In response to the review of the skilled migration and temporary visa program, the Department of Immigration and Border Protection (DIBP) published a paper in December 2014 proposing a Short-Term Mobility Visa that would allow foreign workers entry into Australia for up to 12 months to perform specialised work, without a 457 skilled migration visa.

If implemented, these changes are likely to have a significant impact on employers. The new visas would not be subject to English language or skills requirements and employers would not be required to conduct labour market testing in order to show that there is no Australian worker who could fill the relevant position. The Short-Term Mobility Visa would replace the existing category 400 visa, which currently allows skilled or specialist entrants to work for up to six weeks.

It is anticipated that the program will free up temporary migration by creating a new set of visa subclasses for people coming in for less than a year by reducing red-tape. Under the current proposal, the Short-Term Mobility Visa will have the following key features:

*           The visa could be granted for up to 12 months, depending on the work or activity to be undertaken;

*           The visa allows for multiple entries into Australia;

*           Applicants can apply in Australia or outside Australia;

*           Employers would need to satisfy the Genuine Temporary Entry requirement;

*           Applicants would need to meet health, character and security requirements; and

*           Family members cannot be included on the same visa application. Family members would have to apply for their own visa if they intended to work or study in Australia.

Visa holders would be allowed to apply for subsequent visas such as permanent work visas where the work is considered ongoing.

Submissions on the DIBP paper closed at the end of January. A targeted stakeholder engagement will be held in March 2015 to develop the framework further. As regards the Short-Term Mobility Visa, the DIBP has indicated that further areas for investigation will address the potential scope of the visa subclass to reflect stakeholder feedback received during the developmental phase. An implementation paper is also due to be released in August or September 2015 which will provide details on a fully developed visa framework. The program is not set to commence until 1 July 2016.

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