In an effort to ensure that Australians and permanent residents of the country are not disadvantaged when it comes to taking up employment, Australia has decided to tighten some of its temporary work visa rules, known as the subclass 400 Short Stay Specialist visa.
As the Australian government has announced, the Department of Home Affairs will now examine the applications for temporary work visas more thoroughly.
By investigating applications from different angles, the Department wants to ensure that this type of visa is not being used as an unauthorized alternative to the Temporary Skill Shortage Visa – subclass 481, VisaGuide.World reports.
In addition, as BAL explains, under the new rules, foreigners who apply for a temporary work visa with a duration of six months will have it harder to obtain the document.
Although the six-month temporary work visa will not be discontinued, the authorities stressed that such applications will be considered only in exceptional circumstances when a worker must stay within the territory of Australia for more than three months within a 12-month period.
Moreover, the authorities stressed that these applications will be evaluated under strict rules, suggesting that only a small proportion of applicants will be able to obtain the document.
Temporary Work Visa Holders Will Now Be Eligible Only for Stays of up to 3 Months
As part of its changes, the Australian authorities explained that temporary work visa holders will now be allowed to stay within the country’s territory for a maximum of three months within a year.
The three-month period starts counting once the visa holder enters Australia and does not permit returns and revisits over the 12-month period.
This means that as soon as a temporary work visa holder leaves Australia, they will not be permitted to enter the country again, even if they have not stayed for three months in the country.
Another change is that Australia has also discontinued the flexibility to submit multiple visa applications over the 12-month period, BAL notes. Such a change means that foreigners will only be allowed to stay in Australia for the duration of the visa they have been granted and will not be able to apply for another visa, which might be used to extend their stay in the country.
Australia just recently also tightened the rules for international students. The country has decided to limit the number of visas granted to foreign students wanting to pursue their studies in Australia.
Moreover, the country has decided to limit the number of international students to 270,000 for 2025.