Australia and New Zealand Immigration News

Australia’s Health Department wants to see 41 medical jobs removed from the country’s Skilled Occupations List (SOL) which would mean that many foreign doctors would no longer be able to obtain Australian work visas. Among the roles the department wants taken off the list are general practitioners, resident medical officers, surgeons and anaesthetists.

Complaints from volunteer organisations and small farm owners in Australia continue to grow as a result of strict Federal Government rules imposed on Australian Working Holiday 417 Visas. Volunteer groups say they’re lacking valuable workers because of new legislation introduced in August 2015.

New, Australian 457 visa rules that come into force in January 2017 are expected to affect visa holders, with children, living in Southern Australia.  457 visa holders with children will be hit with newly introduced school fees.

The 457 visa allows migrants who are sponsored by an Australian business, under standard business sponsorship or under a labour agreement with the Australian Immigration Department, entry to work in Australia for up to 4 years.

The Australian Federal government has delayed plans to tax the earnings of Australian working holiday visa holders on 462 and 417 visas by six months. However, if similar changes go through new tax rules from 1 January 2017 could see 'backpackers' forced to pay much higher taxes than Aussies. The new tax rules previously announced as part of the 2015 National Budget, had been strongly opposed by farmers and the tourism industry forcing Australian immigration to review the plans.

Australia's Labor Party is being warned that offshore oil rigs could be at risk should changes to foreign worker visas, such as the 400 and 457 visas, go ahead. In Parliament on May 2nd, 2016, the Labor Party put forward proposals to cancel the visas of foreign workers in the oil and gas industry.

A survey carried out by Crown Relocations – an international relocation and removals specialist – has confirmed that nearly 9 in 10 Australians would welcome British entrepreneurs. According to the research, 86 per cent of respondents said they would like more people to emigrate Down Under, while one in five Australians said that the country 'lacks entrepreneurs.'