The subclass 457 visa was replaced by the Temporary Skill Shortage (TSS) subclass 482 visas back in March 2018. Ever since then, the Federal government has encouraged migrants to settle in regional Australia in order to ease some crowding in the capital cities. With regards to this encouragement, a lot of new regional visas have also been introduced since July 2019.
It has been confirmed that migrants/students looking to work and study in regional Australia have more access to priority processing and occupations as compared to the migrants wanting to settle in the metropolitan cities. The Department of Home Affairs also provides a list of postcodes of regional areas which are mostly located outside Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.
However, are you a business looking to sponsor your employees in a metropolitan city? With the ever-increasing rules and changes in the immigration policies, it is very important for you to have a basic understanding of the process for sponsoring an employee.
What is the process involved in hiring an employee on a TSS visa?
To sponsor an employee on a TSS visa requires the lodgement of 3 separate applications.
Business Sponsorship Application:
This application is all about you; the sponsoring employer – what the business does, how profitable the business is (so that the department knows whether or not you can afford to sponsor a skilled migrant) if the business is genuine and operates in Australia. This application is usually quite straight to the point and businesses operating and working in Australia will generally not run into any problems in getting the sponsorship application approved. Once approved, the status as a standard business sponsor is valid for 5 years, which means you need to renew and lodge your applications once every 5 years.
Nomination application:
Once you are approved to be a standard business sponsor, you can lodge a nomination application for a particular nominated occupation to be filled by the employee you are employing. The nomination application is needed to help you in convincing the Department of Home Affairs that there is a genuine need for the nominated occupation to be filled in, as the attempts to fill the role with an Australian worker have been unsuccessful. Getting this application right is critical, as it requires clear and accurate information and requirements to be met under the TSS regulations. Few of them includes:
- The proposed salary reflecting what an equivalent Australian worker performing equivalent work in the same location and position would receive (also known as evidence market salary rates).
- Proof of Labour Market Testing, i.e., your company demonstrates that you have already tested the local market before lodging a nomination for an overseas skilled worker. One of the key requirements is that the employer has proof of running advertisements for a minimum of 28 days and no longer than 4 months stating that they looked for a suitable skilled Australian employee before employing an international under the TSS 482 visa.
- Providing the nominated occupation is a genuine position and providing information to prove ‘genuineness.’ This would be an explanation as to why the position is required, how your employee fits in with your organisation; job description along-with his duties and responsibilities.
- Ensuring that the nominated occupation is an occupation eligible for nomination under the TSS scheme.
Visa Application:
The final stage is the visa application of the employee, which can be processed concurrently with the first two stages. This application should include the employee’s skills and qualifications and should be genuine enough to convince the Department that the employee is capable of performing the nominated occupation. For professional based occupations, the employee should also have at least 2 years of relevant work experience in the nominated occupation and a degree or 5 years of relevant work experience in his nominated occupation.
The whole process, i.e., all the three applications, would take approximately 1-3 months, depending on how long the employer/employee takes time to gather, collect and submit all the information required prior to the lodgement of the applications, also considering the current Department processing timings too.
Bearing in mind sponsoring someone on a TSS visa is a huge investment of time and money, it is highly recommended to consider the applicant’s (employee) suitability for the visa before any application lodgements. There is no point in having the employer approved as a standard business sponsor, and having the nomination application approved, only to find out in the visa application stage that the employee has character or health issues. It may result in visa refusals.
Pendragon Are Visa Specialists
Having the process understood clearly is necessary, as sponsoring and organising the documentation for an employee’s visa is time-consuming and expensive.
If you are a company struggling to find local talent and simultaneously not in a position to sponsor an overseas skilled worker, don’t panic – we are here to help. Pendragon Management has qualified migration agents who can help you plus we also have a unique ability to be the surrogate sponsor of the TSS visa candidate for you, while you can still have the benefits of employing him/her for the position required.
For further information please don’t hesitate to contact us, book an appointment or reach us at [email protected] or 02 9407 8700 where one of our Australian team members will gladly help you.
