There are various options available for people seeking to be sponsored and employed by an Australian business.  These options come under two headings.

Temporary Sponsored Visa
The most common visa application is a subclass 457 visa, which is where an employer is unable to meet its skill needs from within the local labour market.

Individuals who have a job offer from an Australian company are able to apply for a temporary visa, valid for a period of up to four (4) years, to enable them to remain in Australia and work. The visa requires sponsorship from the employer, and nomination of the job offer needs to gain approval from Department of Immigration & Citizenship (DIAC). The job title should be listed on the relevant Gazette Notice for Subclass 457 Skilled Occupations, and a minimum salary requirement is necessary.

At the end of the visa period, the visa applicant would need to either depart Australia, apply for another temporary visa, or the employee may be eligible to apply for permanent residency through an Employer Sponsored Category.

Under new changes to this visa category, applicants are now required to provide evidence of their English language capabilities. In most cases, an applicant will be required to sit the IETLS exam to prove their competency.

Permanent Employer Sponsored Migration
The two most common visas under employer sponsored migration are the:

Regional Sponsored Migration Scheme (RSMS) : This has been designed to assist employers in regional or low population growth areas of Australia, who are unable to meets their skills needs and fill skilled vacancies from within the local labour market and need to recruit and employ highly skilled staff from overseas or people who are currently in Australia as the holder of a temporary visa.

An employer can take part in this scheme if their business is in any part of Australia except for Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Wollongong, Perth, the Gold Coast and Newcastle. All employers located in South Australia, including Adelaide are eligible for this scheme.

This is a three (3) stage application process where initially the nomination or job/employment vacancy must be certified by a Regional Certifying Body. After this initial stage the nomination is forwarded to the DIAC. Once the second stage has been successfully assessed by DIAC, the nominee or prospective employee’s visa application is assessed. It is at this stage where the visa applicant is required to demonstrate that they have the relevant skills, qualifications and work experience to carry out the nominated occupation and meet other mandatory requirements.

Employer Nominated Scheme (ENS) : This has been designed for Australian employers to recruit permanent, highly skilled staff from abroad or people currently in Australia on a temporary visa, where they have been unable to fill a vacancy from within the local labour market or through their own internal training programs.

There are two stages to the application process, the first being where the employer lodges a nomination application to the DIAC, whilst the second is where the prospective employee applies for the visa.

An employer can take part in this scheme if their business is in any part of Australia, including those areas eligible under the Regional Skilled Migration Scheme. All employers located throughout Australia are eligible for this scheme.

Visa applications under the ENS must be nominated by an Australian employer and must be approved by DIAC before the visa can be granted. In addition to this, the visa applicant is also required to demonstrate that they have the relevant skills, qualifications and work experience to carry out the nominated occupation and meet other mandatory requirement.