DIMIA Annual Report 2001-02
1.1.6 Temporary residence
Objective
Temporary residence visas are designed to further Australia's economic, social, cultural and international relations in the context of a more mobile global workforce.
Description
DIMIA seeks to meet this objective through a range of temporary residence visas including the following:
Skilled workers and business creation visas
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the temporary business sponsored (long stay) visa (457) allows businesses to sponsor skilled overseas workers for up to four years.
The temporary residence of skilled overseas workers provides the flexibility for businesses to fill shortages of key positions in their companies quickly to ensure they will provide benefits to Australia -
33,705 people (including dependants) were granted temporary (long stay) business visas to fill skilled shortages in Australia.
The minimum skill and salary thresholds introduced on 1 July 2001 have ensured that the program focuses on skilled occupations -
there was a reduction in visa subclass 457 grants during 2001-02 of 8.7 per cent largely due to the downturn in Information Computer Technology (ICT) professionals.
There has been an increase in other professions reflecting the change in business requirements with nurses now a major occupation under these visa requirements -
medical practitioner visas (422) provide for the temporary entry of overseas trained medical practitioners to fill positions that can not be filled in Australia.
The number of doctors approved primarily for regional Australia increased by 10.5 per cent in 2001-02 over the previous year -
the temporary residence Independent Executive visa (457IE) provides business people wishing to establish businesses in Australia with four years temporary residence to either establish or buy into an existing business.
In 2001-02, 3,892 visas were granted, which is an increase of 23 per cent over the previous year -
Education visas (418) enable research and academic staff to fill positions on a temporary basis that can not be filled from the Australian labour market.
There were 1,818 visas issued in 2001-02, which is an increase of 5.3 per cent compared with the previous year.
Social and cultural visas
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Sports visas (421) allow high calibre sports people to compete and train in Australia, thus improving general sporting standards in Australia
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Media and Film Staff visas (423) allow for the entry of representatives of overseas news organisations and staff to make documentaries and commercials for overseas use
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Entertainment visas (420) allow for entry of overseas entertainers and technical and support staff for live performances, or films, television or radio or recording productions. Models and mannequins of international standing are included in this group
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Religious Worker visas (428) allow the entry of people to provide spiritual leadership in their religious community.
International relations visas
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Exchange visas (411) allow for skilled overseas people to work in Australia while an Australian resident obtains a similar opportunity overseas
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Occupational Trainee visas provide temporary entry for persons to undertake a supervised, structured workplace based training program
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Special Program visas (416) allow for youth exchanges or persons to enter for community based, non-commercial programs.
Key results
During 2001-02, 78,470 people were issued temporary residence visas, an increase of 5.3 per cent on the previous year. These included :
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43,303 visas in the skilled visa classes
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20,817 visas in the social and cultural classes
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14,350 visas in the international relations class.
Temporary residence visas key results relate to
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benefiting Australia's economy
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meeting skills needs
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supporting regional needs
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increased integrity initiatives
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streamlined processing.
Benefiting Australia's economy
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the impact of these temporary business residents on the Australian budget was large and positive according to an Access Economics report concluded in May 2002.
The positive impact reflected the highly skilled and high salary levels of this group and, according to the findings of the report, they far outweigh small additional expenses governments incurred in relation to this group.
According to the Access Economics report, a factor contributing to this finding is that sponsored temporary business residents differ from most other groups of entrants in that they have restricted access to the range of services provided by the Commonwealth and State governments.
There are also significant financial benefits to the Commonwealth and State or Territory governments from revenue from this group, especially general taxes and GST contributions.
Meeting skills needs
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temporary business visa holders contribute towards reducing the skill shortages in Australia. The flexibility of the temporary business visa enables business to respond quickly to changes in skills needs
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visa numbers are highly responsive to the demand for skills and in 2001-02 this was particularly apparent in changes to the ICT and health sectors:
- there was a 26 per cent reduction in visa grants to ICT professionals following the global downturn in the ICT industry
- there was a 144 per cent increase in visa grants to nurses in response to the significant increase in demand for health workers to address emerging skill shortages -
there has been a 28 per cent increase in grant rates for permanent residence visas under the Employer Nomination Scheme (ENS) and Labour Agreement subclass during 2001-02 with 8,215 visas granted, compared with 6,399 in the previous year.
There is an increasing trend for many people to come to Australia on temporary entry visas and then apply for permanent entry, with 67 per cent of the onshore visa grants previously holding the temporary business (long stay) visa.
Supporting regional needs
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In May 2002 a package of measures was announced for the temporary business (long stay) visa which will provide flexible sponsorship arrangements for employers in regional areas and areas of low population growth.
These will provide regional Australia with access to much needed skilled workers to fill local shortages. Regional Australia, which has a shortage of medical practitioners and specialists, also benefited from the changes to the temporary medical practitioner visas.
The validity of medical practitioner visas was extended to allow a maximum stay of four years (formerly 12 months) for overseas-trained doctors.
There was a 13.3 per cent increase in visa grants to medical practitioners who are recruited to fill area-of-need shortages, particularly in rural Australia. In 2001-02 there were 3,888 medical practitioner visas granted, including dependants, compared with 3,431 in 2000-01.
Increased integrity initiatives
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further enhancements were made to the national monitoring of business sponsorship arrangements for the temporary business (long stay) visa sponsors.
Monitoring of business sponsors is being conducted with the targeted site visits of some sponsors to ensure that they are complying with their undertakings as sponsors -
legislative amendments were introduced on 1 July 2001 to the Regional Sponsored Migration Scheme providing cancellation provisions for visas granted, where successful applicants do not fulfil contractual obligations to their regional employer.
These have greatly strengthened the integrity of the scheme and given regional employers greater certainty.
Streamlined processing
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streamlined processing and improved processing times resulted in a reduction of applications on hand.
The number of temporary business (long stay) visa applications awaiting decision was reduced by 36 per cent in Australia during the year and 10 per cent offshore.
Reductions were also achieved in sponsorship applications awaiting decision, which were reduced by 53 per cent and nominations, which were reduced by 48 per cent -
80 per cent of all the temporary business (long stay) visas were processed within the publicly stated processing times.