News Flash

First look at new ‘simplified’ Temporary Activity Visa Framework, effective 19 November 2016

11-Oct-2016

In keeping with the government’s drive to ‘simplify’ Australia’s raft of existing visas, a new temporary visa framework is set to come into effect on 19 November 2016. This is the result of a long review into the skilled migration and temporary visa programmes.

The new framework aims to simplify the process of applying for or sponsoring a temporary visa – good news for businesses and individuals alike. At a quick glance, a single sponsor class will replace six existing sponsor classes; red tape for certain short stay activities will be reduced; and applications will be lodged online.

The new system will consist of four visa subclasses:

  • Temporary Work (Short Stay Specialist) (subclass 400) visa;
  • Temporary Work (International Relations) (subclass 403) visa;
  • Training (subclass 407) visa; and
  • Temporary Activity (subclass 408) visa.

That means from 19 November 2016, the following visas will be closed to new applications:

  • Subclass 401 Temporary Work (Long Stay Activity) visa
  • Subclass 402 Training and Research visa
  • Subclass 416 Special Program visa  
  • Subclass 420 Temporary Work (Entertainment) visa
  • Subclass 488 Superyacht Crew visa.

Applications lodged before 19 November 2016 will be processed under pre-19 November 2016 legislation.

For businesses wanting to sponsor a temporary visa applicant, the six current sponsor classes (Long Stay Activity, Training and Research, Professional Development, Entertainment, Special Program and Superyacht Crew) will be replaced by a single Temporary Activities sponsor class.

For further details on the new visa subclasses and what their respective purposes are, head to the DIBP website. Also make sure to keep an eye on our Newsflashes – we will be updating our readers on the latest developments as they arise.

 

Source: DIBP