Australia says, it will abolish a temporary work visa popular with foreigners and replace it with a visa requiring better English language and work skills.
Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said, the reforms will have a simple focus – Australian jobs and Australian values. He said at a press conference in Canberra that the visa change would attract better skilled workers and see Australians employed over cheap foreign workers brought in under the old 457 visa programme. Mr Turnbull said, people now in Australia on 457 visa will not be affected by the new arrangements.
The 457 visa, used by about 95,000 foreign workers, will be replaced by a new temporary visa and the list of occupations that qualify for a visa will be reduced from more than 200. The new visa will be limited to a two-year period and a second four-year visa will require a higher standard of English language.
