The world of Visa Processing is always a challenge. If you happen to be in Human Resources and currently involved in Visa applications for company expatriates moving to Australia, you will find the following information useful. Amanda Tinner of Visa Executive has explained what factors affect visa processing times in Australia.
A gradual increase in processing times for decisions to be made by the Australian Department of Immigration has been noticed recently.
The current and published information on visa processing times is outlined bellow. This will enable you to make the best informed decision about the time frame involved in moving or relocating to Australia.
Temporary work visa processing times
The table below details the indicative processing times for work visas.
The Department of Immigration of Immigration and Border Protection (DIBP) aim to process 75 per cent of applications within the timeframes outlined below. It should be noted that individual actual processing times will vary depending on a range of factors.
| Visa Type | Low Risk Group | High Risk Group |
| Temporary Work (Short Stay Activity) (subclass 400) | 1 Week | 1 Month |
| Temporary Work (Skilled) (subclass 457) | 2 Months | 3 Months |
| Other Temporary Work Visas | 2 Months | 3 Months |
What is Low Risk and High Risk?
The terms ‘Low risk’ and ‘High risk’ show whether passport holders are eligible to apply for an Electronic Travel Authority (ETA). Low risk applies to nationals from countries which issue ETA eligible passports. High risk countries are those which are not ETA eligible.
Eligible passports are issued by:
• Andorra
• Austria
• Belgium
• Brunei
• Canada
• Denmark
• Finland
• France
• Germany
• Greece
• Hong Kong (SAR of China)
• Iceland
• Ireland
• Italy
• Japan
• Liechtenstein
• Luxembourg
• Malaysia
• Malta
• Monaco
• Norway
• Portugal
• Republic of San Marino
• Singapore
• South Korea
• Spain
• Sweden
• Switzerland
• Taiwan
• The Netherlands
• United Kingdom—British Citizen
• United Kingdom—British National (Overseas)
• United States
• Vatican City
Permanent Residence processing times
The below table describes the processing times for permanent skilled migration visa subclasses.
| Visa Subclass | Low Risk Group | High Risk Group |
| Regional Sponsored Migration Scheme (RSMS) | 5 months | 8 months |
| Employer Nomination | 5 months | 8 months |
What does this mean for HR Managers?
For a 457 application, from time of lodgement, a time frame of up to 3 months will have to be included in your business’ expectations.
For a permanent residence application, a time frame of up to 8 months is currently being experienced.
For a visa subclass 400, processing time has stayed the same for a while which can be 1 week for low risk nationals and up to 1 month for high risk nationals.