The 101 on the 457 visa - How I did it

[Kevin McAuley]

If you’re thinking of moving to the land of Oz, and you fancy yourself to be a bit of a skilled worker, the 457 visa may be your way to do it.

 

What it is

The 457 visa, is technically a subclass of something called the Temporary Skilled Work Standard Business Sponsorship. The Australian Government has been working over the past few years to reduce the processing times for 457 applications, which is great news for people like you and me!

 

What it entitles you to –

The 457 allows you to stay in Australia for a period of 4 years. After these 4 years are up, your employer can either renew your 457, or you can apply for Australian Permanent Residency after 2 years (I’ll be sure to come back give you a rundown of this process if I eventually end up doing this myself)

 

Conditions of the visa –

There are a few conditions of the visa which you need to meet to continue being eligible.

· You must work full time (i.e. at least 35 hours a week) for the whole duration of your stay. If you stop working for that employer for whatever reason, you’ve got 28 days to find a new employer to sponsor you, or unfortunately, you’ll have to leave Oz.

· You can only work for one employer at a time. So no part time jobs or freelancing.

 

Is it the right visa for you?

The 457 may be right for you if:

· You have a skill you think would be useful to an employer in Australia (whether it be a technical, professional or manual skill)

· You want to move to Australia temporarily, with the intention to move permanently.

 

How much will it cost?

$350 at the time of your application. Depending on your employer, they may pay this fee for you, but be prepared to pay it if you have to.

 

Steps:

1. Before you go – Start scoping out the job market in Australia BEFORE you leave, and think about what type of industry you’d like to work in. It doesn’t hurt to test the waters and start emailing a few companies to see if they’ve got any jobs available.

2. Working Holiday Visa – My suggestion would be to apply for a Working Holiday visa, which is easy to do online. Some of people use this as a kind of “foot in the door” way to actually get to Australia, and allows them to find a job while they’re actually there, at it’s often easier if you can meet with employers face to face, rather than over the phone or email. Almost goes without saying, but make sure you’ll be financially able to support yourself during your job search!

3. Make it clear to your company that you’re after the 457 sponsorship – I made it clear from day one that my goal was to get the 457 sponsorship through the company. So be upfront and let them know you’ll be willing to work hard for it.

4. Apply through your company – If all goes well and your company is happy to sponsor you, they’ll first have to apply to be a sponsor (if they haven’t already). I was lucky in that my company had already sponsored quite a few people before, but check that your employer is willing to do so (it’s a $425 fee they’ll have to pay, plus $85 to nominate you specifically).

5. Gather your documents – If your employer has sponsored a few people before, like my employer had, there should be someone within the company who’s experienced in the process and should be able to help you out by starting the application online for you. Then you’ll just have to go in and fill in your parts of the form. You’ll need to upload authorized copies of things like your passport, birth certificate (most post offices can authorise copies for you).

6. Apply – lodge the application online. Theoretically it takes 22 days for processing, but like I said, this should be much shorter now due to changes in the Australian Government budget.

Things to keep in mind:

· As I’ve said in a previous post, be prepared to work your butt of in the job you find – your employer must see you as a valuable employee.

· Consider travelleing a bit first if you can, this is something I didn’t do and regret to a certain degree.

· You could do regional work to get a 2^nd working holiday visa which could then give you over 18 months to find that sponsor.

 

That’s it!

I know this all seems kind of complicated at first, and as with any applications through the government, it can be! But I hope this has at least given you a bit of an introduction and summary

As always, feel free to PM me with any questions you have – happy to share my advice =)If you’re thinking of moving to the land of Oz, and you fancy yourself to be a bit of a skilled worker, the 457 visa may be your way to do it.

Edited February 3, 2013 by Rupert
you wrote everything twice, just deleting the duplicate

[blossom]

Thanks. You have written it twice though. Great effort though.

 

Just a couple of small corrections. You can apply for perminent residency at any time while on a 457 visa if you meet the requirements.

After two years you don't need to do the skills assessment, but your employer must still sponsor you if you didn't already meet the requirements for a skilled independent or state sponsored visa. So they apply for it, not you. This is all well and good if everything is still going well, but often it isn't. Also, for them to be able to do this there are a couple of extra hoops for them to jump through. Big companies should have no problem, but smaller ones may struggle.

 

Another set of important considerations is that this is just a temp visa, so if you have children you won't get any help money wise. If they want to study at tafe etc then the fees will be huge. School fees vary state to state. And the most important thing for parents of older children, they must stay in full time education until you are granted a permanent visa or they are no longer counted as a dependent and can't be included on your visa.

[Kevin McAuley]

Hi Blossom,

Thanks for the additional information. I guess that subconsciously I write for people like myself who are perhaps younger and single and forget to thing of those who have kids ect! Great feedback though.

 

(Also not sure why it posted twice, thanks to Rupert for amending)

[LYNDAMUMFORD]

Hi Blossom79 - just to clarify if you could, my friend has her 21 year old working son with her. He came as part of the 457 Visa that dad was sponsored on at which time he was under 18 .They will be looking to the permanent visa this year, how will this impact on the 21year old? Will he have to apply for his own visa now? My friends agent has told her not to worry, he can be included on theirs despite his age & working

[Peach]

Hi Blossom79 - just to clarify if you could, my friend has her 21 year old working son with her. He came as part of the 457 Visa that dad was sponsored on at which time he was under 18 .They will be looking to the permanent visa this year, how will this impact on the 21year old? Will he have to apply for his own visa now? My friends agent has told her not to worry, he can be included on theirs despite his age & working

 

She should get a second opinion. From what I've read on here before the son needs to be dependent at the time the permanent visa is applied for otherwise he'll need his own visa..

[Rupert]

It is a situation best avoided, anyone with older teenagers would be well advised to look to get the PR visa asap.

 

However I believe something changed quite recently to make it easier for parents to include independent children on the PR visa if they were on an earlier 457, this could be why agent thinks it is ok.

[blossom]

Yes definatly get a second opinion. There has been talk of changing it, but I don't think this has happened yet.

 

I can recomend George Lombard.

[Tickled Pink]

Not only can you be sponsored for PR straight away if your employer agrees, but if you are also on the exempt list you do not need a skills assessment. This list of occupations is quite short, but can be found in booklet 5 on the immigration website. If you don't need a skills assessment it cuts down both the overall processing time and the cost - as you don't need to pay for it!