June Immigration Update

As part of the visa overhaul announced last year, the Department of Home Affairs have announced that from the 1st July 2024 the following visa conditions will change for subclass 457, 482 and 494 visa holders:

⭐️ Condition 8107, 8607, and 8606

These conditions currently state that you must only work for your sponsoring employer in your nominated occupation and if you cease employment it cannot be for more than 60 days. These visa holders would also be required to find a new employer to take over their visa by completing a nomination transfer within that 60 day period.

The announcement has confirmed that due to some worker exploitation over the years, DOHA will relax these conditions to allow these visa holders to easily move between sponsors.

• These visa holders who hold the above visas who stop working with their sponsor will be given more time to find a new sponsor, apply for a different visa or depart Australia.
• These visa holders will now have 180 days at a time or 365 days in total across the entire visa grant period.
• As well as DOHA granting more time to find a new sponsor visa holders will also be able to work for other employers and work in occupations not listed on their most recent nomination approval. A most generous change by the Department and one that I am nervous about albeit glad to see the flexibility for those who need more time to find a new sponsor and work to support their families while they search for new employment.
• Sponsoring employers are still required to make notification to DOHA within 28 days of cessation of employment.
• These conditions apply to existing visa holders as well as new.

Only time will tell on how this will all unfold particularly for employers where the visa holder can now more freely visa hop. Good news those for new employers where they can trial the visa holder before they complete the visa process.

For more information and immigration advice, please as always, reach out to us at Mapien.