WORK VISAS
Temporary Skilled Work Visa (Subclass 457)
The Temporary Work (Skilled) (subclass 457) visa is designed to enable employers to address labours shortages by bringing in genuinely skilled workers where they cannot find an appropriately skilled Australian.
The subclass 457 visa is the most commonly used program for employers to sponsor overseas workers to work in Australia on a temporary basis. The subclass 457 visa allows businesses to employ overseas workers for up to 4 years in skilled occupations only.
Subclass 457 visa holders can:
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work in Australia for a period of between one day and 4 years
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bring any eligible dependants with them to Australia — dependants can work and study
after entering Australia, have no limit on the number of times they can travel in and out of Australia.
Application Stages
There are 3 processing stages in sponsoring an employee from overseas under the subclass 457 visa program:
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Sponsorship: The employer applies for approval as a standard business sponsor. This is required to nominate an occupation for a subclass 457 visa.
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Nomination: The employer nominates an occupation for a prospective or existing subclass 457 visa holder.
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Visa application: The person nominated to work in the nominated occupation applies for the subclass 457 visa. This is the final step to obtaining a subclass 457 visa.
Who can apply for a subclass 457 visa?
You can apply for a subclass 457 visa if you:
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have been nominated by an employer to work in Australia under standard business sponsorship and you have been advised by that employer to apply for your visa
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have been nominated by an employer to work in Australia under a labour agreement and you have been advised by that employer to apply for your visa
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have been nominated to work in Australia on the basis of a transfer within your company and have been advised by your employer to apply for your visa
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will be a representative of a supplier of services who is located outside Australia
are a member of the family unit of a primary visa applicant who is seeking to be granted a subclass 457 visa on the basis that they meet the primary visa requirements.
Intra-company transfers
Streamlined processing arrangements are in place to help executives, managers and specialists on intra-company transfer (employees of an international business transferred to Australia to work in a branch or subsidiary of the business). These arrangements also assist intra-company transfers between Asia Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC) economies.
APEC economies are:
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Australia
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Brunei Darussalam
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Canada
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Chile
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China
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Chinese Taipei
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Hong Kong (China)
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Indonesia
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Japan
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Korea
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Malaysia
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Mexico
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New Zealand
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Papua New Guinea
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Peru
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Philippines
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Russia
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Singapore
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Thailand
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United States of America
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Vietnam
Application by family members
Members of a primary visa applicant’s family unit who are applying for a subclass 457 visa at the same time as the primary visa applicant may make a combined application with the primary visa applicant.
They can apply on the same form and pay one visa application charge.
Members of a primary visa applicant’s family unit applying for a subclass 457 visa who do not make a combined application with the primary visa applicant will be required to make a separate visa application and pay the visa application charge again.
There are more working opportunities and options on the next page.