457 Visa - Increase in Cost
Industrial Relations Commissioner Barbara Deegan has been appointed to finalise a review of the 457 visa by the end of the year.
New laws to reform the visa program are expected to increase costs for employers and make the system more difficult to use.
With sponsorship taking approx 3 months currently I cannot begin to understand what they could do to make the process more difficult. The inability to speak to case workers costs time and money with staff having to follow up repeatedly for updates on applications.
A discussion paper was released this week outlining a number of reforms that could become part of legislation later this year. This includes paying for travel costs, migration agent’s fees, professional registration costs, and health insurance and education costs for children.
These costs to sponsor an employee and their partner and 2 kids could very well make it cost prohibitive to move forward. Does this mean that employers will start to look for single applicants only to keep the cost down?? This opens a whole other can of worms.
Employer’s that exploit the system will also be targeted with a proposed maximum penalty of $110,000 fine and/or 10 years imprisonment if providing false or misleading information.
Employers found in breach of their obligations that reoffend or fail to remedy the situation may have their names published by the department.
It seems that someone has to take a long hard look at the current system and ways of improving it making it easier for employers, candidates and the governing body.
Let’s hope that Barbara Deegan is the one to do it.
