Skilled Workers Rescue is Coming to Help You

Although the new COVID variant, Omicron, caused a delay to the Government’s plans, Australia’s international border reopening to eligible visa holders is planned for 15th December!

Skilled migrants, international students, humanitarians, working holiday makers and provisional family visa holders will no longer need an exemption to travel into the country, as long as they are fully vaccinated.

Describing this as a “milestone”, the federal government has estimated 200,000 eligible migrant visa holders will take up the offer between December and January.

That’s a great start – since Australia closed its borders to everyone except Australian citizens and permanent residents in March 2020, over 500,000 temporary migrants have left the country. As a consequence, we’ve experienced a significant skill shortage in many sectors of the economy.

Under the new rules, eligible visa holders arriving in Australia from 1 December must have received a vaccine approved by the Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration and provide proof of their vaccination status. They will also be required to present a negative COVID-19 PCR test within three days of departure for our country. Importantly, travellers returning to Australia can only enter and travel between NSW, Victoria and the ACT without quarantining. Travelling on to another state or territory may not be allowable, or may be subject to a quarantine period, and it is the traveller’s responsibility to ensure they meet entry and quarantine requirements.

Karen Andrews, Home Affairs Minister, said opening Australia to travellers and temporary visa holders back will help the tourism industry recover.¹

“These changes are crucially important to Australia as we go through our reopening phase,” she said.¹

“We are working on a figure of 200,000, it may well be more than that, but we will be actively looking to bring as many people into Australia as soon as we possibly can.”¹

Currently, there are 79,600 places in the skilled visa category, 13,750 in the humanitarian program, and no cap on the number of student visas that can be granted.

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said more migration will accelerate economic recovery.²

“Both skilled workers and international students play an essential role in our economy,” he told Sky News. “We know that there are workforce shortages out there and skilled workers can play a key part in meeting some of those shortages.”²

The Ayers Group Can Help

At the Ayers Group, we have experts on hand to help you bring the talent you need to Australia. As one of few companies that is approved by the Australian Department of Immigration to hire and on hire international workers, we can advise you on the eligibility of the workers you’re considering and arrange the temporary or permanent visas required. To speed things up we can provide pre-approval of your applicant.

Importantly, should you wish, we can employ the international workers you need then allow you to contract their services, freeing you of the risks associated with visa sponsorship.

Talk to an expert from the Ayers Group today.

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