsorship: $420 TSS Nomination: $330 TSS Visa (Short Stream – up to 2 years): $1150 TSS Visa (Medium Stream – up to 4 years): $2400 SAF (Skilling Australians Fund): This amount depends on the business’ turnover in the 12 months prior to lodging the nomination. Turnover greater than $10 million: SAF Levy is $1,800 for each year of the 482/TSS visa Turnover less than $10 million: Levy is $1,200 for each year of 482/TSS visa There are also several reasons for refunding the SAF levy such as refusal of sponsorship or nomination application. In urgent cases, you don’t need to wait for the sponsorship to be approved before lodging the TSS/482 visa nomination and visa. This can be added to the pending sponsorship application. If for example you have an applicant you wish to hire and he/she is currently in Australia on a substantive visa, then you can lodge the sponsorship which will keep the applicant in Australia lawfully while waiting on his/her new visa. The overall processing times are currently 2 – 3 months. The current Temporary Skilled Migration Income Threshold is $53,000 plus Super. Contact Us  

Labour agreements are negotiated between the Australian Government and employers. As a general rule, they are in effect for 5 years and can be used to sponsor overseas workers for: Temporary Skill Shortage visa (TSS – subclass 482) Employer Nomination Scheme (ENS – subclass 186) There are 5 main types of labour agreements: Company-specific labour agreements Industry labour agreements Project agreements Designated area migration agreements If a labour agreement is in place, then the employer can hire overseas professionals for occupations that are approved under the agreement. However, the employer still needs to prove that they have tried to fill the position with an Australian worker and undertaken Labour Market Testing (LMT). You can check the list of already existing Labour Agreement. 1.Company-specific labour agreements This type of labour agreement is developed directly with the employer and will only be used for genuine skills or labour shortages that are not already provided in other labour agreements (industry, project or designated area migration). Find the current company specific labour agreements. 2. Industry labour agreements This type of agreement is based on fixed terms and conditions that are agreed to by the Minister and key stakeholders for specific industry sectors. Such a labour agreement could be used in cases where the Department has received a higher number of submission from the same industry but there is still ongoing labour shortage for that industry. The existing industry labour agreements cover the following industries: fast food restaurant (fine dining) snow sports meat fishing fast food dairy on-hire pork On-hire industry labour agreements On-hire businesses can recruit temporary skilled worker for occupations that are on the combined list of skilled occupations. Evidence of not being able to fill the position with an appropriately qualified Australian worker needs to be provided. On-hire businesses with relevant labour agreements act as approved sponsors for your visa and can nominate and hire overseas workers in the approved occupations. Pendragon, Polyglot and other companies have established on-hire industry labour agreements. 3. Project labour agreements Under this agreement, project companies that are facing genuine skills or labour shortages, can hire temporary skilled overseas workers under the TSS visa to ensure there is enough workforce during a construction phase of resource or infrastructure projects. 4. Designated Area Migration Agreements (DAMA) These agreements are for state or territory governments who are wishing to strengthen their unique economic and labour market conditions through this agreement based network. Employers in areas that are facing skills and labour shortages can sponsor skilled and semi-skilled workers.   Source and more information: https://www.homeaffairs.gov.au/WorkinginAustralia/Documents/requesting-labour-agreement.pdf