457 visa
The Temporary Work (Skilled) visa (subclass 457) allows skilled workers to come to Australia and work for an approved business for up to four years. This visa allows you to:
- Bring your family to work or study in Australia
- Travel in and out of Australia as often as you want.
- This is a sponsored visa. Before you can apply for the visa, your employer must:
- Become an approved sponsor
- Nominate you for a position.
You can apply for this visa at the same time your employer lodges their applications to sponsor and nominate you. A business can sponsor someone for this visa if they cannot find an Australian citizen or permanent resident to do the skilled work.
You can be in or outside Australia when you lodge your application.
Employer Nomination Scheme (subclass 186)
This visa is a permanent residence visa and is for skilled workers who want to work in Australia. This visa involves a two-step process, firstly, nomination by an approved Australian employer and then an application under the nominated stream. The visa has three streams:
- Direct Entry stream is for those people who have been nominated by their employer under the Direct Entry stream and have never or only briefly, worked in Australia
- Temporary Residence Transition stream is for subclass 457 visa holders who have worked for two years and their employer wants to offer them a permanent position.
- The Agreement stream is for people sponsored by an employer through a labour agreement.
Regional Sponsored Migration Scheme (subclass 187)
This visa is for skilled workers from outside/Inside Australia or skilled temporary residents who live and work in regional Australia. It has three streams.
- The Temporary Residence Transition stream is for subclass 457 visa holders who have worked for two years and their employer wants to offer them a permanent position.
- The Direct Entry stream is for people who have never, or only briefly, worked in the Australian labour market.
- The Agreements stream is for people sponsored by an employer through a labour or regional migration agreement.
