Temporary Work Visas 457

Temporary Work Visa Subclass 457

This is the most commonlyused program for employers to sponsor overseas workers to work in Australia ona temporary basis.

Who is eligible for aTemporary Skilled Visa?

Employers can be eitherAustralian businesses or overseas businesses. This visa is for employers whowould like to employ overseas workers to fill nominated skilled positions inAustralia.

With this visa you canemploy overseas workers for a period of between three (3) months and four (4)years in occupations that appear on the Skilled Occupation List. Note forstart-up businesses the initial visa period available is 12 months.

Employer & PositionRequirements for the Temporary Skilled Visa

An employer needs to beapproved as a sponsor in order to employ skilled workers from overseas.

If you are an employerwith a business that operates in Australia, you must meet benchmarks relatingto the training of Australian citizens and permanent residents.

Generally you mustdemonstrate the equivalent of 1% of gross wages is or will be spent on trainingper annum.

If you are an employerwith a business that has no formal operating base or representation inAustralia, you may apply to bring employees to Australia to do one of thefollowing:

·          establish abusiness operation in Australia

·          fulfil obligationsfor a contract or other business activity in Australia.

·          Note: OverseasBusiness Sponsors do not need to be operating in Australia but may need to meetother employer eligibility requirements.

·          From 27 June 2009,there has been a requirement for sponsors under subclass 457 visa program to at test that they have a strong record of, or a                       demonstrated commitment to:

·          employing locallabour

·          non-discriminatoryemployment practices

To meet this requirement,there must be nothing adverse known about the business or a person associatedwith the business.

As an employee, you mustmeet all the following requirements:

·          be sponsored by anemployer to fill a genuine nominated position

·          have skills,qualifications, experience and an employment background which match thoserequired for the position

·          have Englishlanguage skills equivalent the position.  Passport holders of certaincountries do not have to satisfy this requirement

·          be eligible forany relevant licences or registration required for the nominated position ifnecessary.

·          be able todemonstrate that you are to be paid at least the minimum salary level thatapplies at the time a decision is made on your visa and at a level                   consistentwith an Australian employee in the Australian labour market

You can apply for thisvisa while you are in Australia, only if the last visa you held is on theprequalifying list.

Skills assessment

Australia requires allvisa applicants to satisfy the criteria for grant of their visa, thus Subclass457 visa applicants must satisfy certain skills requirements. Where necessaryfor safety or to prevent fraud, Australia will undertake more extensive skillsassessments to confirm skills claimed by applicants.

Australia is improvingits skills assessment processes to provide for formal skills testing of sometrade occupations. The pilot of this arrangement will commence on 1 July 2009and be extended as capacities are increased.

Benefits of a TemporarySkilled Visa

With this visa, peopleyou employ from overseas can:

·          work in Australiafor a period of between three (3) months and four (4) years (12 months whennominated by a start-up business)

·          bring any eligiblesecondary applicants with them to Australia – secondaryapplicants can work and study

·          (After entering Australia,) have no limit on the number of times they travel in and out of Australia.