You’re a contractor from England, or maybe India, China, or the United States, from anywhere in the world, and you want to work in Australia. Here’s what you need to know before you jump on a plane to your new life in the Great Southern Land.
What is a 457 Visa?
The Temporary Work (Skilled) (subclass 457) Visa is designed to enable employers to bring in genuinely skilled works and is the most commonly used programme for employers to sponsor overseas workers to work in Australia for a temporary basis.
Under the 457 Visa, workers are able to work in Australia for a period of up to four years, bring any eligible dependants with them to Australia, and those dependants can work and study, and upon entering Australia, have no limit on the number of times they travel into and out of Australia.
Under the 457 Visa, you must either be sponsored by the company you are working for or through a company with holds an on-hire agreement with the Department of Immigration and Border Protection (DIBP).
Are you eligible?
If you are unsure if you are eligible for an Australian visa, the fastest and simplest method is to use the MyMigrationApp. In less than a minute the app can let you know if you qualify and provide a checklist of the steps you need to take to obtain your visa.
What do you have to do?
Once you have confirmed you are eligible for a 457 Visa, there are still a number of steps you need to undertake, but first and foremost you need to make sure you have a job offer. You will also be required to take a test to ensure you English proficiency, with some exceptions if you hold a passport from the UK, Ireland, USA, Canada or New Zealand, or have completed 5 years of education at the secondary or tertiary level in English, or you are to be paid over the English Language Skills Exemption threshold (ELSET), which is currently $96,400.
The 457 Visa requires you to have a job offer from a sponsoring entity. Therefore it is essential for you to have a job offer and to discuss with the company whether they are eligible to sponsor you under the 457 program.
To discover if your skill set is required in Australia, listed below are some of the key website’s to search on for jobs in Australia:
www.seek.com
www.careerone.com.au
www.jobseeker.com.au
www.jobsearch.com.au
www.mycareer.com.au
www.indeed.com.au
The process is the same as applying for a job anywhere in the world!
Once you have found a job, you need to organise sponsorship. If the company is willing and they meet the necessary requirements, then they may be able to sponsor you directly. Alternatively, you can earn sponsorship in certain fields through companies which hold an on-hire agreement, and you will then essentially be contracted out to the company that you intend to work for.
How can using a company that has an on-hire agreement help?
A company who holds an on-hire agreement with the Department of Immigration and Border Protection (DIBP) are allowed to sponsor individuals looking to obtain a 457 Visa into Australia once you have secured a job (Permanent/Contract).
They can become your surrogate 457 sponsor allowing you to live and work in Australia whilst you maintain employment.
Being sponsored through them allows you to change jobs when and if required without having to re-apply for a 457 visa with the new organisation, basically you get freedom to move around more fluently between jobs.
They can organise and cover you for all the required insurances needed to be able to work in Australia plus handle all your payroll collection and payments correctly and at the end of the tax year provide a free tax return through a qualified tax accountant.
They can liaise with any organisation that you are trying to secure work with, to explain the process and once you have secured a role they can advise you and the organisation of all the documentation and paperwork that is required to apply for the 457.
Once they have all the documentation they can lodge the documents for you with no upfront cost to yourself.
On grant of the visa, you will be able to work through the company within the nominated occupation, at the organisations site for as long as you have employment with them.
For more information, contact us [email protected]
