Even as Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull's plan to cut 457 visas is coming under increasing criticism after just 24 hours, the US and New Zealand announced similar restrictions on skilled worker visas.

NZ Immigration Minister Michael Woodhouse said he was taking a "Kiwis-first approach to immigration" that would "encourage employers to take on more Kiwis and invest in the training to upskill them".  The "upskilled Kiwi" version of the "let's screw some foreign workers for short-term political gain" wave would introduce a minimum income requirement, about AU$45,800; this would make it more difficult for family members to join the visa holder in New Zealand, as well as shorten the stay of the worker. 

Earlier, Donald Trump signed an executive order for a review on America's H-1B visa program with the objective of ending the current lottery system for granting visas and replacing it with a merit-based system.  Indian nationals are the largest group of recipients of these H-1B visas intended for highly skilled workers.  These changes seem to serve no purpose other than to allow the orange clown to belch, "America First," and would adversely impact the tech sector as well as placement firms that match highly skilled workers to companies that need them.  Given the lack of details, it could be Trump announced this as red meat for his visit to the Snap-On Tool factory in Kenosha, Wisconsin - wonderful items, but not exactly the domain of highly skilled workers.

Meanwhile in Australia, PM Turnbull's scheme to end 457 visas and replace them with two new programs is meeting with some negative reviews.  Australia has only 95,000 workers on 457 visas out of a workforce of 12 million, representing less than one percent.  That has many believing the changes are a political stunt that will unfairly impact a handful of workers while harming small businesses and start-ups.

"Shifts like this towards a populist, inward-looking, or protectionist approach by either side of politics ignore the fact that Australia is a participant in a global market for labour and capital," said Stephen Walters, chief economist of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.  He recommended a non-discriminatory skilled migration program to help offset the ageing population.

Others believe Turnbull's plan is a cure in search of a problem.  KPMG immigration expert Michael Wall says the 457 program doesn't appear to be broken:  "It is a demand-driven program, and the number of 457 visas has been on a decline over the last few years," Mr Wall said.  "It is more expensive to hire people on 457s than recruit locally - so employers only do this when there are skills gaps they cannot fill domestically," he added.

Law lecturer Joanna Howe of the University of Adelaide says the new plan will force businesses to fill out even more paperwork in order to access temporary migrant workers, to meet skill shortages in their workplace.  But Turnbull's plan doesn't address the problem of unscrupulous employers that replace Aussie workers with foreigners, because the system will still rely on employer-conducted labour market testing to ascertain which jobs will be available to temporary migrant workers.