Employers will be slugged at least triple the bill to bring foreign workers into the country under a multi-pronged approach to tightening the screws on visa requirements.
The federal government has outlined in the budget its plans for scrapping 457 visas for skilled migrants and replacing the scheme with a short-term and medium term stream.
Visa application charges for the short-term (two-year) stream will increase from $1060 to $1150, while medium-term (four-year) applications will cost $2400 apiece.
The prices hikes are expected to bring in an extra $47.6 million over the budget forward estimates.
On top of this, companies will also be slugged whopping annual foreign worker levies.
Treasurer Scott Morrison said until now employers had to contribute one or two per cent of their payroll to training if they employed foreign workers, but the requirements were difficult to police.
From March 2018, businesses that employ foreign workers on certain skilled visas will instead be required to pay a levy feeding into a "Skilling Australians" fund.
Companies turning over less than $10 million per year must make an upfront payment of $1200 (per visa, per year) for each employee on a temporary skill shortage visa.
They must also make a one-off payment of $3000 for each employee being sponsored for a permanent employer nomination or regional sponsored migration visa.
Those with turnovers exceeding $10 million will be required to make up fronts payment of $1800 for each employee on a temporary skill shortage visa, and $5000 for each employee being sponsored for permanent visas.
The levy is expected to rake in $1.2 billion over the next four years, which will be funnelled into a new Commonwealth-State skills fund.
"States and territories will only be able to draw on this fund when they deliver on their commitments to train new apprentices," Mr Morrison said in his budget speech.
The government also expects to make about $99 billion over the forward estimates from a new temporary sponsored parent visa, with 15,000 visas to be made available each year from November 2017.
The visas will allow parents of Australian citizens, permanent residents and eligible Kiwis to stay in Australia for up to ten years.
The government also earmaked $185.4 to overhaul visa processing.
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