Australia tightens work visa rules

April 18 (UPI) -- Australia announced stricter work visa rules Tuesday, with Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull saying the change will prioritize Australian workers.

The "457" work visa program, offering four-year visas to foreign workers in certain fields, will be replaced by two- and four-year visas, and the list of identified job categories will be reduced from 651 professions to 216. Application fees for visas will rise, and applicants will undergo English proficiency tests and criminal background checks.

Nearly 100,000 people were living in Australia in 2016 on 457 visas, nearly half from China, the United Kingdom or India. Most were employed as cooks, programmers and medical workers.

"We are putting jobs first, we are putting Australians first," Turnbull said. "We are an immigration nation, but the fact remains that Australian workers must have priority for Australian jobs. We will no longer allow 457 visas to be passports to jobs that could and should go to Australians."

The prior visa system was devised to fill gaps in the skilled labor market, but was criticized for its leniency and accessibility.

In a radio interview, Turnbull was critical of how the system was used, saying that workers arrived in Australia "on 457s to flip burgers at McDonald's. ... It basically displaced a lot of Australians from entry-level jobs."