Employer Sponsored Visas - New Priority and LMT Requirements

The Australian Government has announced a number of changes to the employer-sponsored visa program, with an aim to fill urgent skills needs in critical sectors while also ensuring that Australian workers have first access to job vacancies.

PRIORITY SKILLS

Immigration has introduced a new Priority Migration Skilled Occupation List (PMSOL) targeting occupations in the health care, construction, and IT sectors that will assist in Australia's COVID recovery.

Employer-sponsored applicants in the PMSOL occupations will be given priority processing for both nomination and visa applications in the following visa types:

• Subclass 482 - Temporary Skill Shortage (TSS) visa
• Subclass 494 - Skilled Employer Sponsored Regional (Provisional) visa
• Subclass 186 - Employer Nomination Scheme (ENS) visa
• Subclass 187 - Regional Sponsored Migration Scheme (RSMS)

Applicants and existing employer-sponsored visa holders on the PMSOL can also request a travel exemption to enter Australia during the current border closures. However, the mandatory 14-day quarantine period still applies and will still be at the traveller or sponsor's expense.

Occupations on the PMSOL (as of September 2020)

• Chief Executive or Managing Director (111111)
• Construction Project Manager (133111)
• Mechanical Engineer (233512)
• General Practitioner (253111)
• Resident Medical Officer (253112)
• Psychiatrist (253411)
• Medical Practitioner nec (253999)
• Midwife (254111)
• Registered Nurse (Aged Care) (254412)
• Registered Nurse (Critical Care and Emergency) (254415)
• Registered Nurse (Medical) (254418)
• Registered Nurse (Mental Health) (254422)
• Registered Nurse (Perioperative) (254423)
• Registered Nurses nec (254499)
• Developer Programmer (261312)
• Software Engineer (261313)
• Maintenance Planner (312911)

STRENGTHENED LABOUR MARKET TESTING

From 1 October 2020, employers looking to nominate a foreign worker for a Subclass 482 TSS visa or a Subclass 494 SESR visa will be required to advertise the nominated position in three different places, including the Government's Jobactive website (www.jobactive.gov.au).

The Government introduced this additional requirement to ensure that skilled Australian citizens and permanent residents have access to job opportunities before overseas workers. Jobactive is a free recruitment site, so there is no additional cost to employers.

The balance advertisements can be on:

• a recruitment website with national reach in Australia (other than Jobactive);
• print media with national reach in Australia;
• radio with national reach in Australia;
• if an accredited sponsor - on the sponsor's website.

Nomination applications lodged before 1 October do not need to meet this additional LMT requirement. In order to avoid additional delays, employers who have already conducted labour market testing should ensure applications are lodged as soon as possible.