Recent Media release regarding Coronavirus from David Coleman on Saturday, 04 April 2020 (Minister for Immigration, Citizenship, Migrant Services and Multicultural Affairs)

PLUS

Recent advices that our office have received from sources in the industry regarding subclass 482 holders

TSS VISA (SUBCLASS 482)

The TSS visa is for skilled workers who want to work in Australia temporarily.

This visa involves a three-step process:

Step 1: a sponsorship application by the employer

Step 2: a nomination application for a skilled position by the employer

Step 3: a visa application by the proposed employee

The three steps above must be completed in order. You do not, however, have to wait for each application to be approved to move onto the next step.

As an overseas worker, you can apply for this visa if you:

have been nominated for a position by an approved sponsor and that nomination has been approved
meet any required skills and qualifications requirements including completing any skills assessments required
meet English language requirements
if in Australia, hold a substantive visa, a Bridging A B or 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.

The 457 visa is for temporary skilled workers in Australia.

Approved sponsor

Before you can apply for a TSS visa, your proposed employer will need to lodge a nomination application for you.
They will only be able to do this if they are an approved sponsor or have at least lodged an application to become a standard business sponsor.

Training requirements

The Bills to implement the Skilling Australians Fund (SAF) levy are currently before the Parliament. As a result, standard business and labour agreement sponsors are still required to meet their training obligations.
If the government succeeds in passing the SAF Levy, sponsors will be required to pay the Levy based on the number of years they are seeking sponsorship for the position. Fees of $1800 per year apply to businesses with a turnover above $10 million or $1200 where turnover is under $10 million.

Labour Market Testing requirement

Standard business sponsors must test the local labour market prior to lodging a nomination application unless an international trade obligation applies.

Age

There is no age requirement for this visa.

English language

You must provide evidence that you meet the English language requirements.

Skills, qualifications and experience

You must provide evidence that you have the necessary skills, qualifications and employment background to perform the nominated occupation.

Health

You must meet the health requirement.
The results of your health examinations are generally valid for 12 months.
This applies to all members of your family unit included in your application.

Character

You must provide a police certificate from each country you have lived in for 12 months or more during the past 10 years after you turned 16 years of age.
This applies to you and all members of your family unit listed in your application.

Accredited sponsors have certain leniencies in this respect.

Short-term stream (can be initially sponsored for up to two years and again for a further two years, however exceptions apply)

You might be able to get a visa under this stream if, in addition to the above general requirements, you:

have worked in your nominated occupation, or a related field, for at least two years
are a genuine applicant for entry and stay as a short term visa holder
will be working directly for your sponsor or for an associated entity of your sponsor, unless the nominated occupation is exempt from this requirement

Medium-term stream (can be sponsored for up to four years)

You might be able to get a visa under this stream if, in addition to the above general requirements, you:

have worked in your nominated occupation, or a related field, for at least two years
will be working directly for your sponsor or for an associated entity of your sponsor, unless the nominated occupation is exempt from this requirement

Labour agreement stream

You might be able to get a visa under this stream if, in addition to the above general requirements, you:

are nominated in an occupation included in a labour agreement which your employer has entered into with the Department
have worked in your nominated occupation, or a related field, for at least two years (unless this is not required under the labour agreement).

What you can do

This visa allows you to travel to and from Australia for the duration of your visa

Other visa criteria also apply. Contact us to book a consultation and discuss the above with our team.

Useful tips

You cannot attach a refused subclass 457 application to a new TSS Nomination application. In that scenario, a new TSS Visa application will also need to be lodged.

Evidence of Labour Market Testing (summary)

For the TSS visa program, there are currently a few exemptions available:

for specific occupations or
on the basis of the skill level of group of occupations (example ANZSCO skill level 1 or 2).

International trade obligations:
LMT is not required where it would conflict with Australia’s international trade obligations

LMT overview:
Sponsors must provide a copy of the advertising material used to advertise the position must be provided (that is, a copy of the two advertisements that meet our requirements) when you nominate an applicant.

For most nominations, advertising must be done:

within the 4 months immediately before lodging a nomination application
if within 4 months before lodging the nomination application, and if the sponsor or an associated entity has made any Australian citizen or permanent resident workers redundant or retrenched them from positions in the nominated occupation, the advertising must have occurred since the date that these events occurred. Note: when this occurs, information about these redundancies or retrenchments must also be provided.

Advertising of the nominated position must meet all of the below:

– the advertisement was in Australia, in English and included the following information:

the title, or a description, of the position. Note, multiple positions in one advertisement are acceptable
the skills or experience required for the position
the name of the approved sponsor or the name of the recruitment agency being used by the sponsor and
the salary for the position – if the annual earnings for the position are lower than $96,400. Note: it is acceptable to publish a salary range—for example $80,000 to $90,000.

– at least 2 advertisements were published in any of the below:

on a prominent or professional recruitment website with national reach (for example jobactive.gov.au) that publishes advertisements for positions throughout Australia.- industry specific recruitment websites relevant to the occupation that are in significant use by the industry are an acceptable method of LMT advertising.
– a general classifieds website or an advertisement solely through social media notification (such as Twitter or Instagram) are not acceptable methods. LinkedIn’s online recruitment platform is acceptable for LMT purposes. Job vacancies restricted to LinkedIn profile members only are not acceptable for LMT purposes.

in national print media—that is, newspapers or magazines with national reach that are published at least monthly and marketed throughout Australia
on national radio with national reach; or
on the business’ website if the sponsor is an accredited sponsor.

– advertisements including on websites, are expected to have run for at least 4 weeks.

– applications or expressions of interest for the advertised position must have been accepted for at least 4 weeks.

Note:

the nominated position may be advertised in the same medium (such as newspaper advertisements – on two separate occasions) or in any two different mediums simultaneously, or on two separate occasions
advertising may have been undertaken by a third party if authorised to do so by the sponsor (for example, an associated entity or a contracted party, such as a recruitment agency) – there is no requirement that the sponsor placed the advertisement themselves.

(The above section re LMT overview: is vital for sponsors to comply with. This has been copied from this link https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/visas/employing-and-sponsoring-someone/sponsoring-workers/nominating-a-position/labour-market-testing)

TSS VISA (SUBCLASS 482)

Approved sponsor

Training requirements

Labour Market Testing requirement

Age

English language

Skills, qualifications and experience

​Health

Character

Accredited sponsors have certain leniencies in this respect.

Short-term stream (can be initially sponsored for up to two years and again for a further two years, however exceptions apply)

Medium-term stream (can be sponsored for up to four years)

Labour agreement stream

What you can do

Useful tips

Evidence of Labour Market Testing (summary)

Health