![Accounting firms have raised concerns over surprise visa restrictions with the immigration department in the hope ...](http://web.archive.org./web/20170711012039/http://www.afr.com/content/dam/images/g/w/v/h/i/7/image.related.afrArticleLead.620x350.gx81vj.png/1499686685950.jpg)
Hundreds of foreign executives and senior managers have been retrospectively excluded from permanent residency in Australia as a result of the Turnbull government's latest changes to skilled visas.
CEOs and executives are furious at the government's shock move on July 1 to backdate the removal of an exemption from English language tests and skills assessments for permanent skilled visa applicants earning above $180,000 a year.
The new rules mean hundreds of applications that relied on the exemption before July 1, but were not finalised, are now invalid. As well, any future applications may be subject to a new age limit of 45 years, reduced from 50 years.
The changes, which have hit technology, professional services and energy and resources sectors the hardest, have caused at least one senior executive to look overseas and the big four accountancy firms to lobby the government on behalf of hundreds of affected clients.
![Wayne Parcell (inset), a partner and Global Immigration Leader at EY, said his firm was representing more than 60 CEOs, ...](http://web.archive.org./web/20170711012039/http://www.afr.com/content/dam/images/g/w/f/u/e/w/image.imgtype.afrArticleInline.620x0.png/1496049374785.png)
Deloitte global immigration leader Mark Wright said while the government had previously flagged it would remove the exemption, the retrospectivity caught the migration industry and senior executives, many of whom had applied for permanent residency up to six months before, by surprise.
"We're fielding numerous calls from very, very angry people who have been completely blindsided by this change," he said.
"These are people who are either the most senior executive or the most highly skilled specialist – they are people who are globally in demand and they have options outside of Australia."
The government's July changes were meant to resolve concerns about its skilled visa overhaul by returning CEOs and managing directors to a temporary visa stream with a pathway to permanent residency.
However, the retrospective removal of the high-income exemption has created even bigger problems for the government by affecting an even greater swath of senior talent.
![Deloitte, Ernst & Young, KPMG and PwC raised the issue with the immigration department last week in a bid to get ...](http://web.archive.org./web/20170711012039/http://www.afr.com/content/dam/images/g/x/2/v/o/y/image.imgtype.afrArticleInline.620x0.png/1498958717426.jpg)
Senior retail exec ditches Australia
While some applicants can choose to apply again at a cost of about $8000 per visa, many are now blocked from permanent residency because their temporary skilled visa has since expired or they are now above the new age limit.
Many senior employees had rushed to apply for direct-entry, permanent skilled visas because of the government's plans to lower the age limit on July 1
Mr Wright said one senior executive from a major online retail business had said he would now pursue his career offshore rather than apply again for permanent residency again and wait another six to nine months for a determination.
"They've decided I'll just go back to my temporary residence and when my current contract expires I'll simply pursue my options elsewhere overseas.
"At its best [the retrospectivity] is an inconvenience ... at its worst, we're losing a very, very attractive pool of skilled senior executive labour from Australia forever."
Deloitte, Ernst & Young, KPMG and PricewaterhouseCoopers raised the issue with the immigration department last week in a bid to get Immigration Minister Peter Dutton to re-examine the changes.
'Unintended consequence'
Ernst & Young global immigration head Wayne Parcell said his firm was representing more than 60 CEOs, general managers and senior executives from major brand-name companies affected by the change.
"We presume with good faith this was an unintended consequence and they'll fix this," Mr Parcell said.
"For that reason, the advice that we're giving to our clients is to sit tight because our expectation is unless the department asks for us to provide skills assessments and English language tests we don't plan to volunteer it because they may correct the error."
He said he believed the government's removal of the high-income threshold was to address racketeering by people who inflated their incomes to avoid English language tests.
However, he said the retrospectivity punished people whom the government could not have intended to affect.
"It does tend to erode confidence, unfortunately, certainly by the business world. They look at this and go 'what's the government doing, why is this being done in such a way that we keep needing to go back for revision and correction?'"
Senior migration lawyer David Prince said there were "an awful lot of people who might be surprised when they start getting refusals in their inbox".
However, he questioned the legality of the changes and argued that based on the wording of the legislative instrument they would not have legal effect.
"I suspect that was not well drafted or not thought through," he said. "I'm very keen to test this and I'm just looking for the right case to test it with.
"Even if they amend the regulations to patch up the obvious deficiencies ... I still strongly suspect the government will face litigation because that will raise the genuine question about whether regulations can be retrospective - and that is more a systemic issue."
Any federal court ruling could have ramifications for the government's capacity to "try and move the goal posts mid-game" through regulation more broadly, he said.
A department spokesperson said the July changes "are designed to protect Australian workers, while allowing employers to recruit overseas workers in occupations which are known to be in high demand and face skills shortages in the Australian labour market".