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In some welcome good news for Hong Kong passport holders wanting to call Australia home, the Australian government has now released its promised Migration Amendment (Hong Kong Passport Holders) Regulations 2020 (the Hong Kong Passport Holders Regulations).
These regulations implement policy changes relating to visas for Hong Kong passport holders which were announced by the Prime Minister, and acting Minister for Immigration at the beginning of July 2020.
According to the new legislation’s explanatory statement,
The amendments allow the following from 9 July 2020:
- Temporary graduate and skilled workers will be provided with an additional five years of work rights in Australia on top of the time they have already spent in Australia.
- Any primary Subclass 457 Visa holder or Subclass 482 TSS visa holder who held their visa on 9 July 2020, and who was a Hong Kong passport holder at the time of the visa grant, will have the visa extended to 8 July 2025. This extension will also apply to their family members who are secondary visa holders.
- Subclass 482 TSS Visas for Hong Kong passport holders and family members will be granted for a period of five years, where the application was made on or after 9 July 2020.
- Students will be eligible for a five year graduate visa, Subclass 485 (Temporary Graduate) visa under the new regulations.
- Subclass 485 (Temporary Graduate) visas that were in effect on 9 July 2020, and held by primary visa holder who held a Hong Kong passport when the visa was granted, will have the validity of the visa extended to 8 July 2025. This will also apply to family members (who are not required to hold a Hong Kong passport).
- There will be a permanent residence pathway at the end of the five year period, which will be developed at a later stage.
- Children included in a Subclass 482 TSS Visa application will remain eligible to be secondary applicants for the subsequent permanent residence visa applications, no matter how old they may be. (This means that the rule that usually applies to children of primary Subclass 480 Visa holders, under which the child Visa may cease at age 23, will not apply, where the primary visa holder held a Hong Kong passport when the visa was granted).
Whilst the primary applicant for the above visa types must be a Hong Kong passport holder, the members of the family unit (secondary applicants) are not required to be Hong Kong passport holders.
Some questions remain unanswered
Despite the ostensibly beneficial nature of this legislation for Hong Kong Visa holders, questions about the Skilling Australians Fund (SAF) remain for current Subclass 482 TSS visa holders and future TSS visa applicants.
The wording of the new regulations suggests that it is unlikely that a SAF “top-up” for existing Visa holders will be required, but we anticipate that employers will need to pay five years of SAF for new Subclass 482 nominees.
We will update this issue if further information comes to hand.
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