The number of applications for 457 (skilled) work visas has increased by 15% in a year; with Indian, British, and Chinese workers in particular queuing up to work in Australia, reports theaustralian.com.au.

Australia’s Immigration Department has approved work visas for thousands of engineers and nurses in the past year, despite the Employment Department cancelling their “skills shortage’’ status.

Despite high levels of domestic unemployment, Immigration Department data shows that 1.5 million temporary migrants — including students, 457 visa holders and backpackers — have the right to work in Australia.

Nearly one-in-every-50 tradespeople, technicians, mining workers, hospitality staff, and professionals employed in Australia is a foreign worker hired on a four-year 457 visa. Foreign workers on short-term contracts now account for nearly one-in-20 workers in Australia’s information technology sector.

Australia’s jobless rate is 6%, with another 8.5% of the workforce underemployed and wanting more work. The latest Immigration Department data shows a 15% rise in the number of 457 visa applications, with 40,870 lodged in the nine months to March this year compared with 35,440 during the same time last year.

The hospitality, IT, and scientific sectors fuelled the increase, with a 37% increase in applications for accommodation, and food services. There was a 31% rise for IT jobs, and 27% jump in the professional, scientific, and technical category.

Half the applicants are from India, Britain, and China. Foreign students and backpackers already living in Australia accounted for more than a quarter of the 457 visas granted in the nine months to March.

Immigration data shows the total number of 457 visa holders in Australia fell by 4.5% to 106,755 in the 12 months to March this year. However, the 15% increase in applications indicates that demand for foreign work visas is starting to rise.