Transferring a 457 to a new employer - timescales and process

[Bridgetjonhannahdaniel 10]

Hi - just wondering if anyone had any experience of this.....

 

My husband has a 457 visa which we are wanting to transfer. We are currently back in the UK having spent 12 months in Oz. We are wanting to go back and my husband has a job offer from an employer there and they are attempting to transfer the visa. The new employer already has SBS status and experience of 457s etc. On 24th July the new employer told us that immigration was 'progressing the transfer of the occupational visa' and that it should be 'linked to our current visa by the end of that week'.

 

Well.... it doesn't appear to have happened yet (today is 14th Aug) and the new employer is chasing immi. My question is at what stage in the process will immi contact my husband? or will they just contact the employer and say that it is done? And finally that 'how long is a piece of string question' any ideas on timescales???

 

Immi have our up to date contact details. I have checked our visa status through vevo - but the visa just looks the same as it always has done.

 

Any thoughts would be appreciated

[Pumpkin 1,269]

Are you sure you visa was not cancelled when you left? It should have been, or did you only leave very recently.

[drewbty 11]

How long has passed since you move back to the UK?..

 

There is no such thing as transferring a 457 visa from employer to employer as such, rather you apply for a 457 visa once a company successfully nominates you for a role, thus sponsoring you to stay in the country temporarily.

 

A new employer would have to nominate you for a new role and that would then keep your visa active.

 

Assuming no more than 90 days have passed since your husband left his previous job and the new company applied to nominate him, you go through the exact same process as before for nomination, in that it's treated as a fresh application, and the turnaround speed is no faster.

 

Expect to hear back soon enough since you've been waiting 3 weeks and processing times for decision ready cases have been taking 2.5-3.5 weeks recently.

[drewbty 11]

Just noticed you also asked will immi contact your husband - No.

 

The new employer or their people lodged the application, so they will contact them when a decision has been made on the nomination.

[Pumpkin 1,269]

I note that you left Australia in February? You should certainly have taken steps to cancel this visa, as should your employer, there are serious penalties for not doing so and I would be surprised if they didn't.

[Bridgetjonhannahdaniel 10]

Hi

Just to clarify a couple of things...

 

- yes we did leave Oz at the end of Feb and the new employer was in contact with immi about nominating him for the new role (ie employing him) before the 90 days expired also we understand that the old employer notified immi that his contract had expired. Old employer said that there was no need for us to contact immi as they would do.

 

- I am afraid I don't understand drewtby comments about not being able to transfer from employer to employer. My husbands new employer is nominating him for the role.

 

Hopefully will hear soon

[drewbty 11]

If you left Australia in February there is no existing visa, it's expired. You have to go through the whole process again, start to finish. That may mean lodging medicals with your application for certain occupations as well as police checks, applying for yourself as a 2nd applicant on the visa and also for any children if you have them. You'll know yourself if you need the medical and police check in his occupation from the previous time. You'll need your marriage cert to confirm you are his wife as a 2nd applicant.

 

You're only eligible to apply for a new visa once a nomination is approved, but they are both lodged together.

 

If that really is the 'quote unquote' the new employer told you, then they don't have a clue what they're on about. 'progressing the transfer of the occupational visa' and that it should be 'linked to our current visa by the end of that week'.

 

There is also no such thing as 'being in contact with immi about nominating him', so they've fed you bs here again. I suggest you ring them right away.

[Raul Senise 2,055]

Hi - just wondering if anyone had any experience of this.....

 

My husband has a 457 visa which we are wanting to transfer. We are currently back in the UK having spent 12 months in Oz. We are wanting to go back and my husband has a job offer from an employer there and they are attempting to transfer the visa. The new employer already has SBS status and experience of 457s etc. On 24th July the new employer told us that immigration was 'progressing the transfer of the occupational visa' and that it should be 'linked to our current visa by the end of that week'.

 

Well.... it doesn't appear to have happened yet (today is 14th Aug) and the new employer is chasing immi. My question is at what stage in the process will immi contact my husband? or will they just contact the employer and say that it is done? And finally that 'how long is a piece of string question' any ideas on timescales???

 

Immi have our up to date contact details. I have checked our visa status through vevo - but the visa just looks the same as it always has done.

 

Any thoughts would be appreciated

This is the problem with having the employer take care of the process. They may have done a 457 before, but each case is individual. Some of the advice on this thread is not entirely correct either.

 

If the process is handled properly there should be no issue with the transfer of your current 457 to a new employer and sponsor, while you are off shore, without the need for a new 457 visa application.

 

The relatively long period between leaving Australia and the new nomination being lodged could cause complications if not managed properly.

[drewbty 11]

Sorry I seem to be mistaken here if Raul is correct, a 457 visa isn't cancelled after the 3 months if you leave the country, but in fact lays 'dormant'. Is this right Raul?

 

It doesn't really affect the situation anyway, as the employer would be paying, and there should be no complications or much delay if you got it last time.

[Raul Senise 2,055]

Sorry I seem to be mistaken here if Raul is correct, a 457 visa isn't cancelled after the 3 months if you leave the country, but in fact lays 'dormant'. Is this right Raul?

 

It doesn't really affect the situation anyway, as the employer would be paying, and there should be no complications or much delay if you got it last time.

 

That’s correct, there is no automatic cancellation at the 90 day mark. In fact Immigration can be quite slow in actually processing the cancellation.

 

If they are made aware that an application to transfer the 457 to a new sponsor is underway they can be quite accommodating, within reason.

[Bridgetjonhannahdaniel 10]

Hi - thanks for the posts Raul. Our situation is resolved now and we head back to Oz at the end of Oct. I will outline what happened....

- We continued to harass the employer about the situation and I like your comment about the problems of the employer doing the application......

- Then my husband did his tax return on line and the next day we had an email from immi saying that the visa was cancelled

- The email told us that we could appeal the decision to cancel and so we emailed them explaining the situation.

- They were very helpful and once they had a copy of the job offer letter and details of the nomination they reinstated the visa

 

We have copies of all the correspondence and today we booked flights and the container.

So we got there in the end!

[Lemon ginger 10]

Hi did it take 2 months to get the nomination approved??