Pendragon Straight Talk: 457 Grandfathering Provisions

 
TRANSCRIPT
 
JOHN GLOVER: Hello and welcome to another Pendragon Straight Talk. This one is a bit of an update, it’s a question I’ve been asked but it’s also something that’s occurred in the past week to do with the rules around the 457 visa and what they’re calling the grandfathering provisions, which is basically they are saying an updated version has come out saying any holders of a 457 visa that had a 457 visa prior to 18th of April 2017 or applied for one prior to April 18th 2017 will still fall under the old rules for Permanent Residency through the old Employee Nomination Scheme.
 
These visa holders will basically be able to access certain existing provisions under the Temporary Resident Transition Stream, which means the occupation requirements remain the same, e.g. there are no restrictions as long as the nominee continues to work in the same position for the same employer as sponsored for under the subclass 457 visa.
 
The age requirement will remain at less than fifty years instead of the fact its going to less than 45 years as of April next year, so that will still remain if you are holding a 457 visa prior to 18th of April [2017].
 
The work experience required will be two out of the last three years you’ve got to be on a 457 visa, you will only have to spend two years working with the existing company but have had the 457 visa for three.
 
What does this mean in real teams?
 
Well in real terms it basically means the old 457 ENS rules will apply in regards to Permanent Residency for some people, those people who have applied for the 457 visa prior to April 18th 2017 or have held a 457 visa prior to April 18th 2017.
 
So, an example of this is, if you have been on a 457 for two out of the last three years and working in the same position for the same company, then you can apply for permanent residency through the TRT, it will not matter what list your occupation falls on.
 
So, under the new rules if you are on the second list, for the two years, you cannot, but as you have applied or received or are on a 457 visa prior to 18th of April 2017 you will fall under the old rules, which means there is no two or four year list, you can still apply.
 
Therefore, if you are granted a 457 in March 2017 then you can still apply for Permanent Residency in two years time in March 2019 under the old rules.
 
So, may I suggest if you have held a 457 visa prior to 18th of April 2017 and still hold a 457 visa and have worked for the same company you talk to a qualified migration agent to get the full explanation so you can provide that to your employer so they can consider at some point in the future to sponsor you for the Permanent Residency visa under the old rules.
 
So, basically the date of 18th of April 2017, if you had a visa prior to that you can apply under the old rules, if you applied for the 457 visa prior to that, in other words it was lodged with the department of immigration, you can apply under the old rules.
 
Go and find yourself a good migration agent, go and get it checked out because it’s a great thing, it gives you the ability to stay in the country and get Permanent Residency.
 
Thanks for listening, I’ll talk to you next week.