Australia's leading 457 visa resource comparing key services from 457 visa health insurance to bank accounts.
457 Visa Blog
View Australia’s leading blog for all 457 visa information, news and updates.
All blog’s are written by the 457 visa compared team who have years of Australian Private Health Insurance experience and online marketing know-how. Adir Shiffman was the creator of Australia’s second leading health insurance website (www.helpmechoose.com.au which was later sold to Mortgage Choice).
Please feel free to contact us if you would like to contribute or have suggestions of different sections that you would like us to explore and discuss. You can also check out twitter, Google+ and Facebook page which are also updated frequently.
From time to time there will be information on other visa types such as the subclass 485 visa and general overseas visitor health insurance. This is due to a small proportion of users on this site having these other professional visa’s and their changes can also impact future 457 visa policy and 457 visa health insurance.
457 Visa Applications Remain At Historic Low Levels
In July 2013 a number of government changes started taking effect for 457 visa applicants from means testing to dramatically higher application fees. The initial quarter after these changes saw a 13% drop in applications but the most recent figures for the October to December 2013 figures are the first to show the effect of all the policy changes. The results below show that last quarter approximately 38% fewer applications were made for 457 visas compared to the same ... read more »
Two Tax Tips All 457 Visa Holders Should Know
Subclass 457 visa holders can gain some key tax benefits during their stay in Australia from a relatively recent government regulation change, which means they are not taxed for any overseas earnings as well as their LAFHA benefits (Living Away from Home Allowance). This article discusses these two important elements that every 457 visa holder should know. The Living Away From Home Allowance (LAFHA) Is No Longer applicable to 457 Visa Holders A benefit that 457 visa holders who ... read more »
What is the best health fund for Pregnancy in Australia?
One of the most common question we receive at 457VisaCompared is what health fund and policy is best for a 457 visa applicant who is considering having a child. As a parent myself I have done a lot of investigations into this area and have broken down the answer into components. Health Insurance only works in Australia if your already have cover before conceiving! The sad truth for many people both coming to Australia and within the country is that ... read more »
November 457 Visa Change
From this Saturday the 23rd of November a scheduled change will take place that sees the requirement of market testing by employers in some circumstances. The new market testing requirement for the 457 visa programme requires Australian employers to test a position in the local labour market first before allowing 457 visa applicants to apply for the position. This means that these employers need to have sufficient evidence that they have adequately advertised the position and tried on a ... read more »
457 Visa Applications Dramatically Fall
Latest figures from Department Of Immigration & Border Protection have shown a dramatic fall in the number of 457 visa applications recorded both onshore and offshore. year-on-year, employer requested visas have dropped by 13% since new laws were introduced. Over the past 10 years 457 visa applications have increased steadily from 40,000 in 2003 to 81,550 last financial year. Interestingly, the highest numbers were recorded in 2008 (just before the GFC) when 110,000 applications were approved. The graph above clearly indicates ... read more »
Does Australia Want ‘Family’ 457 Visa Applicants?
Its widely accept that Australia was built on the back of migration from the 'gold rush' through to building of the snowy hydro scheme. While some individuals may feel migration to Australia has slowed down the Australia Bureau Of Statistics graph below highlights otherwise with visitor arrivals at record numbers. What has led to many feeling that migration levels would be dropping or that Australia is less keen for skilled labour has been some sharp increases in application ... read more »
WA Introduces School Fees For 457 Visa Holders
In a first for Australia, the Western Australian government has introduced new legislation that from 2015 all 457 visa holders children must pay $4,000 per child per year. For additional children in a family the price is $2,000 per additional child. The money originally was thought to be going to schools to help their funding but now has been told treasury's general funds. It's expected the total amount raised will be 60 million dollars over 4 years. The new tax ... read more »
457 Visa Comparison By Country
We are proud to announce the second infographic of 2013 for 457 visa compared! If your looking to compare countries to work in you should consider: Unemployment rate Wage potential Application/Moving costs The above working visa infographic highlights that the UK is by far the most expensive when it comes to visa applications. This could be due to the strong pound (although it has weakened considerably over the past few years). Canada has the lowest visa application fee at just $150 which ... read more »
Is 457 Visa Family Health Insurance Good Value?
In October 2013 the authors of www.457visacompared.com.au made an exclusive comparison of 457 visa health insurance policies. The full report and analysis for families found that: 1) Family health insurance cost's almost exactly the same as couples cover (which is twice the cost of singles) This means essentially children are covered for free under the policy 2) That 457 visa health funds can differ on how many children they will cover under a policy (making it essential to check policies for ... read more »
July 2013 Changes To The 457 Visa & Price Rises
There has been a lot of political talk about changes to the 457 visa. With many figures floating around our authors have created an infographic highlighting changes to the 457 visa including: Trends of the 457 visa Application prices Minimum wage requirements. The infographic above highlights that substantial changes to the 457 visa application process from 1st of July 2013. This was part of pre-election policy changes by the previous labour government. It highlights how the price of a 457 visa application ... read more »