457 visa - Grandfathering Arrangements

The 457 visa is a temporary work visa for Australia. It allows Australian and overseas businesses to sponsor overseas workers to live and work in Australia for up to 4 years. Family members can be included in the visa application and the visa allows unlimited travel into and out of Australia during the validity period. Among other advantages of the 457 visa, this high level of flexibility makes the 457 visa the preferred choice of employers to sponsor overseas employees to work in Australia. After two years on a 457 visa, visa holders may also be sponsored for Permanent Residency in Australia.

482 visa

In March 2018, the subclass 457 visa was abolished and replaced by the TSS visa (482 visa - temporary skill shortage visa):

TSS visa (482 visa)

Grandfathering Arrangements

The Department has introduced certain arrangements for 457 holders which still apply (grandfathering arrangments).

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The 457 visa and its application stages

Sponsorship: Businesses need to be approved as a business sponsor by the DHA, to sponsor employees with a 457 visa. To become approved as a sponsor, the key criteria that the employer needs to be able to show are that it:

• is a lawfully operating business
• meets certain training benchmarks if the business has operated in Australia for more than 12 months or
• has an auditable training plan to meet the training benchmarks if the business has been trading in Australia for less than 12 months

Nomination: The employer needs to nominate a position which needs to be fulfilled by an overseas employee. To nominate a position, the business generally is required to:

• nominate a position on the relevant occupation list
• demonstrate that the position associated with the nominated occupation is genuine i.e. it fits within the scope, scale and context of the nominating business
• offer a base salary of at least A$53,900 per annum and employment terms and conditions which are at least equivalent to those which an Australian would achieve performing the same work at the same location. This includes paying market salary rates.

457 Visa: In order to be granted a 457 visa, the key criteria that visa applicants need to demonstrate are that they:

• have the qualifications, skills and experience to fulfil the nominated position
• meet English language requirements
• meet health and character requirements