457 Visa

The 457 visa is the most popular visa used by Australian employers and international businesses to arrange temporary work placements in Australia.

The 457 visa is allocated to the individual employee and dependent family members (called secondary applicants) for a maximum of 4 years.

Visa holders are entitled to apply for permanent residence after 2 years of continual employment (but only with the same employer sponsor).

Process of Applications

Before a visa application can be made, the employer, whether an Australian business or international entity, must be accredited as a Standard Business Sponsor.

Once accredited as a Standard Business Sponsor, a Nomination application is to be made.

An approved Nomination is a prerequisite to a successful grant of 457 visa.

Pitfalls to Avoid

The key pitfalls to avoid in making each of the 3 applications for a 457 visa grant are listed below. The list is comprised of common reasons for application failures.

1. Standard Business Sponsorship:
   1. Failure to demonstrate financial capacity to sponsor non-resident employees;
   2. Failure to demonstrate lawful operations;
   3. Failure to demonstrate genuine need to sponsor non-resident employees;
   4. Failure to demonstrate training benchmark requirements;
   5. Insufficient or poorly written Auditable Training Plans.
2. Nomination:
   1. Incorrectly nominated occupation from the Consolidated Sponsored Occupation List (CSOL);
   2. Failure to demonstrate Guaranteed Annual Earnings equal to or above the TSMIT;
   3. Failure to meet Labor Market Testing guidelines;
   4. Failure to demonstrate a genuine need for the nominated role in the business.
3. 457 Visa application:
   1. Incorrect occupation for applicant skills, qualifications and background;
   2. Problems with Skills assessment;
   3. Insufficient work experience or training exposure to job role tasks.