| Date of Change | Pre 19th April 2017 | From 19th April 2017 |
| From 19 April 2017 | - Nominate an occupation that is on the Consolidated Sponsored Occupation List. No occupation specific nomination restriction. - 457 visa grant period of 4 years if business operated for more than 12 months, otherwise 1.5 years. | MLTSSSL and STSOL - Introduced 457 visa grant period of 2 years if nominated occupation is not on the MLTSSL. Otherwise, 4 years |
| From 01 July 2017 | - English requirement exempt if salary is at least $96,400. - Generally, no requirement for penal clearance certificate. | - English salary exemption $96,400 removed. - Change to training benchmarks requirement. - Mandatory penal clearance certificate. |
| Before 31 December 2017 | - No collection of TFN. - No publication of sanctioned sponsor. | - Collection of TFN for 457 visa holders and other employer sponsored migrants for data matching with ATO. - Publication of sanctioned sponsors. |
| From March 2018 | - 457 visa will be abolished and replaced with TSS visa. - TSS visa will have two streams: 1) Short-Term stream – 2 years visa 2) Medium-Term stream – 4 years visa | |
Comparison of current 457 visa and Future TSS visa
| Current 457 | TSS: Short- Term visa | TSS: Medium- Term Steam visa | |
| Ability to renew visa onshore | Unlimited | Once Only | Unlimited |
| Pathway to 186/187 visa | After 2 years | Not Possible | After 3 years |
| Occupation | STSOL | STSOL with additional occupation for regional areas. | MLTSSL with additional occupation for regional areas. |
| ENGLISH * See for equivalent score for other English test on our website. | 5, min. 4.5 in each testing component | 5, min. 4.5 in each testing component | 5 in each testing component |
| Genuine temporary entrant requirement | Not Applicable | Yes | Not Applicable |
| 2 years work experience | Not Applicable | Yes | Yes |
| Labour Market Testing (LMT) | Some Occupations | Yes^ | Yes^ |
| Minimum market salary rate and meet TSMIT | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Non-discriminatory workforce test | Not applicable | Yes | Yes |
| Strengthened training requirement | Yes | Yes | Yes |
^ Not required where international obligations applies (such as Free Trade Agreement)
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457 Past and Future
Before 19th and After 18th April 2017