With the current climate of confusion engulfing the 457 visa, the Migration Institute of Australia has come forward in urging people affected by these changes to stay calm as this is a re branding exercise.

On 18 April 2017, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull announced that the Temporary Work (Skilled) visa (subclass 457 visa) was abolished and replaced by two new streams (a 2 year and a 4 year) of the Temporary Skill Shortage visa (TSS).

The TSS visas are still available to businesses in Australia, however, they will be scrutinized slightly more than the existing 457 visa.

The approved occupations, still continues to house critical roles with a shortage of available Australian employees. This has been another way of saying that, Australia still needs temporary foreign workers.

Current 457 holders, will not be affected by this change.

For current 457 visa applicants, it is highly advisable that consultation should be sought with their nominated migration agent at the earliest.

Further to this announcement, on 20 April 2017, the Prime Minister and the Immigration Minister, Peter Dutton, announced the citizenship process reform.