February 2025 wrap-up

• • We have been delighted for our clients this month as we have seen even more grants come through in both the TSS and SID (subclass 482) and ENS (subclass 186) visa categories, not to mention a number of successful Australian citizenship applications.

• • There has been recent media coverage of a so-called ‘blitz’ of citizenship ceremonies that the opposition suggests may be politically motivated in line with the upcoming federal election. Minister Burke has dismissed the suggestion, and has reported that he has been compelled to push these forward in light of a “huge backlog” of citizenship applicants who had been approved but were awaiting a ceremony. From our perspective, it seems our applications remain within the Department’s advertised processing times, and we are of course always happy when clients have their citizenship conferred.

• • Speaking of processing times, the Department has recently updated their website to reflect current processing times for subclass 482 visas. The 11 day (or 21 working days, depending on which page of the website you looked at) processing times for Skills in Demand visa applications in the Core Skills stream were not being seen in practice, and the updated estimates are more realistic:
    
    > SID – Specialist Skills stream: 90% decided in 39 days
    
    > SID – Core Skills stream: 90% decided in 47 days
    
    > SID – Labour Agreement stream: 90% decided in 48 days
    
    Meanwhile, TSS visa applications in the pipeline are still taking up to 7 months according to the Department, although in practice we are seeing timeframes of up to 9 months.

    This is certainly creating uncertainty for employers and employees alike, especially given that the Department set an expectation of quick turnaround times when the SID was introduced. As a general rule, you should always check the website to see what the most current processing times are, as these can and do change in line with the Department’s capacity and other factors.

• • In an effort to combat the increasing housing market pressures in urban and suburban Australia, the Federal Government announced that it will enforce a ban on non-Australians (including temporary visa holders and foreign owned companies) buying established Australian homes from 1 April 2025. This new policy will remain in place for at least two years until 31 March 2027 and is part of the Labor Government’s concerted focus on addressing the cost-of-living crisis in Australia which includes home availability and affordability. The ATO’s foreign investment compliance team will receive a budgetary increase of $5.7 million over 4 years to further enforce the ban by enhancing the scrutiny of foreign investment proposals relating to residential property. From an immigration standpoint, this will affect Subclass 482 and other temporary visa holders working in Australia who wish to purchase a property in Australia during the prescribed period. The official release from the Treasurer’s office, The Hon. Jim Chalmers MP, indicates that some exemptions from the ban will apply, though so far no clarity has been provided on what the exemptions will involve or who they will impact. If you are concerned at whether this may affect you, please contact us as we can refer you to property lawyers who will be able to advise you.

That’s the Nomos wrap-up for February. See you next month!