Training visa crackdown: sponsor and nomination approvals required before lodging visa applications
/The subclass 407 – Training visa is part of a suite of temporary activity visas. It was designed to enable overseas nationals to participate in specific occupational training and professional development activities for up to two years.
This visa requires an approved sponsorship, nomination, and visa application, similar to the workhorse temporary skilled visa, the subclass 482 – Skills in Demand visa.
And therein lies the problem...
Some businesses and visa applicants view training visas as a workaround to a 482 visa, either because the business cannot afford, or does not want to pay, the market rate and above the ever-increasing minimum threshold, or the visa applicant does not have the minimum work experience required for a 482 visa, and no alternatives to remain in Australia.
In response to a significant increase in onshore training visa applications since the middle of 2024, the Migration Regulations 1994 (Cth) are amended out of integrity concerns that this visa is being used to either “bypass skilled migration pathways or to extend an onshore visa holder’s stay in Australia.”
The change is that to make a valid application for a subclass 407 visa, the applicant must have an approved temporary activities sponsor. Additionally, if the sponsor is not a Commonwealth agency, the applicant must also have a current and approved nomination.
Where most training visas will fail is with the nomination application. There are three nomination types:
Occupational training required for registration
Occupational training to enhance skills
Occupational training for capacity building overseas
The concern for the program’s integrity rests with type 2 and occupational training to enhance skills. This is because training for registration should be easily proven if it is a mandatory requirement for licensing and registration in the occupation in either Australia or overseas. Training for capacity building overseas requires either government, overseas business or overseas educational institute support.
Occupational training to enhance skills requires a structured workplace-based training program specifically tailored to the training needs of the nominee, and of a duration that meets their specific training needs. If there is not this level of detail, the nomination is likely to be refused.
Preventing most valid visa applications until a nomination is approved will prevent potential onshore visa applicants from accessing the Administrative Review Tribunal (ART) and therefore extending their stay in Australia for months with either legitimate or illegitimate claims.