The contents of this article are correct as at 23 January 2015.
The Australian government has proposed the creation of a new visa subclass, which will allow for entry into Australia for up to 12 months to complete specialised work, including intra-company transfers and foreign correspondents. Broadly, the proposed visa subclass will allow visa holders to undertake short-term activities or work in Australia, such as those in Australia’s interest.
The new visa is expected to come into effect in 2016.
This proposal forms part of the Immigration Department’s proposal paper into their review of Skilled Migration and Temporary Activity Visa Programmes. The proposed visa subclass will seek to address the short-term mobility needs of international companies and organisations, in order to facilitate short-term or commuting assignments for career development, project planning and implementation, and corporate knowledge transfer through intra-company transfers.
Although still under early proposal, the Immigration Department has released some guidelines and information on the proposed visa subclass as follows:
Duration / Visa Validity Period
The proposed visa could be granted for up to 12 months, depending on the work or activity to be undertaken.
Entry Facilities
The proposed visa could be granted with multiple entry facilities.
Lodgement Procedure
The proposed visa application can be lodged inside or outside of Australia.
Visa Criteria
It appears as though the applicant will need to be invited by an Australian organisation to undertake highly specialised work in Australia. Please see the “Purpose” and “Requirement Documentation” sections below.
As part of the visa application, the applicant will need to demonstrate that they meet the “Genuine Temporary Entrant” requirement. That is, they will need to show that they genuinely intend to enter Australia temporarily to undertake the highly specialised work specified in the application.
The applicant will also need to meet certain health, character, and security requirements (i.e. public interest criteria).
Family members cannot be included on the same visa application, and will need to apply for a separate visa if they intend to work or study in Australia.
Purpose
If the duration of the visa will be less than 3 months, the applicant will only be allowed to undertake highly specialised work.
If the duration of the visa will be more than 3 months (up to a maximum period of 12 months), the applicant will only be allowed to undertake highly specialised and intermittent work. That is, the applicant will not be able to undertake ongoing work.
Required Documentation
If the duration of the visa will be less than 3 months, the applicant will need to include the following documents with the visa application:
- An invitation letter from an Australian organisation, specifying:
- the activity or arrangements to be undertaken by the visa applicant; and
- the duration of stay required in Australia.
If the duration of the visa will be more than 3 months (up to a maximum period of 12 months), the applicant will also need to include:
- A statement of guarantee or undertaking from the Australian organisation, detailing the salary to be paid and any employment conditions reflective of the Australian standard for the duration of the stay.
Further information and updates regarding the proposed Short Term Mobility Visa will be provided as they are released.
If you have any queries in relation to temporary work visas, please click this link to contact Visa Lawyers Australia for a discussion.
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