Employer Sponsored Visa in Australia

The TSS visa enables employer sponsorship to fill skill shortages by bringing in genuinely skilled workers where they cannot source an appropriately skilled Australian worker.

The employer nomination scheme facilitates targeted use of overseas workers to address temporary skill shortages while ensuring that Australian workers get priority.

Due to the economic consequences of Covid-19 and its effect on the Australian economy, the Federal budget for the next financial year is aimed at driving economic growth and support for job creation during Australia’s post recovery phase have thus approved the 2021 – 2022 Migration Program to address Australia’s interests first.

Economic conditions in Australia, future skill needs, the population objectives of states and territories, community views, labour force forecasts, international research, net overseas migration, and economic and fiscal modelling are taken into consideration when planning the program.

TSS visa holders can work in Australia in their nominated occupation for their approved sponsor under one of three streams:

• Short-Term stream of up to two years (unless international trade obligations apply). This stream is designed for Australian businesses to fill short-term skill gaps with foreign workers on a temporary basis, where a suitably skilled Australian worker cannot be sourced.
• Medium-Term stream of up to four years. This stream allows employers to source and sponsor foreign workers to address shortages in a narrower range of occupations in medium and long-term need, where a suitably skilled Australian worker cannot be sourced.
• Labour Agreement stream. This stream may be utilised in exceptional cases where standard visa programs are not available and there is a demonstrated need that cannot be met in the Australian labour market.

Sponsoring employers who want to nominate applicants through the Labour agreement streams can do so in three ways. 

• One option is through the direct pathway. Employers must apply for a company-specific labour agreement which allows them to make requests according to their individual business needs. This process may even allow for tailored concessions in some circumstances.
• The second option is making use of the already existing labour agreements put in place by some Australia states and or Territory’s also known as DAMA [Designated Area Migration Agreements].
  • There are currently twelve existing DAMA agreements between the Australian government and the designated area representative bodies such as local chambers and regional development offices.
  • Employers wishing to make use of these DAMA agreements for their areas of business, must first receive endorsement from their local representative.Once employers are endorsed, they will then enter into an individual DAMA labour agreements with the Australian Government to use for future nominations and visas for sponsored visa applicants. It’s important for sponsoring businesses to carefully check that their business location falls within the area postcodes of the various approved DAMA’s.
• Third option is to nominate skilled workers by using the already existing industry specific labour agreements. There are currently nine agreements in place. Sponsoring businesses can be in any location. However they must demonstrate that their industry has ongoing labour shortages and they have held extensive consultation within the industry to address these labour shortages.

The terms and conditions of these Industry specific agreements are fixed.

Employer sponsored visa applicants must have the skills to fill a position nominated by an approved business for an approved occupation. This will often be determined by a skills assessment.

KEY CRITERIA – EMPLOYER SPONSORED VISA APPLICANTS

As an overseas worker, you are eligible to apply for an employer sponsorship visa if you:

• have been nominated for a position by an approved sponsor and that nomination has been applied for or approved
• meet any required skills and qualifications requirements including completing any skills assessments that may be required
• meet English level requirements
• if in Australia, hold a substantive visa, a subclass 010 (Bridging A) visa, a subclass 020 (Bridging B) visa or a Subclass 030 (Bridging C) visa
• have substantially complied with any conditions that apply or applied to your last visa
• meet health and character requirements
• meet the requirements of the stream in which you apply

KEY CRITERIA – SPONSORING EMPLOYERS

• Lawfully operate an Australian business
• Have no relevant adverse information against their business
• Have a strong record of, or a demonstrated commitment to employing local labour
• Be either a Standard Business Sponsor or an Accredited Business Sponsor
• Adhere to Employer Sponsorship Obligations

Short-Term stream is valid up to two years (unless international trade obligations apply). This stream is designed for Australian businesses to fill short-term skill gaps with foreign workers on a temporary basis, where a suitably skilled Australian worker cannot be sourced. The program is uncapped and is intended to be demand driven, enabling businesses to fill emerging skill needs quickly. The 482-visa program has been structured to minimise the impact on Australian workers and the Australian community by:

• ensuring that there are no adverse impacts on employment opportunities for Australians
• protecting pay and working conditions for Australian workers by ensuring that overseas workers are paid in accordance with Australian awards and conditions
• providing training opportunities for Australians
• ensuring that there is no net cost to the Australian community, through either Commonwealth or state budgets

FOR VISA APPLICANTS

This stream should be used in the following circumstances if:

1. Your position is meant to be short term and you are intending to fill a temporary position needed by an Australian Employer
2. The position will not exceed two years unless an International Trade Obligation (ITO) applies in which case the nomination is able to be filled for four years
3. The position meets the genuine criteria required by the sponsoring employer
4. You have an occupation listed on the correct TSS SC482 Skills occupations list
5. You have the required skills to fill the position which are benchmarked to the Australia and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations (ANZSCO)
6. You can provide sufficient evidence that demonstrates you meet these skilled requirements
7. You meet the English level requirements applicable to your country’s passport criteria for the SC482 Visa
8. You have an Employer who is lawful and operating in Australia in a business that supports your nominated position, who has decided to nominate you for the SC482 sponsorship Visa
9. Your potential Australian employer is an approved Standard business sponsor or has made an application for a Standard business sponsor Visa

FOR SPONSORING EMPLOYERS

This stream should be used in the following circumstances:

1. To fill a temporary position that cannot be filled locally for a period no more than 2 years of visa grant
2. To nominate a required position that must have an equivalent occupation listed on the correct TSS SC482 Short Term Skills occupations list and you are able to demonstrate clearly that the nominated occupation meets the applicable caveat criteria
3. You can demonstrate the position is genuine by undertaking attempts to source local skilled persons in the first instance for no less than 4 weeks and no more than 4 months before submitting any applications for the nomination application
4. You can demonstrate that you have no adverse information relating to your current business and any past associated entities, and that your business/es operate lawfully in Australia
5. You are an approved Standard business sponsor or have made an application for a Standard business sponsorship
6. If the employment terms and conditions offered to a non-citizen are no less favourable to the terms and conditions that would be offered to an Australian in an equivalent position
7. You commit to all sponsorship obligations

Medium Term – Stream is valid up to four years. This stream is designed for Australian businesses to fill medium to long term skill gaps with overseas skilled workers, where a suitably skilled Australian worker cannot be sourced. The 482-visa sponsorship has been structured to minimise the impact on Australian workers and the Australian community by:

• ensuring that there are no adverse impacts on employment opportunities for Australians
• protecting pay and working conditions for Australian workers by ensuring that overseas workers are paid in accordance with Australian awards and conditions
• providing training opportunities for Australians
• ensuring that there is no net cost to the Australian community, through either Commonwealth or state budgets

FOR SPONSORING EMPLOYERS

This stream should be used in the following circumstances:

1. To fill a temporary position that cannot be filled locally for a period up to 4 years of visa grant
2. To nominate a required position that must have an equivalent occupation listed on the TSS SC482 Medium Term Skills Occupations list and you are able to demonstrate clearly that the nominated occupation meets the applicable criteria
   
   • Sponsoring employers who are seeking to fill a position that appears on the SC482 ROL (regional occupations list) must ensure that they are located and operating in a designated regional area code according to the DHA regional code lists
   • Unlike the Medium-term stream occupations, positions nominated from the ROL list may not have long term permanent residency transition pathways
   • Future long-term options are available through the new SC494 Skilled Employer Sponsored Regional Temporary Visa pathways and is assessed against the location of the position, the visa applicant meeting skills assessment and English criteria, and support by regional certifying body agencies
3. You can demonstrate the position is genuine by undertaking attempts to source local skilled persons in the first instance for no less than 4 weeks and no more than 4 months before submitting any applications for the nomination application
4. You can demonstrate that you have no adverse information relating to your current business and any past associated entities, and that your business/es operate lawfully in Australia
5. You are an approved Standard business sponsor or have made an application for a Standard business sponsorship
6. If the employment terms and conditions offered to a non-citizen are no less favourable to the terms and conditions that would be offered to an Australian in an equivalent position
7. You commit to all sponsorship obligations

FOR VISA APPLICANTS

This stream should be used in the following circumstances if:

1. Your position is to fill an occupation on the MLTSSL required by an Australian Employer who is a Standard Business sponsor
2. The position meets the genuine criteria required by the sponsoring employer
3. You have an occupation listed on the correct TSS SC482 Medium Term Skills Occupations list
4. You have the required skills to fill the position which are benchmarked to the Australia and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations (ANZSCO)
5. You can provide sufficient evidence that demonstrates you meet these skilled requirements
6. You meet the English level requirements applicable to your country’s passport criteria for the SC482 Visa
7. You have an Employer who is lawful and operating in Australia in a business that supports your nominated position, who has decided to nominate you for the SC482 Visa
8. Your potential Australian employer is an approved Standard business sponsor or has made an application for a Standard business sponsor Visa

Australian employers who are seeking alternative and flexible skilled visa sponsorship arrangements may choose to enter into a negotiation with the Australian Government for a type of labour agreement specific to their skill shortage needs. The negotiations entered, utilising the appropriate Labour agreements allows the Australian employer to request terms and conditions which will define employment conditions for future overseas sponsored applicants. There are five types of labour agreements available to Australian Employers:

1. Company Specific labour agreements
2. Designated Area Migration Agreements (DAMA)
3. Industry labour agreements
4. Project agreements
5. Global Talent Employer Sponsored (GTES) agreements

HORTICULTURE INDUSTRY LABOUR AGREEMENTS

FOR EMPLOYERS

The Horticulture Industry Labour Agreement now provides Australian Agriculture and Horticulture businesses opportunities to sponsor skilled and semi-skilled migrant workers for the horticulture industry, where appropriately qualified Australians are unavailable.

HOW IS IT DIFFERENT TO THE STANDARD SPONSORED VISAS?

Standard employer sponsored visas such as the SC482 and SC186 can only be used to sponsor higher level skills 1-3 of the Australian skills occupation lists specific to the visa subclass stream. Generally, if the occupation required by employer is a lower skilled level 4-5, the employer cannot sponsor the nominated applicant under the standard employer sponsored visas for that occupation through the Short term or medium-term streams as the occupation does not appear in the Immigration skills occupations list for that visa subclass. Occupations listed on ANZSCO as skill level 4 to 5 are not considered as high-level skills and therefore are not included in the recurring occupations lists used by the Department of Home affairs. This however does not mean that a shortage does not exist for these lower-level occupations. In fact, due to the critical skills shortage for agriculture industries, industry bodies have rallied and worked with Government to approve a specific Horticulture Industry Labour agreement which address these areas of need.

WHAT CAN YOU DO WITH IT?

The benefits of this labour agreement are specific to Industry and assists Australian Businesses who require skilled workers to fill shortages within the skills that are included in the Horticulture industry agreement. Employers who require skilled occupations that do not appear on the standard SC482 Short term or Medium-term occupations lists, may apply for an Industry Horticulture agreement, and access the skills that are expansive and available through this pathway to meet their shortage needs. Australian employers who have an approved Horticulture Industry labour agreement can sponsor overseas skilled workers for up to 31 specific approved occupations that fall within skill level 1-5 as listed in Category A & Category B occupations

KEY FACTORS

1. Category A occupations who are sponsored under the SC482 visa labour agreement are eligible to apply for permanent residency through the SC186 ENS TRT Stream after working for min three (3) years their sponsoring employer whilst holding a valid SC482 visa.
2. Category B occupations who are sponsored under the SC482 visa labour agreement are eligible to apply for permanent residency through the SC186 ENS TRT Stream after working for min four (4) years for their sponsoring employer whilst holding a valid SC482 visa.
3. Category A and B occupations who are sponsored through the Labour agreement stream under the Skilled Employer Sponsored Regional (SESR) (subclass 494) visa program are eligible to apply for Permanent Residence (Skilled Regional) visa (subclass 191) after working for min three (3) years their sponsoring employer whilst holding a valid SC494 visa.
4. Visa Applicants must apply for permanent residency before they turn 50 years after meeting requirements through transition pathways
5. Applicants must meet the English requirements applicable to the visa subclass (based on the concessions available to employers using the Labour Agreement stream only)
   
   • For the TSS visa—overseas workers must score at least IELTS 5.0 overall, and at least IELTS 4.0 in each individual component score.
   • For the ENS and SESR visas—overseas workers must score at least IELTS 5.0 overall, and at least IELTS 4.5 in each individual component score.
6. Employers may benefit from the following:
   
   • Concessions to standard skilled visa requirements
   • Discount of up to 10% on the Temporary Skill Migration Income Threshold (TSMIT) where it is demonstrated that equivalent Australian workers do not receive annual earnings of $53,900.
   • A broader range of monetary payments (e.g., regularised overtime) and non-monetary benefits (e.g., accommodation) can be counted as guaranteed earnings.

FOR VISA APPLICANTS

This stream should be used in the following circumstances if:

1. The position meets the genuine criteria required by the sponsoring employer
2. You have an occupation listed on the correct Horticulture LA Skills Occupations list
3. You meet the required skills to fill the position which are benchmarked to the Australia and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations (ANZSCO) or specified in the Horticulture skills occupations list
4. You meet the English level requirements applicable to your country’s passport criteria for the SC482 Visa or according to concessions available on the horticulture labour agreement
5. Your sponsoring Australian employer is an approved Standard business sponsor or has made an application for a Standard business sponsor Visa and has a valid Labour agreement in place