Australia Agriculture Visa Update October 2021: Criteria and Requirements are Announced!

Australia Agriculture Visa has been a hot topic among people around the world since last June 2021. After a long wait, the Australian Government finally announced the criteria and requirements for the Australia Agriculture Visa on 30 September 2021.

What are the criteria and requirements for an Australia Agriculture Visa?

Australia Agriculture Visa as a New Visa Stream

Previously, the Australian Government announced that the Australia Agriculture Visa might become a new stream under Temporary Work (International relation) Visa (subclass 403). Referring to the announcement and updated legislation on 30 September 2021, Australia Agriculture Visa is now legally a new stream under the 403 Visa.

403 Visa is a temporary visa that allows you to work in specific circumstances that improve Australia’s international relations. 403 Visa has six streams, namely:

• Government Agreement stream;
• Foreign Government Agency stream;
• Domestic Worker (Diplomatic or Consular) stream;
• Privileges and Immunities stream;
• Seasonal Worker Program stream;
• Pacific Labour Scheme stream.

Now with the Australia Agriculture Visa as the new stream, 403 Visa officially has seven streams.

Find more about 403 visa here.

Requirements for Australia Agriculture Visa

Since the Australia Agriculture Visa is now under 403 Visa, Australia Agriculture Visa will have different requirements for visa applicant and sponsor. Find the details below.

Applicant requirements

The requirements for Australia Agriculture Visa applicants are:

• Must be participating as a worker in the AAWP (Australian Agriculture Worker Program) administered by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
• Must specify in the application the person who has agreed to be the applicant’s sponsor.
• Must have a sponsor.
• May be in/outside Australia when the application is made, but not in the immigration clearance.

To participate in the Australia Agriculture Worker Program, the applicant must come from a country where the foreign Government is a party to an agreement under the AAWP, according to the agreement’s requirements as approved by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

Sponsor requirements

On the other hand, the requirements for the sponsor are:

• Can be a person or an employer who agreed to be the applicant’s sponsor;
• Must have been approved or has applied for approval as a temporary activities sponsor;
• Must be participating as an employer in the AAWP administered by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade;
• Must not cease to be the applicant’s sponsor;
• Must be no adverse information known about the sponsor or a person associated with the sponsor to Immigration.

Find more Employer-sponsored working visa here.

Australia Agriculture Visa Conditions

Just like other Australian visas, Australia Agriculture Visa will also have some conditions, such as:

• 8303 – Not be disruptive
  • This means you must not become involved in activities disruptive to or violence threatening harm to the Australian community or a group within the Australian community.
• 8501 – maintain adequate health insurance
  • This means you must have and maintain adequate health insurance for the whole of your stay in Australia.

Additionally, these conditions might apply to the Australian Agriculture Visa if specified by the Minister:

• 8575 – stay limitation – must not stay in Australia more than seven months in any 12-months stay period.
• 8576 – stay limitation – must not stay in Australia for more than ten months in any 12-month stay period.

Any of the following conditions might be imposed on the Visa when it is granted:

• 8301 – meet any outstanding public interest criteria
  • This means you must satisfy outstanding public interest criteria after you enter Australia and before the Visa ceases.
• 8502 – not arrive before person specified in Visa
  • This means you must not enter Australia before the person specified in the Visa has entered Australia. It is usually the main visa holder or other relevant people such as your sponsor in the case of a Partner Visa
• 8503 – No further stay
  • This means that while you are in Australia, you cannot make a valid visa application for any new substantive visa other than a protection visa.
• 8516 – continue to satisfy the criteria for the grant of the Visa
  • This means you must continue to meet the requirements for the grant of the Visa
• 8525 – must leave Australia on the date specified
  • This means you must leave Australia:
    • On the date or within the period specified in your visa grant letter;
    • By the transport specified in your grant letter.
• 8578 – must notify change of address, email, phone, passport details
  • This means, you must let the Department of Home Affairs know within 14 days if any of the following change while you are in Australia on this Visa:
    • The address where you live;
    • Your email address;
    • Your phone number;
    • Your passport details, including your name;
    • Your employer’s address;
    • The address where you work.

Read more: VEVO: Visa Entitlement Verification Online System

Other Important Updates

The Australian Government will form the Australia Agriculture Visa on the premise of bilateral agreements with foreign governments. The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade will negotiate the bilateral agreements, taking into account issues such as Australian labour market requirements and labour shortages in specific economic sectors.

Employers who participate in the Australia Agriculture Visa will have undergone a Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade-approved accreditation process, and each visa holder will be required to have a temporary activities sponsor.

Visa applicants for the Australia Agriculture Visa will come from countries where the foreign Government is a party to an AAWP agreement, as long as the agreement’s conditions have been authorized by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

Read more: New Face For Australia International Border: DPD (Digital Passenger Declaration) Will Come In Effect

What does it mean to you?

The Australia Agriculture Visa will be opened for Pacific Nations and Timor Leste only for the moment as the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is still in process of discussing bilateral agreements first with other foreign countries. Meanwhile, at this moment the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade has pre-existing labour agreements with Pacific nations and Timor Leste, and the Australian Government must bring Agriculture workers soon for this summer season.

Additionally, since the Australia Agriculture Visa falls under 403 Visa as a new stream, the Visa’s age and education requirements may be similar to the Pacific Labour Scheme stream since both of these visa streams are handled by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

Got confused with the updated requirements? Contact us!

We understand that the updated requirements for the Australia Agriculture Visa might be not as clear as to how you would expect. However, if you have any questions relating to the Australian Agriculture Visa or 403 Visa, don’t hesitate to get in touch with us!

We also understand that applying for a visa to Australia is certainly very complicated. It is even more challenging during the COVID-19 Pandemic. Our visa specialists at ONEderland Consulting will help you assess your visa options. We have a 98% success rate and are one of Australia’s most highly recommended migration agents. Read our 4.9* score customer reviews.

We are complex visa specialists. As registered Australian migration agents with the Migration Agents Registration Authority (MARA), we are regulated in our professional practice and bound by the profession’s Code of Conduct issued by the Migration Agents Registration Authority.

Take the first step and get in touch with us. Our team members are professional, honest and speak various languages such as Mandarin/ Chinese, Bahasa Indonesia, Arabic, Japanese, Polish, German and Russian. Contact us through email at [email protected] or via phone on 1300 827 159. Alternatively, you may book your consultation online, and it is 100% refundable if you become our client.