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Permanent Work Visas

The Employer Nomination Scheme

The Employer Nomination Scheme (ENS) enables Australian employers to recruit highly skilled overseas workers where they are unable to fill specific positions from the Australian labour market or through their own training efforts.

Streamlined arrangements have been put in place where an Australian employer is nominating a person under the ENS who has already been working for the employer in Australia on a suitable temporary residence visa. Nominees in this category will generally not be required to undergo a formal skills assessment before they qualify for a permanent residence visa under the ENS.

To address shortages in the workplace, people from nominated professions are given extra points towards their points test score. If you are a professional or tradesperson in one of the following trades you will get an extra 15 points or 20 points for occupations in demand with a job offer in Australia.

The ENS process has 2 distinct stages:

STAGE 1. Requirements for the employer

Visa & Immigration Services Australia will apply and lodge the nomination application at a departmental Business Centre in Australia. The nomination will be assessed against the following requirements.

The employer must:

  • be actively and lawfully operating in Australia
  • have a genuine need for a paid employee to fill a position in the employer's business
  • have a satisfactory record of compliance with immigration law and workplace relations law
  • have made adequate provision for training existing Australian employees, or if a newly established business, be making adequate provision for future training of Australian employees.

The position in the employer's business must:

  • be full-time and available for at least three years
  • be in accordance with the standards for working conditions provided under Australian industrial laws
  • correspond to an occupation on the ENS List of Occupations;
  • attract a base salary that is at least the minimum salary that has been published in a Government Gazette Notice for the occupation

STAGE 2: Requirements for the nominee

The nominee must complete the Application for employer sponsored migration to Australia and pay an application charge. Visa applicants under the ENS must be nominated by an Australian employer in accordance with the ENS nomination requirements and before the visa can be granted that nomination must be approved. In addition, the visa application will be assessed against the following:

    • seither the applicant:
    • has worked full-time in Australia in the occupation for which they have been nominated for the last 2 years, including at least the last 1 year working for the nominating employer
    • has been nominated to fill a highly paid senior executive position with a salary of more that $250,000 per annum or
    • has had their skills assessed as suitable by the relevant skills assessing authority and, unless exceptional circumstances apply, has at least 3 years
  • experience in the occupation
  • the applicant is able to satisfy any mandatory licensing, registration or professional membership requirements
  • unless exceptional circumstances apply, the applicant is less than 45 years of age
  • unless exceptional circumstances apply, the applicant has Vocational English language ability
  • the applicant and all family unit members meet mandatory health and character requirements.

    • Do you qualify for a Permanent Work Visa?

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