Are you struggling to find skilled staff for your business? Have your recruitment efforts searching the local labour market so far proved unsuccessful?
Well, you may like to consider sponsoring foreign workers for a Subclass 482 Temporary Skill Shortage visa as a potential solution to the skill shortages which you are experiencing. The subclass 482 temporary skill shortage visa is designed to assist employers to bring in genuinely skilled workers from overseas where appropriately skilled workers are not able to be sourced from the Australian labour market.
Keen to find out more? Well, you’ve come to the right place! Read on to find out more about the subclass 482 temporary skill shortage visa as we delve deeper into its key features and requirements, the application process (including the nomination for a temporary skill shortage visa) and links to further information so that you can learn more about the subclass 482 temporary skill shortage visa.
First up, what are the key features of the subclass 482 temporary skill shortage visa?
Key Features Of The Subclass 482 Temporary Skill Shortage Visa?
The temporary skill shortage visa program is designed to assist employers in Australia to help fill skill shortages where they cannot be sourced in the local employment market. It is therefore open only to selected occupations that are experiencing labour shortages. As the supply and demand pressures for labour changes over time, so too will the selected occupations that can be nominated for the temporary skill shortage visa, such that it mirrors and responds to the changing needs of the Australian labour market.
In order to nominate a worker for a subclass 482 temporary skill shortage visa, in certain instances, labour market testing must be conducted by the employer to demonstrate that the position cannot be filled in the local employment market. Please refer to our article on Labour Market Testing Requirements to find out more.
Temporary Skill Shortage Visa Streams
The subclass 482 temporary skill shortage visa is made up of three streams, being a Short-term, Medium-term and Labour Agreement stream. As a temporary skill shortage visa holder, your sponsored foreign worker will be permitted to live and work in Australia for a period of up to either two or four years (depending on the stream under which you apply).
Short-Term Stream
The short-term stream is for employers to source highly skilled overseas workers to fill short-term positions in a range of occupations for a maximum of two years (or four years if an international trade obligation applies).
To sponsor a foreign worker under the short-term stream, the nominated occupation to be filled by your proposed sponsored foreign worker must be included on the Short-term Skilled Occupation List (STSOL), with eligibility to apply for permanent residence after two years.
As the sponsoring employer under the short-term stream, your business must also be an approved Standard Business Sponsor (SBS).
Please refer to our articles on How To Become A Sponsor and the Business Requirements For Accredited Sponsorship for further information.
Medium-Term Stream
The medium-term stream is for employers to source highly skilled overseas workers to fill medium-term critical skills needs for up to four years, with eligibility to apply for permanent residence after two years.
To sponsor a foreign worker under the medium-term stream, the nominated occupation to be filled by your proposed sponsored foreign worker must be included on the Medium and Long-term Strategic Skills List (MLTSSL).
As with the short-term stream, your business must be an approved Standard Business Sponsor (SBS) to sponsor workers under the medium-term stream.
Please refer to our articles on How To Become A Sponsor and the Business Requirements For Accredited Sponsorship for further information.
Labour Agreement Stream
To sponsor a foreign worker under the labour agreement stream, as the sponsoring employer, your business must have an executed labour agreement in place with the Government to source skilled overseas workers, where there is a demonstrated need that cannot be met in the Australian labour market and the standard visa programs are not available. This would be the case, for example, where the occupation which you seek to nominate in your business is not included on the Skilled Occupation List (SOL) for the standard visa programs. The benefit of the labour agreement stream is the flexibility that it provides to help businesses to fill skill shortages that are unique to their specific circumstances. And so, for instance, new and emerging occupations may be sought to be nominated under a labour agreement.
A labour agreement may also include certain concessions that apply to work experience, English language and age requirements, for example.
It provides a pathway to permanent residency after two years under the TRT stream, or in accordance with the terms of the labour agreement if being nominated for an ENS visa under the labour agreement stream.
To learn more about labour agreements, including the different types of labour agreements and the process for applying for one, please refer to our Labour Agreement Visa article.
Temporary Skill Shortage Visa List Application Process
The temporary skill shortage visa list application process consists of three stages; namely a sponsorship, nomination and visa application stage. The sponsorship and nomination for a temporary skill shortage visa application are to be lodged by the employer, and the visa application is to be lodged by the proposed foreign worker whom you seek to sponsor in your business.
All three applications can be submitted at the same time. If your business already has an approved sponsorship or labour agreement in place, only a nomination and visa application is required (sponsorships and labour agreements generally last for a period of five years).
Subclass 482 Temporary Skill Shortage Visa Renewal
The subclass 482 temporary skill shortage visa can also be renewed onshore without restriction.
Pathway To Permanent Residency Visa
The subclass 482 temporary skill shortage visa provides a pathway to permanent residency in Australia for your sponsored foreign worker via a Subclass 186 Employer Nomination Scheme (ENS). The ENS visa includes a Temporary Residence Transition stream (TRT), which is specifically designed for subclass 482 temporary skill shortage visa holders who have worked full-time for their sponsoring employer for two out of the last three years.
Your subclass 482 sponsored foreign worker may also qualify for permanent residency under the labour agreement stream, subject to meeting requirements as specified in the executed labour agreement.
For further information on the subclass 186 ENS visa, we recommend that you refer to our article on the Employer Nomination Migration Scheme.
Let us now take a closer look at the three stages that comprise a temporary skill shortage visa list application, namely a sponsorship, nomination for a temporary skill shortage visa and visa application.
Sponsorship For A Temporary Skill Shortage Visa
How Does A Business Qualify As A Sponsor
As discussed above, the first step in the process to sponsor a foreign worker for a subclass 482 temporary skill shortage visa is for your business to obtain approval as a Standard Business Sponsor (SBS). In order to do so, your business must meet a number of specified requirements, including:
- be lawfully operating a business;
- have a strong record of, or a demonstrated commitment to, employing local labour, and declaring that they will not engage in discriminatory recruitment practices; and
- there must be no adverse information known to the Department of Home Affairs (the Department) about you, as the employer, or a person associated with your business, or it is reasonable to disregard such information.
A wide range of business structures is acceptable for sponsorship purposes, including sole traders, partnerships, companies (public and private) and non-profit organisations.
Please refer to our article on How To Become A Sponsor for further information.
Also be aware that as a condition of sponsorship approval, a sponsor is required to abide by a number of specified sponsorship obligations. Be mindful that the Department monitors sponsors to ensure compliance with these obligations, and sanctions may be applied where breaches have occurred. Penalties can include cancellation of sponsorship approval and financial penalties.
How Does A Business Enter Into A Labour Agreement
As an alternative to becoming a Standard Business Sponsor, your business may seek to enter into a labour agreement with the Government. As noted, one of the main benefits of a labour agreement is that it provides more flexible terms to the standard visa programs.
Under a labour agreement, an employer can sponsor or nominate suitably skilled overseas workers for a subclass 482 temporary skill shortage visa list in accordance with the terms which have been negotiated with the Department in the executed labour agreement (different types of agreements allow for varying levels of flexibility).
We recommend that you refer to our Labour Agreement Visa article to learn more about labour agreements, including the different types of labour agreements and the process for applying for one.
Nomination For A Temporary Skill Shortage Visa
The second stage of the temporary skill shortage visa application process seeks approval for your business to nominate the proposed foreign worker for the position which you are seeking to fill.
As the employer, your business must satisfy a number of specified requirements for nomination approval, which include the following:
- the entity must be an approved sponsor or have a labour agreement in place;
- the entity must nominate an occupation from a list of eligible skilled occupations, or the occupation must be specified in a labour agreement;
- there must be no adverse information known about the business, or any person associated with the business;
- the position must be genuine and generally, full-time employment;
- the entity must provide a written contract of employment;
- the proposed sponsored foreign worker must be employed as a direct employee, or as an employee of an associated entity if the entity is an Australian business sponsor;
- meet requirements relating to the nominated salary and employment conditions;
- provide evidence of Labour Market Testing where required (this relates to advertising in the local labour market); and
- the entity must not engage in discriminatory recruitment practices.
Visa
The final stage of the subclass 482 temporary skill shortage visa list application process is the visa. The requirements to be satisfied by your proposed sponsored worker at this stage of the application process will depend on which stream is applied for, as set out below.
Short-Term Stream
The key requirements to be met by your proposed sponsored foreign worker for grant of a subclass 482 temporary skill shortage visa include that they must:
- demonstrate that they have at least two years of employment experience in the nominated occupation or in a related field (this should generally be full-time employment completed in the last five years, although the Department may consider part-time employment). The nominated occupation must be included on the STSOL;
- have a relevant skills assessment (if required for the nominated occupation);
- meet the genuine temporary entrant requirement. This is concerned with ensuring that the proposed sponsored foreign worker intends to genuinely reside in Australia temporarily and to comply with their visa conditions; and
- meet an English language requirement (unless they qualify for an exemption).
Medium-Term Stream
The key requirements to be met by your proposed sponsored foreign worker for grant of the subclass 482 temporary skill shortage visa list include that they must:
- demonstrate that they have at least two years of employment experience in their nominated occupation or in a related field (should generally be full-time employment completed in the last five years, although the Department may consider part-time employment) and their nominated occupation must be included on the MLTSSL;
- have a relevant skills assessment (if required for their nominated occupation); and
- meet an English language requirement (unless they qualify for an exemption).
Labour Agreement Stream
The key requirements to be met by your proposed sponsored foreign worker for grant of the subclass 482 temporary skill shortage visa list include that they must:
- demonstrate that they have at least two years employment experience in their nominated occupation or in a related field (this can be disregarded if the labour agreement specified otherwise);
- have a relevant skills assessment (if required according to the labour agreement) and
- meet an English language requirement, which is generally the same as that which applies to applicants in the short-term stream unless the labour agreement specifies a different English language competency requirement.
The nominated occupation must also be included in the executed labour agreement between your business and the Government.
Get More Information
Temporary Skill Shortage Visa
For a comprehensive guide to the subclass 482 temporary skill shortage visa, please refer to our article on How To Renew 482 Visa And Extension Limitations.
Skilled Visa Options For Selected Occupations
Please refer to our series of articles on the skilled visa options that are available for selected occupations below:
Visa Options For Professionals
Skilled Trade Visa Options In Australia
Australian Immigration And Visa Options For Doctors
Australian Immigration And Visa Options For Nurses
Australian Visa Options For Engineers
Migrate To Australia As A Plastics Moulder Machine Operator, Fabricator, Welder Or Technician
How To Migrate To Australia As A Pig Farmer Or A Senior Piggery Stockperson
Migrate To Australia As A Small Engine Mechanic
Migrate To Australia As A Sandblaster
Employer Sponsored Visa
Please refer to the following articles to learn about the Subclass 482 temporary skill shortage visa and Subclass 186 ENS visa programs, including sponsorship, nomination for a temporary skill shortage visa and visa:
Employer Nomination Migration Scheme
Employer Sponsor Visa Requirements
Changes To 457 Temporary Work Skilled Visa
Business Requirements For Accredited Sponsorship
Does 482 Visa Require Skills Assessment
Permanent Residence Eligibility Extended For Certain Subclass 457 And 482 Visa Holders
How To Sponsor An Employee For A Work Visa Or Permanent Residency
Overview Of Australian Work Visas And Employer Sponsorship
Guide To Australian Sponsorship Visa Costs
Labour Market Testing Requirements
Skilled Visa
To learn more about applying for a skilled visa, please see the following articles:
Australian Skilled Migration Visa List
General Skilled Migration Visa Options
SAF Skilling Australians Fund Levy
General Skilled Migration Visa Points
Subclass 190 State Sponsorship Visa
Australian Skilled Occupations List
Australian Permanent Resident Visa Case Study
State Sponsorship Visas In Australia
South Australia State Sponsorship Opportunities
Skilled Regional Visa Australia
Regional Sponsor Migration Scheme
Regional Sponsored Visa Requirements
Visa Options For Professionals
Skilled Trade Visa Options In Australia
English Requirements For Skilled Visas
Australian Visa Options For IT Occupations
Australian Immigration And Visa Options For Doctors
Australian Immigration And Visa Options For Nurses
Australian Visa Options For Engineers
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Contact us to book a no-obligation consultation to find out more about how you may be able to sponsor a foreign worker for a subclass 482 temporary skill shortage visa, the application process, including the nomination for a temporary skill shortage visa.
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In conclusion, we note that the above discussion provides an overview of the subclass 482 temporary skill shortage visa, including the key features and requirements, as well as the application process, including the nomination for a temporary skill shortage visa. We also provide links to further information so that you can learn more about the subclass 482 temporary skill shortage visa list.
Australia’s migration laws are complex, and each case is different. We recommend that you seek professional advice if you are seeking to sponsor foreign workers for a subclass 482 temporary skill shortage visa, as being fully informed will give you the best chance of achieving a successful outcome on your application.
For up-to-date advice on how to sponsor foreign workers under the subclass 482 temporary skill shortage visa program, including how to become a sponsor and the application process, including the nomination for a temporary skill shortage visa, book your confidential consultation with a migration agent in Adelaide. PAX Migration Australia is a leading immigration advice service based in Adelaide.
