Alan Collett Posted April 3, 2012 Share Posted April 3, 2012 http://www.smh.com.au/business/visa-row-threat-to-gorgon-gas-20120403-1wasg.html Why do large corporates seem to think they can ignore what to me is patently obvious - of course these workers need 457 visas! I dare say the Federal Government will cave in though ... Best regards. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lebourvellec Posted April 3, 2012 Share Posted April 3, 2012 I agree Alan - it is the Company that is in the wrong/incompetent for not sorting out their visas before. My OH works in the Oil and Gas doing same sort of work and he needed to get visas for USA, Brazil, Ghana BEFORE he got on the boat, and taking alot longer to process than a 457 often having to visit the embassy first. Sounds like they are also trying to avoid the workers having to pay tax. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pintpot Posted April 3, 2012 Share Posted April 3, 2012 I can see both sides of it Undoubtedly the company is in the wrong from a legal PoV, however: a) It's not a "large corporate", not really. A medium sized specialist contractor b) They are probably used, like most offshore outfits, to working in places with less rigorous "migration zones". Maritime based personnel that don't come onshore or work onshore are treated in many jurisdictions as exempt from immigration rules as they don't interface with the host country at all c) The 457 *does* involve quite a lot of BS for the employing company. They have to jump through a lot of hoops demonstrating they employ Aussies, the pay is at least market rate, they operate training schemes, etc etc - and then prove skills of all their employees. That's not really compatible with a specialist contractor brought in to do one job for a short period with a steady crew, who then leave en masse and go somewhere else. Most countries have special visa classes to allow for this sort of trip. None of the Aussie ones really fit. Even for places like Russia, it's possible to get visas in a few days to allow you to bring people in and out for jobs like this, there's no way of doing that in Aus The government should probably remember that the point of migration controls is to ensure you have a handle on the numbers and type of people who are potentially entering the country itself and might affect its economy or domestic job market one way or the other. If they force marine contractors like this to comply with a system that doesn't really fit what they do, what benefit actually accrues to anyone? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raul Senise Posted April 3, 2012 Share Posted April 3, 2012 c) The 457 *does* involve quite a lot of BS for the employing company. They have to jump through a lot of hoops demonstrating they employ Aussies, the pay is at least market rate, they operate training schemes, etc etc - and then prove skills of all their employees. That's not really compatible with a specialist contractor brought in to do one job for a short period with a steady crew, who then leave en masse and go somewhere else. Most countries have special visa classes to allow for this sort of trip. None of the Aussie ones really fit. Even for places like Russia, it's possible to get visas in a few days to allow you to bring people in and out for jobs like this, there's no way of doing that in Aus That’s not completely accurate. As the employer is an overseas company i.e. the Swiss contractor Allseas Construction, they do not need to meet the same criteria as an Australian sponsor and as such do not have to meet things like training benchmarks and non discriminatory hiring. They are also able to access the 456 program which in some cases allows for short periods of specialised employment where there is a demonstrated need or benefit to Australia. Cases such as this, make it difficult for employers who are doing the correct things visa wise, to compete economically. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pintpot Posted April 3, 2012 Share Posted April 3, 2012 I stand corrected on that bit of bureaucracy - but the 456 doesn't seem to suit this sort of purpose either. There's still a bunch of hoops to jump through, because it (the 456) is more targeted towards people coming for conferences, negotiations or exploratory visits - not specialist contractors hired to do a job in Australia What sort of visa do international crew of ships visiting Australia need? Crew on container ships, for example? I still think it's Australia's visa system that is mismatched rather than the company trying to pull a fast one Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Collett Posted April 4, 2012 Author Share Posted April 4, 2012 As Raul says, the 457 visa process for an overseas business sponsor is less burdensome than for a sponsor that has an Australian business already established. And whether or not this company is "used to working in places with less rigorous migration zones" is not the issue - if you want to work in Australia (including within its territory offshore) you should abide by the rules of the country. This sort of nonsense ultimately results in life being made more difficult for those employers who want to do the right thing ... Best regards. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pintpot Posted April 4, 2012 Share Posted April 4, 2012 I don't care how many times you say it, IMO there's still no sensible visa category for this type of work - OK, so it's unusual work, but the system ought to be flexible enough to deal, I don't think it is I ask again, what do the international crews of ships do? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Collett Posted April 4, 2012 Author Share Posted April 4, 2012 http://www.immi.gov.au/skilled/air-sea/mcv/ Best regards. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Collett Posted April 4, 2012 Author Share Posted April 4, 2012 http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/-/breaking/13339946/offshore-workers-visa-row-deepens/ The latest ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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