The Minister for Immigration and Citizenship, the Hon. Senator Chris Evans, today announced an increase in Minimum Salary Levels for nomination applications lodged under the Employer Nomination Scheme (ENS), for the purposes of Permanent Residency Visa applications, under the ENS pathway and will be effective for all nomination applications lodged on or after 1 July 2010.

The increase is in line with the current 5% that is the annual seasonally adjusted wage change for all Australians and is now indexed accordingly.  The new salaries, which are required to be paid to visa applicants, nominated to fill positions within your business, are as follows:

Current salary of $45,220.00 will increase to $47,480.00

Current salary of $61,920.00 (for IT occupations) will increase to $65,020.00.

* The exempted salary (i.e. not requiring skill assessment or 3 years relevant work experience) of $165,000.00 will remain unchanged until further notice.

Temporary Sponsored –sub-class 457 Visas

The same increases, as outlined above for ENS, will apply on 1 July 2010 for any new nominations for the purposes of positions to be filled by 457 visa applicants.

This means the Temporary Skilled Migration Income Threshold (TSMIT) will now be indexed at the same level as the ENS rates outlined above.  The only exception is the salary level required for exemption on the English language requirement, which will be raised from its current base salary level of $81,040.00 to $85,090.00

Once again, please note these changes will be effective for any new nominations lodged on or after 1 July 2010.

Should you wish to seek further clarification or discuss your own situation, please do not hesitate to contact us.