Home Affairs “conscious of fixing” small business visa delays, as some applications stretch to 16 months

Today’s sponsored employee visa program is complex, costly, and time-consuming for small businesses to use, a Department of Home Affairs official says, as the government champions reforms to the migration system it claims will better serve SMEs.

Speaking at the CommBank SmallBizWeek conference in Melbourne on Wednesday, Chris Montgomery, an industry and regional outreach officer for the department’s skilled visa program, said approximately 25% of the temporary worker visa program is utilised by small businesses.

But smaller businesses face significant challenges when recruiting international talent, he said, particularly while persistent domestic labour shortages are stretching employers thin.

“People are desperate for staff and a lot of businesses are looking to immgration as a solution, possibly for the first time,” he said, noting that migrant worker inflows are yet to return to pre-pandemic levels.