The Australian government will be abolishing the 457 Visa, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull announced on Tuesday.
Currently, there are some 19,000 British citizens working in Australia under the 457 Visa program.
The controversial 457 Visa system for temporary skilled workers will be replaced by two new two-year temporary skilled visas as well as a 4-year higher skills visa, according to Mr Turnbull.
The new system would be “rigorously, resolutely conducted in the national interest” the prime minister said.
Current 457 Visa holders would not be affected, according to the ABC.
Immigration Minister Peter Dutton confirmed the proposed changes, including reducing the number of occupations eligible for a skilled worker visa, saying they were aimed at stopping what he called the scheme’s “open-ended” nature and what he argued were too many cases of an eventual “migration outcome”.
“What we propose is that under the temporary skills shortage visa short-term stream there will be a two-year visa, with the options of two years, but there won’t be permanent residency outcomes at the end of that.”
According to the Department of Immigration, of some 95,000 457 Visa holders currently in Australia almost 20% were from the UK. Also, 20% are from China while the largest proportion hailed from India at around 25%.
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