Accredited Sponsor Program for 457 Visas Announced

By Natalya Khodan
03 November 2011

Immigration Minister Chris Bowen announced last Wednesday that he was creating a new accreditation scheme for the 457 visa system set to begin on November 7.

Company sponsorship will be valid for 6 years, should the company meet "Accredited Sponsor" requirements. At the moment sponsorship is only valid for 3.

All the following criteria must be met to gain "Accredited Sponsor" status:

  • be a government agency, a publicly listed company, or a private company, with a minimum of $4 million turnover per year over the last three years;
  • have been an active Subclass 457 visa sponsor for the past three years (with a break of no more than six months, which was not due to any sanction);
  • have no adverse information known of it based on Department of Immigration and the Department of Employment monitoring, including formal warnings and sanctions;
  • have had at least 30 primary Subclass 457 visa applications granted in the previous 12 months;
  • have lodged a high level of Decision Ready applications over the previous two years;
  • have a non-approval rate of less than three percent during the previous three years; and
  • have Australian workers comprising at least 75 percent of its workforce in Australia, and have made a commitment to maintain this level.
Also skilled employees coming to Australia will be able to have their visa applications fast-tracked, under changes to the 457 visa system.

Registered Migration agents can assist in getting 457 applications faster by using 457 Decision Ready Checklist and lodging Decision Ready applications. Decision Ready Checklists are currently used for ENS (Employer Nomination Scheme) and RSMS (Regional Sponsored Migration Scheme) visa subclasses.

Please contact us if you would like to know more about business sponsorship.

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