457 Visa Holders who have held a visa on or before 18 April 2017 and are wishing to apply for permanent residency have received some good news from the Department of Immigration and Border Protection. Current 457 Visa Holders can now apply for PR by accessing the following provisions under the TRT stream:
- the occupation requirements remain unchanged for 457 visa holders. If a nomination application was lodged before 19 April or 1 July 2017, the list of eligible occupations in effect at the time of lodging the visa, will also still apply to that application. Related visa applications (includes occupations that have been removed from the list) can also still be granted if other requirements are met. If a nomination application however was received AFTER the occupation was removed, there will be no assessment.
- the age requirement for 457 visa holders remains at under 50 years of age
- work experience requirement remains: 2 out of 3 years need to have been on a subclass 457 visa
Conclusion: For anyone who has been a 457 visa holder on 18th of April 2017, can now still apply for permanent residency by using the transition stream of visa subclass 186 or visa subclass 187.