The government announced some changes to the working holiday VISAs in early November.  These changes are designed to help ease a shortage of farm and agriculture labour in rural areas.

Visitors to Australia on subclass 417 and 462 visas will be able to stay in the country for up to three years if they undertake regional agricultural employment. They are also allowed to continue working for up to 12 month with the same regional employer. Previously they had to change employer ever 6 month.

These 417 and 462 VISA holders can apply for a second and third VISA if they meet all the conditions for their previous working holiday VISA.

There are now more area that qualify as regional agricultural employment. Visitors can gain valuable work experience in several areas of agriculture.

Applicants for these working holiday VISAs must be between 18 and 30 (18 and 35 if from Canada or Ireland), without accompanying children. Of course they must have a valid passport for Australian travel.

Expect more changes in the not too distant future

While these changes will benefit visitors to Australia they are really intended to help understaffed Australian farmers. ‘“We will work to establish an agriculture visa. That is the long-term solution,” Mr Morrison’, the Australian Prime Minister, claims. [1]

Backpacker Tax Abolished.

It is also worth noting that the 15% backpacker tax, only recently introduced, is now being discontinued. 

Immigration Lawyers Sydney

It is difficult to keep up the constantly changing immigration laws. Consult an immigration lawyer for up to date advice.

There is always debate about immigration. How will it affect the economy? Is it a benefit or a cost?

Migrants should benefit economic growth in three ways: population, active involvement and productivity. If immigrants add to our country this is a good thing.

Furthermore, everyone in Australian, other than the original aboriginals, is a product of immigration. All of us had immigrant ancestors in the last 200 years or so. Many more recently than that. About half the Australian population was either born overseas or had a parent who was.

Then why the opposition?

There are myths, misconceptions and half truths about immigrants. And there can also be plain prejudice. People worry that the influx of immigrants will somehow drag us back, that resources will be strained if there are more people in the country. But this is small minded. The immigrants are contributors, and add to the resources.

Immigrants tend to be younger than the general population. About half of all immigrants are under 35. These are people in their prime, and capable (hopefully willing) of contributing a lot.

Claims that immigrants live off welfare and strain the system are unfounded. 77% of immigrants are in the labour force, which is higher than the national average of 65%. This is at least partly because of skilled VISA admission, which requires immigrants to have a respectable skill set.

An often overlooked issue is that Australia has a moderately small population that is not being replenished by locals, which leads to an aging population. The addition of immigration changes the balance, so the population is steadily increasing rather than slowly decreasing. Adding young to middle age adults to the working population is a bonus.

Prejudice is a possible objection to immigration. Some people dislike anything that is unlike themselves, anything that is not part of their group identity. This is a small minded and unbalanced. Diversity is a good thing as long as the diverse individuals can cooperate.

Immigration Lawyers Sydney

Immigration laws are complex, so matters are best handled by a professional lawyer. Talk to an expert for your best change of legal immigration.