Changes to Employer Nominated Permanent Residence (subclass 186 visa)

In addition to the 457 changes recently and unexpectedly announced by Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, the Permanent Employer Sponsored Skilled Migration Program will also undergo a number of changes. The 457 visa has historically been a pathway to Australian Permanent Residence under this program.


From 19 April 2017

• Applicants under the Direct Entry Stream will only be eligible to apply if their nominated occupation is on the MLTSSL or STSOL
• Applicants under the Temporary Residence Transition Stream can still apply as usual (even if their nominated occupation is no longer on the STSOL or MLTSSL)

From 1 July 2017

• Occupation lists: The STSOL and MLTSSL will be further reviewed based on advice from the Department of Employment and Department of Education and Training
• English language requirements: A score of IELTS 6 in each component will be required (or equivalent test)
• Age: Applicants under the Direct Entry Stream must be under the maximum age requirement of 45 at the time of application. The maximum age requirement of 50 at the time of application will continue to apply to applicants under the Temporary Residence Transition Stream
  

From March 2018

• Salary: Employers must pay the Australian market salary rate and meet the Temporary Skilled Migration Income Threshold (TSMIT), currently $53,900 excluding superannuation
• Residency: The eligibility period under the Temporary Residence Transition Stream will be extended from 2 years to 3 years
• Work experience: At least 2 years of post- qualification relevant work experience will be required
• Age: All applicants (under both the Temporary Residence Transition Stream and Direct Entry Stream) must be under the maximum age requirement of 45 at the time of application
• Training requirement: Strengthened training requirement for employers to contribute towards training Australian workers

Who is affected?

It is expected that further details and clarifications to be announced by the Government over the coming weeks. 

Individuals who were preparing an application under the Direct Entry Stream and their occupation has now been removed - No longer eligible under the Direct Entry Stream

Individuals turning 45 years old - From 1 July 2017, applicants under the Direct Entry Stream must be under 45 years at time of application. From March 2018, all applicants must be under 45 years at time of application.

Individuals who were preparing applications under the Temporary Residence Transition Stream - Minimal impact if lodged before March 2018 (although new English language requirement applies from 1 July 2017).

Please contact Nevett Ford immigration lawyers to discuss your individual circumstances by telephone + 61 3 9614 7111.

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What are the impacts of the 457 visa changes?

In Summary, the 457 visa changes have substantial effects:

1) Lodged applications for 457 visas for over 216 occupations are being declined retrospectively
2) The difficulty of obtaining short term and medium term 457 visas has increased
3) Permanent residency applications for short term occupations are blocked
4) Strict caveats for many skilled occupations are now enforced and include
- specialised job duties
- minimum levels of work experience
- new maximum age restriction
- increased English skill requirement
- limitations of the exercise of specific jobs to certain regional areas
- specific minimum market salary rates set individually for each occupation
- sponsor's minimum annual turnover and staffing levels criteria for sponsors.

Pptions moving forward?

Has your occupation been removed from the 457 Occupation List?
If your occupation has been removed from the 457 skilled occupation list, we recommend that you consider alternative pathways to a working visa within Australia and contact us now to discuss your personal situation.

Are you currently on a 457 VISA?

Even if you are currently on a 457 Visa, the changes to the 457 visa apply if your occupation has been removed from the skilled occupation lists.

If you are currently on a 457 Visa and your occupation is not listed on the new skilled occupation list, you will not be able to apply for a renewal of your visa and will need to apply for Permanent Residency.

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Fast food businesses will no longer be able to bring in foreign workers on 457 visa

The Minister for Immigration and Border Protection Peter Dutton announced recently that the government has ended the Fast Food Industry Labour Agreement which saw hundreds of foreign workers take jobs at fast food outlets across Australia.

 

McDonalds, Hungry Jack’s and KFC will be barred from sponsoring foreign workers on 457 visas, which are intended to fill temporary skill shortages. This will provide more career opportunities for Australian workers, particularly young Australians.

 

The Coalition Government is committed to implementing reforms that strengthen Australia's skilled migration programme to ensure overseas workers supplement rather than provide a substitute for Australian workers

 

Therefore Australia has introduced a new work visas from November 2016. The new visa subclasses would allow applicants to enter Australia for temporary work or a specified activity.

 

As a result, those currently working in fast food chains on 457 visa will be forced to leave Australia once their agreements run out unless the restaurant is able to present an individual case as to why they should remain in the country.

 

Businesses will be allowed to request for foreign workers in exceptional circumstances and businesses can still make requests under normal labour agreement arrangements to ensure that exceptional circumstances can be considered.

 

Genuine business needs for overseas workers which contribute to economic growth will still be considered

 

The debate on 457 visas which allows employers to bring in skilled workers from abroad has gained momentum recently with the Australian government undertaking a review of the list of occupations available for the application of 457 visa.

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Victorian State Nominations Closed for ICT Occupations

Due to an influx in State Nomination applications for ICT occupations in Victoria, all applications for the below occupations will be closed from 11 November 2016 - 6 March 2017.

• 135112   ICT Project Manager
• 261111   ICT Business Analyst
• 261112   Systems Analyst
• 261311   Analyst Programmer
• 261312   Developer Programmer
• 261313   Software Engineer
• 261314   Software Tester
• 261399   Software and Applications Programmers nec
• 262111   Database Administrator
• 262112   ICT Security Specialist
• 263111   Computer Network and Systems Engineer

Therefore all applicants who wish to apply for the Victorian State Nomination under the above occupations need to wait until post March 2017.

 

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Changes to 457 scheme on the way

It seems that every few years the 457 temporary work visa comes under intense parliamentary and media scrutiny, and we are now at that point again.

In the past few weeks we have seen an intense media campaign highlighting alleged rorts of the system by unscrupulous employers. In addition, possibly reflecting elements of the political agenda of Donald Trump, the opposition leader, Bill Shorten, has introduced a private members bill to review the 457 visa system.

The Migration Amendment (Putting Local Workers First) Bill 2016, calls for stronger testing, stricter licensing criteria for 457 workers and more restrictions for employers.

Not surprisingly, the ACTU is strongly in support of this bill, arguing that the system needs a complete review notwithstanding the fact that a comprehensive review was only recently finalised.

The biggest area of attack on the current scheme is the list of eligible occupations for 457 purposes. This list currently includes 651 occupations which many argue bears little resemblance to areas of general skills shortage.

Adding to the pressure for a further review system is the evidence of exploitation which has surfaced as a result of the 7 Eleven scandal, and more recently, potentially Caltex as well. Typically, employees of these organisations have been either 457 holders, backpackers or students with work rights, and there has been concern that in many cases employers have forced people to work for sub par wages and conditions with veiled threats of possible visa violation charges, and possible deportation if they do not accept terms which have been offered.

A recent statement by the Minister in Parliament makes it clear that the list of occupations will be looked at. Possibly we will also see more stringent labour market testing being introduced in the future.

Employers contemplating sponsoring someone for a 457 visa, or workers hoping to be sponsored should think about making an application as soon as possible prior to any changes being introduced.

 

 

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NEW Entrepreneur Visa - Australia

Entrepreneur Visa

The Government of Australia introduced the National Innovation & Science Agenda with the objective of taking Australia through extraordinary technological change that is intended to transform the way we live, work, communicate and pursue good ideas.

In order to advance the Agenda, the Government introduced the New Entrepreneur visa to attract the best overseas start-up talent into the country.

The new Australian Entrepreneur visa has been established for entrepreneur with innovative ideas and financial backing from third parties.  The new visa allows entrepreneurs with AUD2000,000 in funding from specified third parties to develop and commercialise their innovative ideas into Australia.  The most important part of this visa is the provision of a pathway to Australian permanent residency.

Eligibility (summary)

• Business Innovation and Investment (Provisional) visa (subclass 188), Entrepreneur Stream
• Applicant must be under 55 years of age, unless a waiver is provided by a state or territory government.  A state or territory can waive the age requirement if the proposed complying entrepreneur activity will be of ‘exceptional’ economic benefit to the nominating state or territory
• Applicant to provide evidence of ‘competent’ English at the time the applicant is invited to apply for the visa
• Applicant to undertake or propose to undertake a complying entrepreneur activity in Australia
• Applicant has a genuine intention to continue this activity
• Applicant must be nominated by a state or territory government.

Migration Regulation 5.19E sets out the criteria to be met for an activity to be a complying entrepreneur activity.  This regulation requires that the activity must relate to an innovative idea that is proposed to lead to the commercialisation of a product or service in Australia or the development of a business or enterprise in Australia. 

The following requirements must be met:

• There must be one or more legally enforceable agreements under which funding is to be provided to the entrepreneurial entity (which may be the applicant, a body corporate, or a partnership) by one or more entities
• The total amount of funding provided or to be provided under the agreement or agreements must be at least AUD200,000
• If the applicant is not the entrepreneurial entity, the applicant must personally hold at least a 30% ownership share in the entrepreneurial entity at the time the agreement or agreements are entered into, which prevents more than three applicants being eligible in relation to any one entrepreneurial entity
• Under the agreement or agreements, at least 10% of the funding must be payable to the entrepreneurial entity within 12 months of the day the activity starts to be undertaken in Australia (i.e. $200,000)
• There must be a business plan that is appropriately formulated to lead to an outcome.

Source of funds

Sources of funding are limited to:

• Commonwealth agencies
• State and territory governments
• Publicly funded research organisations
• Investors registered as a Venture Capital Limited Partnership/s (VCLP) or an Early Stage Venture Capital Limited Partnership/s (ESVCLP).

There are a number of state government funded grants for start-ups:

• Victoria: Launch Vic have $60 million fund
• New South Wales: Jobs for NSW – Minimum Viable Product Grants and Building Partnership Grants have $190 million over four years
• Queensland: iLab incubator and Accelerator provided $80 million to date
• Western Australia: Innovation voucher program
• South Australia: Innovative voucher Program
• Commonwealth Government: Innovation Program.

The main funding will come from Venture Capital Limited Partnership/s 9VCLP) and Early State Venture Capital Limited Partnership/s (ESVCLP) which have overseas and local investors who register under the Venture Capital Partnership/s Act 2002.

• VCLP must have capital in excess of $10 million
• ESVCLP must have capital between $10 million and $200 million.

Exclusions

The following activities are excluded:

• Establishing, purchasing, investing or acquiring an interest in residential real estate.  The term ‘Australian residential property’ includes any Australian land zoned for residential use
• Establishing, purchasing, investing or acquiring an interest in labour hire companies; or
• Purchasing, investing or acquiring an interest in an existing entity (including franchise).

Transition to Australian permanent residence

The criteria for transitioning to permanent residence in the entrepreneur stream are that:

• An applicant holds a subclass 188 visa for a continuous period of four years;
• An applicant has resided in Australia for two out of the last four years; and
• An applicant has demonstrated an overall successful record of undertaking, whether alone or by participating in a business, activities of an entrepreneurial nature in Australia while holding a subclass 188 visa.

An applicant’s record of success will be based upon the number of Australian citizens employed, the nature of the funding and the annual turnover in relation to the activities undertaken.

The Government’s policy document for transition from subclass 188 to the subclass 888 (permanent residence) visa has not been finalised.

Nevett Ford Lawyers Melbourne can provide advice and assistance so please contact us if you are interested in this visa or any other visa type.

 

 

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Who can become a sponsor (457 visa)?

Who can become a sponsor?

To become a sponsor, you must be able to show that your business:

• is a lawfully operating business
• has no relevant adverse information against your business.

Australian businesses must also demonstrate their commitment to employing local labour as well as non-discriminatory recruitment practices.
There are two ways you can become an approved sponsor:

• Option 1: Apply to be a standard business sponsor
• Option 2: Negotiate a labour agreement.

Option 1: Apply to be a standard business sponsor

The standard business sponsorship arrangement is the most common way to sponsor a skilled worker using the subclass 457 visa program. You must lodge an application to become a standard business sponsor.


You can have only one standard business sponsorship approved at any given time (that is, one sponsorship approval per legal entity) which is usually valid for five years. You can apply to extend your sponsorship at any time during this five-year period by lodging a variation application.


The requirements for approval as a standard business sponsor differ for businesses that are outside and in Australia.


Business in Australia
You must attest, in writing, that you have a strong record of, or a demonstrated commitment to employing local labour. You must also declare that you will not engage in discriminatory recruitment practices.


Make the attestation and the declaration about your workplace record in your sponsorship application form.
You must also meet training requirements. This means you must either:

• meet the training benchmarks if you have traded in Australia for 12 months or more
• have an auditable plan to meet the training benchmarks if you have been trading in Australia for less than 12 months.

Business outside Australia
You must be seeking to employ a skilled worker to either:

• establish, or help establish, a business operation in Australia
• fulfil obligations for a contract in Australia.

If your business does not yet have an operating base in Australia, you are not required to satisfy the training requirement.

Option 2: Negotiate a labour agreement

A labour agreement is a formal arrangement negotiated between an Australian employer and the Australian Government. You might be able to enter into a labour agreement if you are in one of the following situations:

• the occupation of the workers you want to employ is not listed on the Skilled Occupation Lists (Formerly Known as Form 1121i) or theAustralian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations (ANZSCO)
• you are a recruitment company seeking to sponsor skilled workers to be on-hired to another businesses, and the occupations requested are on the Consolidated Sponsored Occupations List (CSOL)
• standard immigration options are not suitable.

You must be able to provide evidence that:

• there is a genuine and systemic shortage of skilled workers
• there are no suitably qualified Australian workers available
• you have a commitment to training Australians.

A labour agreement comes into effect when it has been signed by all parties involved in the negotiations. A labour agreement is typically valid for three years.


How to propose a labour agreement


You need, among other things, to:

• identify the relevant skills shortage in the business and why these vacancies cannot be filled by Australian workers (you need to show you have tried to recruit in Australia)
• specify the number of skilled workers needed from outside Australia
• specify the skill and English language requirements that relate to the nominated occupations. Semi-skilled occupations can be considered provided they are specialised and in demand
• include copies of correspondence showing that relevant stakeholders have been consulted.

You might be able to use a template labour agreement if there is one for your industry or your worker’s occupation. A template labour agreement is a set of standard parameters for similar employers: it does not guarantee an agreement will be approved.


If the template does not suit your needs, you might be able to negotiate an individual agreement.


Labour agreements include a requirement to provide training to Australian employees.
When you have a labour agreement in place, you are an approved sponsor for the term of operation of the agreement. You can then nominate skilled workers from outside Australia under the terms of the labour agreement.


You will also need to meet your sponsorship obligations and any other terms and conditions specified in the agreement.  If you breach the terms and conditions of your agreement, we could suspend or terminate it.


Standard business sponsors

To sponsor a worker as a standard business sponsor, you must:

• be a lawfully operating business
• have no relevant adverse information against your business.

If your business is in Australia, you must also:

• meet training requirements
• demonstrate your commitment to employing local labour
• not engage in discriminatory recruitment practices.

You can use Visa Entitlement Verification Online (VEVO for Organisations) to check the work entitlements of your prospective employees.

A lawfully operating business

You must be a lawfully operating business to apply to be a standard business sponsor. This applies to businesses both in and outside Australia.
To demonstrate this you must show both of the following:

• your business is legally established
• your business is actually operating.

A business that exists only on paper cannot satisfy this sponsorship requirement.
If you do not operate in Australia, you must be able to show that you need a skilled worker to:

• come to Australia to establish, or help establish, a business operation with connections with a business located outside Australia
• fulfil, or help in fulfil, a contractual obligation.

If your business is new, you can still satisfy this requirement if you can provide evidence that your business is in fact operating, even if this has been for only a short period of time.
Examples of the documents you can use to show that your business is legally established and operating are in the Document checklist.


If you operate a business under a trust arrangement you must provide details of the Trust Name and the Trust ABN when you complete the application form.  The application should be made using the name of the Trustee as it appears in the Trust Deed.


Details of the principals of your business such as Owners, Partners, Directors and major Shareholders should be provided when you complete the application form.


Contact us today for more information and assistance.

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VISA UPDATE: Subclass 400 Visa (short term work visa)

You can apply for this visa if you need to enter Australia to undertake one of the following activities:


Highly specialised work

You can apply for this visa to do short-term, highly specialised, non-ongoing work in Australia if you have specialised skills, knowledge or experience that both:

• can assist an Australian business
• cannot reasonably be found in the Australian labour market.
  Highly specialised work is usually work that either:
• is done by people with an occupation listed in Major Groups 1, 2 or 3 of the Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations (ANZSCO),
  or
• requires skills and knowledge that are specific to an international company, such as installing imported equipment, after-sales service or emergency repairs

Invited participants

You can apply for this visa if you have been invited by an organisation to participate in a cultural or social event or events on a non-ongoing basis.

The inviting organisation must be both:

• operating lawfully in Australia
• directly responsible for the event or have a formal role in preparing for or conducting it.
• You cannot accept any salary, wages or other remuneration for participating in the event, other than:
• prize money
• appearance fees
• reimbursement for your reasonable expenses of doing the activity
• payments from your non-Australian employer.

You can apply for this visa if you are, for example, a sportsperson participating in specific events or touring as part of a sports team, a public lecturer, an artist, an author or a photographer.

This visa is not intended for business people attending a conference or taking part in meetings or business negotiations. You can apply for a Visitor visa (subclass 600)-Business Visitor stream instead (such as Visitor visa (subclass 600). 

Emergency Workers and Other Exceptional Circumstances

In very limited circumstances, this visa may be granted in Australia’s interest. In these cases, the department needs to be satisfied that the activity identified in the visa application is of national significance.

For example, this visa could be granted to emergency workers to come to Australia after a natural disaster.

NOTE: Your work or activity must be non-ongoing. This means that you can finish the work and activity in three months or less. Do not make arrangements to stay in Australia any longer than that. You also should not agree to being rotated through a position on a short-term basis as one of a number of overseas workers. If the work is ongoing, and even if your contract is less than three months, apply for a Temporary Work (Skilled) visa (subclass 457).

Generally you can stay in Australia for up to three months where required, but depending on your work or activity a longer period of up to six months may be allowed in limited circumstances.

 

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457 Visa changes - visa condition 8107

Migration Legislation Amendment (2016 Measures No. 4) Regulation 2016 amends a number of provisions of the Migration Regulations 1994 as listed below:

Schedule 1 - Visa Condition 8107

• This Schedule reduces the time period that a Subclass 457 (Temporary Work (Skilled) visa holder can remain in Australia after ceasing employment with their current sponsor from 90 days to 60 days


•  If 457 holder has not found a new sponsor within 60 days of ceasing that employment, they will be in breach of their visa condition 8107 and their visa may be cancelled.


• This amendment applies to 457 visas granted on or after 19 November 2016.

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Beware of scammers – always seek legal advice

Vulnerable migrants and temporary visa holders are being targeted by scammers pretending to be from the Department of Immigration.

The scammers usually claim that there are problems with the people’s paperwork or visa status and demand money to fix it or otherwise face the consequences, including the risk of deportation and possible arrest of family members.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) recently announced that more than 300 reports of this type of activity were referred to it since March this year. The deputy chairwoman, Delia Rickard suggested that the scammers might be obtaining personal information from social media – a valuable reminder for people to take care when communicating via this medium.

 

One tactic used by the scammers is to claim that they are calling from an overseas High Commission or Embassy, and that upon reviewing the person’s visa application it appears that it had been incorrectly filled out and that unless this error was attended to and further fees paid, the person would face the risk of having to leave the country.

 

Obviously these types of calls can be alarming and are purposely designed to prey on the weaknesses of vulnerable individuals within the community.

 

Rather than immediately agreeing to comply with the requests of the caller, the best thing to do when receiving a communication of this type is to indicate that you are not in a position to resolve this problem immediately then ask for contact details in order that you can revert to the caller at a more convenient time. Because it is a scam, in most cases it will be unlikely to get contact details; it is more likely that another call will be made at some other time.

 

As soon as the initial call is completed it is highly recommended that you seek immediate legal advice. The cost of getting professional help involved to represent your interests at an early stage will end up being far more economic than paying money to a scammer.

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U.S. Diversity Lottery (“Green Card” Lottery) Applications Close on November 7, 2016

Want to make a permanent move to the United States and don’t know how? Apply for the Diversity Lottery (“Green Card” Lottery) now for your chance to make your U.S. dream come true! The U.S. Government grants 50,000 permanent resident cards each fiscal year in this lottery. 

Be aware that there are numerous Diversity Lottery websites set up by third party providers.  While they may offer legitimate services in connection to a Diversity Lottery application, if you use the official government website for your application, there is no filing fee associated with your application and you will be directly contacted if you are selected for further processing in May 2017.

Go to:                                 

https://travel.state.gov/content/visas/en/immigrate/diversity-visa/instructions.html

Reminder:  Applications will close on Monday, November 7, 2016 at 12:00 noon, Eastern Standard Time (EST) (GMT-4).

Feel free to contact us for further information or to set up a consultation to discuss your U.S. visa options with you.  Good luck!

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Parent Visa options - Australia

The Australian visa system has six classes of visas that people may be eligible to apply for if they are wanting to assist their parents to migrate to Australia.

Currently, there are two options for Parents wanting to be sponsored by their children to live in Australia.

Option 1 – Apply for an Aged Parent visa (subclass 804) or Parent visa (subclass 103)

This option has a very long waiting period for the visas to be processed, the Department of Immigration & Border Protection is currently advising that it could take up to 30 years for one of the above visas to be granted.

Option 2 – Apply for a Contributory (temporary) Parent visa (subclass 173) or Contributory (temporary) Aged Parent visa (subclass 884)

When applying for this visa, it is a two stage process. If the requirements are met, you will be issued with your temporary visa and will then have two years to apply for your corresponding permanent visa.

The permanent visa’s are the Contributory Aged Parent visa (subclass 864) and the Contributory parent visa (subclass 143) depending on the age requirements.

The contributory parent visas have much higher visa application charges, and can be in excess of $45,000 for each applicant.

What is the difference between the aged parent visas, and the parent visas?

Depending on the age of the applicants, they will need to apply for a visa in respect to their current age.

To be eligible to apply for an aged parent visa, you will need to be eligible for the ‘Aged Pension’ in Australia.

This is the age requirements.

What are the requirements?

• You must have a child who is an Australian citizen, an Australian permanent resident, or an eligible New Zealand citizen who is willing to sponsor you
• Your child must of been lawfully resident in Australia for at least two years
• Meet the age requirements as set out by the regulations
• Meet the balance of family test
• Meet health and character requirements

What is the balance of family test?

In order to be eligible to apply for any parent visa, you will need to be able to prove that you satisfy the balance of family test.

The balance of family test is used by the Australian government to measure your connection and ties to Australia.

You meet the balance of family test requirement if you either:

• Have at least half (or 50%) of your children that live permanently in Australia
• More of your children live in Australia permanently than in any other country.

Please note: you and your partners children are included in the test which includes step children and adopted children.

Nevett Ford Lawyers can assist with all aspects of the application process.  Contact us today for further information and advice. 

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The Temporary Work (Skilled) visa (subclass 457) visa

The subclass 457 visa is the most common visa Australian employers use to sponsor skilled workers from overseas.

It allows visa holders to work for up to 4 years under the sponsorship of their employer. The business that sponsors an overseas skilled worker must be an approved Standard Business Sponsor to be able to sponsor someone to work on a 457.

The subclass 457 visa is a three stage process:

First Stage: The business must apply to become a Standard Business Sponsor to be able to nominate an overseas skilled worker in their company.

Second Stage: The approved business sponsor is required to lodge a nomination for a position in the business that is required to be filled.

Third Stage: The prospective 457 visa applicant needs to make an application for a subclass 457 visa.

Nevett Ford Lawyers can assist with the entire process and guide you through the various legislative requirements.  Contact us today for more information and advice.

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Subclass 187 Regional Sponsored Migration Scheme visa

The 187 regional Sponsored Migration Scheme visa is designed for skilled workers who wish to work in a regional area in Australia. The RSMS helps businesses in regional, remote or low population growth areas, outside the major metropolitan centres to recruit skilled workers to fill positions that are unable to be filled from the local labour market. This is a permanent residence visa.

You can only apply for the 187 RSMS visa if your nominated position is located in regional Australia. Your sponsoring employer must also be actively and lawfully operating its business in this regional area. Regional areas are basically areas that are outside the major metropolitan centres of Brisbane, Gold Coast, Sydney, Newcastle, Wollongong and Melbourne. The good news is that the whole South Australia, Western Australia, Australian Capital Territory, Tasmania and Northern Territory are classified as regional areas. For eligible postcodes that is outside of the major metropolitan areas, please check here.

This visa allows you to work in Australia under one of the three streams:

• the Temporary Residence Transition stream
• the Direct Entry stream
• the Agreement stream.

The Temporary Residence Transition stream is for subclass 457 visa holders who have worked for two years, while holding a subclass 457 visa, in the same occupation with their nominating employer (who is not subject to a labour agreement and who has lodged a valid nomination with us under the Temporary Residence Transition stream), who wants to offer them a permanent position in that occupation.

The Direct Entry stream is for people who have been nominated by their employer under the Direct Entry stream people who have never, or only briefly, worked in Australia temporary residents who do not qualify for the Temporary Residence Transition stream.

The Agreement stream is for subclass 457 visa holders nominated by an employer through a labour agreement.

Your role must be in a regional area and your nominating employer needs to operate their business in the regional area. Although the employer doesn’t need to only operate their business in this area, or have their registered head office in the regional area. As the nominee, you don’t have to live in the regional area. You can travel to the regional area for work purposes. However, you can’t perform your role remotely. You need to be physically in the regional area to perform your role. For example, if your occupation is IT based, and you’ve been offered a role in Ballarat but you’re able to perform this remotely from Melbourne. You are not eligible to lodge the RSMS visa.

If your role requires you to work in several locations, each of these location must be located within a regional area. Occasionally travelling to non-regional areas for meetings, presentations, training etc. is allowed. But if you need to regularly work outside of regional areas, then the nomination application won’t be approved under the RSMS pathway.

For more information or if you need assistance with a 187 RSMS Visa, contact us at Nevett Ford Lawyers.

 

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