If you are the holder of a 457 or 482 Temporary Visa, there are a few different ways you can become an Australian Permanent Resident.
The most common pathways to Permanent Residency for 457 and 482 Visa holders are:
– Employer Nominated Visa (Subclass 186)
– Regional Sponsored Visa (Subclass 187)
– Skilled Independent Visa (Subclass 189)
– Skilled Nominated Visa (Subclass 190)
The Employer Nominated and Regional Sponsored Visas can be applied for through the Temporary Residence Transition Stream (TRT). This is when a 457 or 482 Visa holder has been in Australia and working for the same employer for at least two or three years, depending on when your Visa was lodged.
457 Visa holders may be eligible to apply for an Employer Nominated or Regional Sponsored Visa before this two year period is up.
482 Visa holders may be eligible to apply for permanent residency after three years with their employer, however, this will depend on the occupation.
457 and 482 Visa holders may be eligible to apply for permanent residency sooner than two or three years. Applicants must have an occupation on the MLTSSL and will require a skills assessment to be eligible for an Employer Nominated Visa (186) through the Direct Entry Stream.
There are many and well-known benefits for 457/482 visa holders upon their transition to permanent residency. We don’t often hear what the employer benefits are.
An employer must pay the training levy to the ‘Skilling Australia Fund’ or SAF as its commonly known when sponsoring an applicant for permanent residency. Although it is costly, there are a number of benefits for employers and below are just a few.
- Loyalty/Commitment. Commitment and loyalty from staff are hugely beneficial for any employer. By acknowledging the work that your 457/482 visa holder is doing, applicants are more likely to remain with their employer with the option of Permanent Residency ahead
- Upon lodging a PR visa application, the visa holder will gain access to Medicare. The benefits here are self-explanatory.
- Sponsorship obligations. Once a 457/482 visa holder becomes a permanent resident, the business will no longer have Sponsorship obligations to adhere to for that visa holder. Sponsorship obligations can be a hindrance. So no longer needing to advise the Department of Immigration if work location changes or if work conditions change. The 457/482 visa holders will be like any other Australian employee once their PR is approved.
- Visa renewal costs. Renewing a 457/482 visa for 4 years, would cost the company more than applying for permanent residency. Depending on your turnover, the SAF on a 457/482 visa renewal could be anywhere between $4800 to $7200 for a 4 year visa. Whereas, a PR application will be either $3000 or $5000 SAF. Once again, dependent on turnover (under or over $10 million).
Why now is the best time to commence?
- Meeting the criteria for employer-sponsored visas is only going to get harder. After COVD-19, requirements are going to be quite stringent. Especially for your 457/482 renewals. Evidencing that the business genuinely needs that visa holder is going to be quite a document heavy process. Employers will need to provide significant evidence to support a need for this visa holder.
- Criteria will change. There is also a risk that by the time the visa holder needs to renew their visa, they will no longer qualify under the criteria at that time. Looking forward, imagine having to send a visa holder home, when the business still needs them, because they are no longer eligible for a new visa.
- The Federal Government is spending a LOT of money to keep Australia going. They will need to recoup this in every possible way. We foresee the costs of applying for visas and possibly the SAF, to be increased exponentially.
- There is no doubt that workloads have decreased due to the pandemic across nearly all sectors. NOW would be the perfect time to collate the required documents for the nomination application. Rather than trying to sort this while the business is also trying to rebuild. NOW seems the perfect time for this reason alone.
Now is the time to apply.
Find out more about Employer Nominated (186) and Regional Sponsored(187) Visas here.
The Skilled Independent (189) and Skilled Nominated (190) Visas require a skills assessment, Expression of Interest (EOI) and an invitation to apply.
Find out more about Skilled Independent (189) and Skilled Nominated (190) Visas here.
