Strengthening the Definition of Business Activities
 
Traditionally, business visa holders in Australia were authorized to conduct very specific, short-term work (often of a technical nature) in strictly limited circumstances; however, the same allowances are no longer permitted under either the Visitor (Subclass 600) or the Electronic Travel Authority (Subclass 601) visa statuses.
Under the new regulations, Subclass 600 and Subclass 601 visa holders must limit their activities to more stringent parameters laid out by the DIAC. Thus, acceptable business activities must be limited to discussion-style meetings, entering into or negotiating contracts, or for exploratory business visits. 
 If the applicants activities in Australia will exceed the above permissible business activities in any way, he or she will now be required to apply for a Temporary Work (Short Stay Activity) (Subclass 400) visa, or the traditional Temporary Work (Skilled) (Subclass 457) visa.
 
Temporary Work (Short Stay Activity) (Subclass 400) Visa
 
Primarily, the new Subclass 400 visa offers a short-term work visa that further designates the difference between business activities and undertaking work in Australia. In other words, the Subclass 400 visa will allow foreign nationals to engage in "short-term, non-ongoing, highly specialized work," without an employer needing to obtain a longer-term Subclass 457 visa. The DIAC hopes that this short-term work visa option will reduce the prevalence of unauthorized work activities being performed by business visa holders.
Examples of this "highly specialized" work would include, but not be limited to, installation of imported equipment at client sites, after-sales service, or emergency repair work.
 The new Subclass 400 visa will typically be issued valid for six (6) weeks; however, the DIAC has confirmed that the visa may be issued valid for three (3) months in exceptional circumstances. Work activities that will be ongoing beyond these timeframes, or work that is not of a nature permitted for this visa category, will require a traditional Subclass 457 work visa. 
 

Action Items For Employers
 
Generally, employers need to be aware of the upcoming changes on 23 March 2013. These changes affect very high-volume Australian visa classifications, especially business visitors. As with any implementation of new regulations and visa types, processing times for these applications may be delayed as the authorities streamline their procedures and requirements.                                       

In addition, at the time of this writing, immigration providers are still awaiting confirmation from the DIAC as to the specific document requirements and details for these applications. Pro-Link GLOBAL will provide detailed updates as to any requirement changes as they are made available.
Finally, it is not expected that these new policies, specifically the stronger designation between business and work activities, will be applied retroactively; however, employers should begin ensuring that any visa applicants as of 23 March 2013 adhere to the new regulations.