Permanent residency for Australia – important update

Great news! The Australian Department of Home Affairs has announced that as of 25 November 2023, skilled migration workers under the Employer-Sponsored migration programme can apply for permanent residency after two years.

Full details are still unclear, and the Migration Institute of Australia (MIA) has requested more information from the department on the exact changes to be implemented that day to be supplied. However, it does seem that a pathway to permanent residency is finally being introduced for all Temporary Skill Shortage (TSS) visa holders, including those working in occupations on the Short-term Skilled Occupation list.

The rules up till now state that if you’re a holder of a Subclass 482 TSS visa (or a combination of Subclass 482 and 457 visas) and have been working for the same employer for at least three years while holding your TSS visa, then you may be eligible for a subclass 186 visa in the TRT stream. However, if a concession applies, you may only need to have worked for two years. In addition, your employer must be willing to nominate you for the visa.

From 25 November 2023, applications for permanent residence under the Subclass 186 Employer Nominated Scheme via the Transitional (TRT) Stream will be possible for migrants after two years of working with their sponsors.

We’ll keep you updated as things progress.

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