FAQs

Temporary Skill Shortage (TSS) visa, subclass 482, allows employers to sponsor overseas staff to be employed by them.

Here is how it works: –

• The TSS visa program is comprised of two streams – short term STSOL and medium-long-term MLTSSL– and eligibility for either stream depends on the occupation being applied for:
  • Short-term stream: a visa of up to two years can be granted with an option to apply for another two. There is no option to apply for permanent residency through this pathway;
  • Medium-Long term stream: a visa of up to four years can be granted. There is an option for the visa applicant to be sponsored for permanent residency after three years.
• There are three stages involved in the TSS programme: –
  • Standard Business Sponsorship – Business needs to be approved as a business sponsor;
  • Nomination – the position within the business needs to be approved -this is based on a specific list of occupations and will either be on the short-term list, STSOL, or long- term list,
  • Visa applicant has to meet the skill level requirement either from a relevant qualification or in some cases relevant work experience can replace a qualification, as well as having 2 years of work experience in that or a closely related occupation

All the above 3 are separate applications and have specific criteria that needs to be met.

Whether you are an employer or visa applicant, please contact us and we can discuss how the TSS can apply in your situation.

It is a condition of both the 482 and 457 visas that the visa holder can only work for the employer that sponsors them – which means that a visa holder cannot change employers unless another Australian business lodges a new nomination to link their visa to them. In addition, 482 or 457 visa holders cannot work for another employer on the side or part time.

In order to switch employers, the new potential employer must lodge a new nomination with the Department of Home Affairs. The new sponsor must apply to be approved as a Standard Business Sponsor if not already approved as one. Only once the sponsorship and nomination are approved, can the visa holder commence working for the new sponsor. The new nomination must be in the same occupation as what the visa holder was approved as when their visa was approved.

The visa holder can be employed for their new sponsor for the remaining time left on their visa.

Yes.

To do this, the visa holder will need to provide evidence that they are in a genuine relationship with their partner, even if married. If in a de-facto relationship this is taken to mean that they are living together under the same roof as a couple for around 6 months at least.

The employer must also agree in writing to meet their sponsorship obligations towards the secondary applicants. ​The subsequent dependant applicants will be granted a visa for the same period as the 457 or 482 visa holder.

Yes.

The spouse of a 457 or 482 visa holder has unrestricted work rights – providing they are included in the application or are subsequently added into the application.

Your sponsor can inform the Department of Home Affairs once your employment ceases and that they no longer wish to sponsor you. The Department of Home Affairs will grant 60 days to find a new sponsor or lodge a new visa application, which can be a different subclass of visa such as a student or partner visa.

Your sponsor has not got the authority to cancel your visa, only the Department of Home Affairs can do that and it goes through a process so you will be made aware that it is going to happen unless you take some action such as lodge another visa or leave Australia.

From the date when your services are terminated you are required to find a new employer willing to sponsor you within 60 days of your employment ceasing. This usually means transferring your 482 visa to the new employer. The new nomination and visa (if it will soon going to expire), will need to be lodged within the 60-days of your employment ceasing with the most recent employer that sponsored you.

If you cannot find a new employer you may wish to look at other visa options, such as skilled migration, partner or student visa.

Yes, it is mandatory to advertise the position. They have to appear in 3 national reaches on a prominent or professional recruitment website with national reach that publishes advertisements for positions throughout Australia. Typical websites are Seek, Indeed, Career-One and Jora. It is mandatory to advertise on Job-Active, as one of the 3 sites. A job advert on your own business website won’t count. The ad has to have compliant wording. Only if the nominee is from certain countries will you be exempt from advertising. These include countries with which Australia has a trade agreement with such is a citizen/national of China, Japan, Mexico, Thailand or Vietnam, or is a citizen/national/permanent resident of Canada, Chile, South Korea, New Zealand or Singapore.

If your employer is based in a regional area of Australia you may be able to apply for RSMS. Regional Areas are defined by postcodes.

You will need to meet the following pathway:

Temporary Residence Transition:

You have been employed for the same employer in the same occupation in that regional area for two years under 457 or three years under a 482 visa.

You hold:

• either a subclass 457 visa and must have held it as a primary visa holder on or after 18 April 2017; or
• a subclass 482 visa in the Medium-term stream and must have held it as a primary visa holder on or after 20 March 2019 or was a primary applicant for a subclass 482 visa in the Medium-term stream on 20 March 2019 that was subsequently granted.

Your employer has to present a range of documents to meet the requirements of the nomination. These include financial documents, position description, employment contract, organization chart, a statement about why the position is genuine, evidence that the salary is market related etc

No new RSMS Direct Entry (DE) nominations or visa applications can be lodged from 16 November 2019.