Australia announces visa incentives for migrants, new occupations added in ROL list

In a significant move, the Australian government announced changes in visa rules for skilled foreign migrants, artists, and sportspeople recently.

Bold Measures

As part of the bold gesture, every skilled foreign migrant hired for seasonal work on farms will be allotted extension for up to 4 years. It will help farmers to operate and enable more workers to join the workforce in large numbers, briefed a government source.

Others granted with 8-year visas and added to the long-term skills list are artists and sponsored sportsmen. These changes within the Regional Occupation List (ROL) are designed to target workforce shortages. Since the past couple of years, there has been a steady decline in the numbers of local youth not filling the country’s jobs. The administration has also introduced a Permanent Residency pathway for these sponsored workers who are residing in designated areas. Along with concessions in English language requirements, there are no constraints as far as their work experience, and salary requirements are concerned. 

On the contrary, filing a visa within the short-term shortage list was meant for two years. It used to be difficult for the entire family to migrate to the country on work purposes, the source added.

Besides, the numbers of skilled workers reduced drastically despite growing demand in horticulture segment. But with the new visa rules in place, agriculture migrants can seek benefits of 4-year working visas and be present in a particular region to find employment in farming activity.

Similarly, sportsmen like tennis coaches, footballers, and sponsored artists are amongst the 8 professions added in the long-term skills list. These changes will help the country’s football clubs to attract international talent thereby promoting sports at international level.

Regional Occupation List

It was Department of Home Affairs that had introduced list for RSMS (Regional Sponsored Migration Scheme) Visa effective from March last month. In other words, it was the ROL (Regional Occupations List) addressing specific needs of regional Australia with the list valid for skilled visa programs. Under the visa program, applicants can apply for Skilled Regional Provisional Visa – subclass 489 after meeting the eligibility criteria.

On the other hand, the ROL list helps subclass 489 applicants nominated by the state or territory government. They can seek an invite from the government after filing their applications before or after March 18, 2019. Interestingly, the list targets individuals filing subclass 407, TSS (M) applications.

The new list has 59 occupations comprising the Regional Occupation demand list. Specifically, the government has enforced regional visas to ease migrant population overcrowding in big cities such as Melbourne and Sydney. However, 23,000 individuals received their visa permits to work in any city outside the major cities.

In a nutshell, these significant changes are applicable for new visa applicants and won’t affect those seeking nominations.