Being eligible to sponsor an international worker may be important to your business if you are experiencing a skills shortage, as businesses can broaden their search to include international workers who are either overseas or already onshore in Australia
The program consists of three processes: approval of the company as a business sponsor; nomination of the activity to be undertaken; and approval of the Visa application.
The political debate surrounding the program translated into legislative change effective from 1 July 2013.
A number of key features to the 457 changes include the following:
Sponsorship
Applicants for sponsorship approval must now identify the number of positions to be sponsored over the three year duration of the approval and may need to justify that number both on an operational and financial basis.
Approved sponsors cannot transfer to or recover from the nominee the costs associated with obtaining the sponsorship or nomination approval payable to recruitment or migration agents.
Approved sponsors must meet their commitment to training; that is either spend one per cent of gross payroll on training Australian employees or deposit two per cent of payroll into a training fund, in each year of the sponsorship approval. Sponsors who have not done so, will not be approved at employer nomination stage and may not be approved for further sponsorships.
Start-up businesses and international companies establishing an Australian branch office will only have their sponsorship approved for one year, as opposed to the usual three years, and visa applicants will be approved for a maximum of one year. A further sponsorship may be sought at the end of this period if the business can meet the stricter criteria for an established business in Australia.
Nomination
The minimum salary threshold has risen with CPI to $53,900. The nominated position must be a genuine position within the operations of the sponsor and an explanation / justification will be required.
Positions within the 'fast food' industry will now only be approved under Labour Agreements and not under standard business sponsorships. Positions including Restaurant Manager and Fast Food Cook in 'fast food' establishment would be captured by this provision. In some cases there may be a fine line between a cafe / restaurant and a fast food establishment. The latter is usually identified by the 'take away' nature of the food – although it may still be eaten on the premises, the fact that there is no table service and the store may be part of a chain.
Labour market testing is likely to be introduced in November 2013. Employers will then have to provide evidence of any recruitment efforts they have made and must also identify any redundancies of Australian employees within the preceding four months. Exemptions will be available for gazetted occupations (not yet announced) which require a degree / five years' experience or diploma / three years' experience. Trade occupations (which include cooks) will therefore not be eligible for the exemption.
Visa
All applicants must meet English language thresholds by obtaining IELTS 5 results unless exempt. Exemptions will apply to applicants paid over $96,400 where it is in the 'interests of Australia', who hold a passport from United Kingdom, the United States of America, Canada, New Zealand or Republic of Ireland or who have five consecutive years secondary / higher education in the English medium.
Applicants must have the skills, qualifications and employment background 'that the Minister considers necessary' for the applicant to fulfil the nominated role. This may include requesting a formal skills assessment (under policy this is mandatory for those applying as Project Administrators and Specialist Managers not elsewhere classified) but is largely at the discretion of the DIAC officer.
Applicants have 90 days to commence work upon arrival in Australia if offshore when the visa is granted or from visa grant if onshore and also have 90 days to change employers if necessary during the validity of their visa. This provision allows applicants the time to disengage from current responsibilities and settle prior to commencement of employment for their sponsor. In situations where a 457 visa holder loses their employment – or resigns – it also gives them more time to either find a new employer or make arrangements to depart Australia.
The introduction of the 'Visa Pricing Transformation Strategy' by the Department of Immigration has greatly increased the cost to visa applicants (or companies who pay the lodgement fees on behalf of those applicants). Not only have the fees risen, but additional fees are now payable for by each family unit member applicant and for onshore applicants who have previously made another onshore visa application.
Thus, for example, an applicant for a 457 visa with a partner and two young children may therefore expect to pay: $900 + $900 + 2 x $225 = $2250. And, if the 457 visa applicant had been an onshore Student who had already extend their visa onshore then an additional $700 would be payable per applicant taking the total fees to $5050.
