Employer Sponsored Visas to Australia

Australian and international employers may Sponsor overseas staff for employment positions in Australia. Although many of the rules for Temporary and Permanent Residence are similar, the Temporary Residence Scheme is much more flexible and it is quicker and easier to obtain Temporary Residence.

It is possible to ‘upgrade’ an employee from temporary to permanent residence under the Employer Nomination Scheme after the employee has held a temporary work visa and worked in that job for 2 years. Not all cases are eligbile, so please discuss this with us before committing to any plan.

Due to the close links between the temporary and permanent employer sponsored visa schemes, we have included information about them both on this page.

Temporary Residence

The Sponsoring Employer must:

Be the direct Employer of the overseas staff member

Be a big enough business to justify and afford the proposed employee

Pay the non-Australian an amount equal to (or more than) the amount an Australian would be paid to do that job at that location. Note: jobs paid under $47,480 per annum plus superannuation are not eligible for regular temporary work visas.

In all cases, if benefits (such as bonuses, company car, mobile phone, expense account, rent allowance, etc) are included in the salary package they must be in addition to the base salary (mentioned above).

Agree to be bound by the 'Sponsorship Obligations'. Australian Government requires sponsors to take responsibility for the situation and to cover various liabilities. Many of the liabilities can be dealt with by negotiating an appropriate salary package with the employee, or having the employee sign a contract covering the liabilities (we can assist with that). A sponsor's responsibility for a sponsored employee commences on the grant of the visa and ceases when the sponsored person ceases to hold that visa (there are a few exceptions). Click on the button below to read the Sponsorship Obligations.

Prove that it is committed to training Australians (Immigration looks for proof of training expenditure 'last year' equal to 1% of the business' wage bill); Alternately prove you are involved in the introduction of new business skills or new technology into Australia

Prove that employing overseas staff in its business is of benefit to the Australian economy (employment, trade, international relations, fostering competition, etc)

The Employee must:

Speak English if that will be required to do the job. Some visa applicants must provide an IELTS test result. A score of 5,5,5,5 on the “general” IETLS test is required
Have the necessary skills to do the job (for professions the minimum requirement is a relevant 3-year university degree OR at least 5 years experience in the relevant job, other jobs may have lesser requirements but must be up to Australian standards; we can advise you about this)
Note: In cases where there is a relationship between employer and employee it must be proved that the job was not “created” to allow the Employee to obtain a Visa to Australia.

The Job must be on a list of approved occupations (we can advise you about this)

Special rules apply to Employers who do not already operate a business in Australia. The staff member seeking a visa must either:

Be involved with the establishment of a business in Australia with overseas connections (such as a branch office of their Employer's business), or
Be sent to Australia to fulfill a contract on behalf of their Employer (the intention of the Australian Government is to allow specialists and managers to supervise a project in Australia).

A person granted an temporary work visa is not normally eligible for government benefits such as Medicare, free schooling and social security. These benefits are reserved for Australian permanent residents. There are some exceptions. Citizens of Ireland and New Zealand get free medical treatment in Australia and Citizens of the following countries get access to Medicare because their governments have made special arrangement with Australia: Belgium, Finland, Italy, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden & United Kingdom.

It is possible for Immigration to request securities from sponsors to ensure their compliance with the undertaking and the law. This occurs in very few circumstances and only where significant concerns exist.

If you would like to discuss the Sponsorship Undertaking, salary package negotiation, employment contracts or any other aspect of an Employer Sponsored Visa, please contact us.

Permanent Residence

Australian employers may Sponsor overseas staff for employment positions in Australia. Once an employee is granted permanent residence they are eligible for government benefits such as Medicare, free schooling and all other benefits available to Australian residents.

No Advertising of Position Required

Under the current system there is no requirement to prove that an Australian cannot be found to do the job. No advertising or explanations are required in this regard.

How to Qualify

The employer must:

Offer a job which matches Immigration requirements (the tasks of the job must match the tasks of a job on a government approved list)
Provide the employee with full time employment contract with a duration of at least 3 years

The minimum salary acceptable to Immigration is $47,480.00 + superannuation (a higher minimum-salary of $65,020 applies to many ICT Professionals)
Other terms are required; we can assist you with this

Be actively operating a business in Australia which is substantial enough to justify and afford the employee, and have a history of compliance with Australia’s laws
Prove that it is committed to training Australians it employs

The employee must:

Be under 45 (exceptions can be made)
Have a vocational level of English (generally an IELTS result of 5,5,5,5 is requried, but exceptions can be made)
If applying in Australia, needs an appropriate visa to be able to apply (we can check this). Holders of Student visas must have completed their course (diploma or better) to apply. Special limitations apply to Students assisted by AusAID or by a foreign government.
Have any licenses, registrations or professional memberships required to do the job in Australia, or be eligible for them
Pass medical, character and livelihood checks
Fall within one of 3 categories:

Get a skill assessment for the job offered from an organization appointed by Immigration for this purpose (we can assist with this); you must have 3 years experience in a job the same as the job now offered; Immigration prefers this experience to be in the 3 years just before you apply for permanent residence; or
Have worked in Australia in a job the same as the job now offered for at least the last 2 years; also the last 12 months of that work experience must have been with the employer who is offering you permanent residence; all of this work must have been done while on a certain type of visa (Subclass 457, 418, 422, 428, 421 or 444). We can check this for you; or
Be paid a base salary of $250,000 more (Immigration is willing to accept that anyone paid this much has the necessary skills).

Jobs in Regional Areas

Many concessions are given to cases where the employer operates a business in a regional area and the job offered is in a regional area. Immigration has a special list of post codes to define which parts of Australia are considered to be ‘regional’. We can check this for you as required.

The following rules apply to ‘regional’ cases.

The employer must:

Have the endorsement of a regional authority appointed by Immigration for this purpose (we can assist you to seek this)
Be actively operating a business in Australia which is substantial enough to justify and afford the employee, and have a history of compliance with Australia’s laws (Immigration checks with various other government departments to verify this)
Prove that an Australian cannot be found to fill the job vacancy
Provide the employee with full time employment contract with a duration of at least 2 years

The job offered must be in an area designated as ‘regional’ by Immigration
The work to be done must require a person with a Diploma or higher qualification (exceptions can be made)
The terms of employment must equal/better Australian Award rates
Other standard terms are required; we can ensure these are included

The employee must:

Meet 3 basic criteria (exceptions can be made)

Be under 45
Have a functional level of English
Have a diploma, trade certificate or better qualification, that is relevant to the job offered

Have any licenses, registrations or professional memberships required to do the job in Australia, or be eligible for them (no exceptions possible)
If applying in Australia, needs an appropriate visa to be able to apply (we can check this). Holders of Student visas must have completed their course (diploma or better) to apply. Special limitations apply to Students assisted by AusAID or by a foreign government.
Pass medical, character and livelihood checks

Family members may be Included in the visa

The employee’s family may be included in the permanent residence visa. Normally a spouse and children under 18 can be included. Children over 18 can be included if they live at home and are a full time student (doing their 1st qualification). It is also possible to include certain other relatives if they live with the employee and are dependent on the employee (we can advise you about this).

The employer does not take any responsibility for any family members included in the visa.

What if the Employment Contract is terminated soon after visa grant? Or what if the employee never starts in that job?

Different rules apply to visas approved under the ordinary scheme and under the ‘regional’ scheme.

If the residence visa is approved under the ‘regional’ scheme, special visa cancellation laws apply. Immigration expects that the visa holder will commence work in the job within 6 months of visa grant and will work in that job for at least 2 years. At the very least, it must be shown that genuine efforts were made towards achieving these goals. Immigration sets its own benchmarks on what is sufficient in that regard. Contact us immediately if you are concerned about any of these possibilities.

In any other case, after the grant of permanent residence the employee will be an Australian resident, so the normal employment laws and rules will apply to any situations. This includes termination of employment. Immigration generally only investigates a case if it appears that there was something false, misleading or dishonest about the original application. If an employee quits or is terminated after visa grant, it does not automatically mean that the visa will be cancelled. Immigration knows that employment relationships do not always last the expected duration. The situation of the employee never starting work is more likely to be investigated by Immigration; even so visa cancellation can sometimes be avoided if sufficient justifications and evidence can be provided. If you have any cause for concern, please contact us to discuss before taking action.

Please contact us for case specific advice on your matter.

Permanent residents of Australia are eligible for government benefits such as Medicare, free schooling and social security.

Employees who have a job offer in Australia should complete our FREE Case Assessment.