This visa enables employers to address labour shortages by bringing in skilled workers where employers cannot source an Australian worker with the required skills.

 

1) Short Term Stream

Overview

This visa enables employers to address labour shortages by bringing in skilled workers where employers cannot source an Australian worker with the required skills.

 

Visa Type

Temporary

 

Cost of Application

From AUD1,265 for the main applicant.

 

Duration of this Visa

Up to 2 years, or up to 4 years if an International Trade Obligation (ITO) applies

 

Uses of This Visa

 

• work in Australia for up to 2 years for your sponsor or work in Australia for up to 4 years if an International Trade Obligation (ITO) applies 
• study (you won’t receive government assistance)
• travel to and from Australia as many times as you want while the visa is valid
• if eligible, apply for permanent residence

 

Eligibility

Applicants must meet the following requirements-

 

• be nominated by your employer (who is an approved sponsor) to work in an occupation on the list of eligible short-term skilled occupations
• If applying in Australia, hold a substantive visa or bridging visa A, B or C
• have at least two years relevant work experience in your nominated occupation or a related field
• have an appropriate positive skills assessment if this is required for your occupation
• work only for your sponsor or associated entity, unless you are exempt
• Possess health insurance
• Be a genuine applicant for entry and stay as a short term visa holder
• Have not contravened ‘paying for visa sponsorship’ legislative provisions
• Meet the required level of English language
• Meet the  health requirement
• Meet the character requirement
• Pay debts to the Australian Government
• Sign the Australian Values Statement
• Not have had a visa cancelled or a previous application refused

 

2) Medium-Term Stream

 

Overview

This visa enables employers to address labour shortages by bringing in skilled workers where employers can't source an appropriately skilled Australian worker.

 

Visa Type

Temporary

 

Cost of Application

From AUD2,645 for the main applicant.

 

Duration of this Visa

Up to 4 years

 

Uses of This Visa

 

• work in Australia for your sponsor for up to 4 years
• study (no government assistance will be provided)
• travel to and from Australia as many times as you want while the visa is valid
• if eligible, apply for permanent residence

 

Eligibility

Applicants must meet the following requirements-

 

• be nominated by your employer (who is an approved sponsor) to work in an occupation on the list of eligible medium and long-term skilled occupations
• If applying in Australia, hold a substantive visa or bridging visa A, B or C
• have at least two years relevant work experience in your nominated occupation or a related field
• have a relevant positive skills assessment if this is required for your occupation
• work only for your sponsor or associated entity, unless you are exempt
• Possess health insurance
• Be a genuine applicant for entry and stay as a short term visa holder
• Have not contravened ‘paying for visa sponsorship’ legislative provisions
• Meet the required level of English language
• Meet the  health requirement
• Meet the character requirement
• Pay debts to the Australian Government
• Sign the Australian Values Statement
• Not have had a visa cancelled or a previous application refused

 

Work experience requirements for the TSS 482 visa

TSS subclass 482 visa applicants will be required to have worked in their nominated occupation, or a related field, for at least two years. Work experience associated caveats that apply at the nomination stage for the subclass 457 visa will not apply to TSS subclass 482 nominations.

The policy has outlined the TSS subclass 482 visa work experience requirements as below:

• Work experience will be considered flexibly in the context of the nominated occupation and industry practices
• Work experience should have been undertaken in the last five years and will need to be calculated in full-time work. Part-time work experience may be considered.
• Experience gained as part of the research components of a Masters and/or PhD may be considered as work experience for relevant occupations, such as medical and research occupations.
• Experience gained through clinical placements and internships may be considered as work experience for medical practitioners, including Resident Medical Officers (RMOs)
• The internship component of the Professional Year Program may be considered as work experience for relevant occupations.
• Performance experience gained while studying may be considered for applicants with a performing arts occupation.

 

TSS 482 Visa Training requirement

Employers sponsoring workers for a TSS 482 visa must pay a training contribution charge (known as the Skilling Australians Fund levy):

 

Businesses with a turnover of less than $10 million per year will be required to make:

• an upfront annual payment for each employee on a TSS 482 visa of $1,200
• a one-off payment for each employee being sponsored for a permanent ENS or RSMS visa of $3,000

Businesses with a turnover of more than $10 million per year will be required to make:

• an upfront annual payment for each employee on a TSS 482 visa of $1,800.
• a one-off payment for each employee being sponsored for a permanent ENS or RSMS visa of $5,000

 

 

TSS 482 VISA (TEMPORARY SKILL SHORTAGE VISA)

From 18 March 2018, the 457-visa was abolished and replaced with the TSS visa (Subclass 482). The TSS 482 visa consists of a Short-Term stream, Medium-Term stream and Labour agreement stream.

An approved business must sponsor you. A company can sponsor someone for this visa if they cannot find an Australian citizen or permanent resident to do the skilled work.

You can be in or outside Australia​ when you lodge your application.

 

 

The TSS 482 visa involves a three-step process:

Step 1: a sponsorship application by the employer (the employer needs to be a lawfully operating business, meet local labour and employment practices, be viable to sponsor from overseas)

Step 2: a nomination application for a skilled position by the employer (that the position is genuine, how the part became vacant, newly created position)

Step 3: a visa application by the nominated employee

 

 

Medium TSS Visa vs Short TSS Visa

Medium and Long Term TSS Visa (482)

• Occupation on MLTSSL (additional for regional)
• Renewable onshore and unlimited times
• Pathway to Permanent residency (after three years)
• IELTS 5 (no skill below 5) or equivalent
• Two years of relevant work experience required
• No age limit
• Meet health and character requirements
• Employer tests the Australian labour market before an application to sponsor (LMT)
• The employer must pay the Australian Market Salary Rate (AMSR)

 

Short-Term TSS Visa (482)

 

3 Streams

There are three streams available under the TSS 482 visa:

Short-term stream – this is for employers to source genuine temporary overseas skilled workers in occupations included on the Short-term Skilled Occupation List (STSOL) for a maximum of two years (or up to four years if an international trade obligation applies)

Medium-term stream – this is for employers to source highly skilled overseas workers to fill medium-term critical skills in occupations included on the Medium and Long-term Strategic Skills List (MLTSSL) for up to four years, with eligibility to apply for permanent residence after three years

Labour Agreement stream –  This stream allows employers to source skilled workers from overseas under a labour agreement with the Commonwealth, with the capacity to negotiate a permanent residence option. This sourcing would be on the basis that the demonstrated need is not met in the Australian labour market and standard visa programs are not available. 

At the time of lodging a TSS nomination application, employers will need to select an employment period of up to:

• One year or two years for the short-term stream (unless an international trade obligation applies up to 4 years); and
• One year, two years, three years or four years for the medium-term or labour agreements stream.

 

 

Work experience requirements for the TSS 482 visa

As per the Government’s announcement, TSS visa applicants will be required to have worked in the nominated occupation, or a related field, for at least two years. Work experience related caveats that apply at the nomination stage for the subclass 457 visa will not apply to TSS nominations.

The policy has outlined the TSS 482 visa work experience requirements as below:

• Work experience will be considered flexibly in the context of the nominated occupation and industry practices.
• The work experience should have been undertaken in the last five years and would need to be calculated in full-time work. Part-time work experience may be considered.
• Experience gained as part of the research components of a Masters and/or PhD may be considered as work experience for relevant occupations, such as medical and research occupations.
• Experience gained through clinical placements and internships may be considered as work experience for medical practitioners, including Resident Medical Officers (RMOs)
• The internship component of the Professional Year Program may be considered as work experience for relevant occupations.
• Performance experience gained while studying may be considered for applicants with a performing arts occupation.

 

 

TSS 482 Visa Training requirement

Employers sponsoring workers for a TSS 482 visa must pay a training contribution charge (known as the Skilling Australians Fund levy):

Businesses with a turnover of less than $10 million per year will be required to make:

 

• an upfront annual payment for each employee on a TSS 482 visa of $1,200
• a one-off payment for each employee being sponsored for a permanent ENS or RSMS visa of $3,000

 

Businesses with a turnover of less than $10 million per year will be required to make

 

 

 

 

Some consequences of this:

• Occupations such as cook and restaurant manager are on the STSOL list. While you can still be sponsored for two years by a restaurant on the 457-visa and gain another 2-year extension, you can no longer apply for a permanent visa unless added to the MLTSSL list for you being in a designated regional area.
•  The retail manager is still available in regional areas for the 187 visa at the moment. But from March 2018, this will not be the case, as this occupation is not on the MLTSSL list.
• Most student graduates will not be eligible for temporary or permanent company sponsorship after March 2018 as you require at least two years of full-time work experience.

 

Repeat TSS 482 visas

In general, all applicants for a TSS 482 visa (i.e. primary and secondary) can either be inside or outside Australia. If the application is for a Short-term (ST) stream visa, however, the primary visa applicant must be offshore if all of the below apply:

• they have held more than one ST stream TSS 482 visa
• they were in Australia when applying for their most recent TSS 482 visa and
• This requirement would not be inconsistent with any international trade obligation (ITO).

 

Holders of two ST stream TSS visas in a row (where the holder made the second application while in Australia) can apply for a further TSS ST stream visa offshore. They should, however, be aware that their immigration history may be relevant in terms of whether they are considered to have met the Genuine Temporary Entrant (GTE) requirement for this visa stream.

 

What is condition 8607?

Condition 8607 is a new condition that it is anticipated will apply to all primary TSS visa holders. It is similar to condition 8107, which currently applies to subclass 457 visa holders. Condition 8607 will require TSS visa holders who wish to change occupation (as opposed to employer) to have a new nomination approved and a new visa granted before starting work in a new field.

 

 

Understanding the transition from subclass 457 to TSS

Employers who are already approved standard business sponsors for subclass 457 will be able to sponsor skilled overseas workers under the TSS visa program:

• if subclass 457 nomination and visa applications are lodged before TSS implementation, they will be processed under the current framework.
• Suppose a subclass 457 nomination application is lodged without an associated 457 visa application being lodged before TSS commencement. In that case, it will, however, effectively become 'redundant' as subclass 457 nominations cannot be linked to TSS 482 visa applications, even where the nomination has already been approved (subject to the specific scenarios below).

 

Note:

• Secondary visa applicants (457 visa holders or pending 457 visa applicants) can lodge a subsequent dependent TSS application. They will be granted a TSS 482 visa linked to their family's subclass 457 visa/nomination application if they meet the requirements. The validity period of the TSS visa will match the expiry date of the subclass 457 primary visa holder.
• Subclass 457 visa holders whose visa is not expiring but wish to change employer after the implementation of TSS can get their new employer to lodge a TSS 482 nomination application.
• Subclass 457 visa holders who wish to change occupation or need a new visa (for example: with longer validity) will need to lodge a new TSS visa application referencing a new TSS nomination application.

 

Labour Market Testing (LMT) for TSS

LMT arrangements are in place for the TSS 482 Visa – with occupation exemptions to LMT no longer available. It ensures that employers try to find suitable Australians before employing an overseas skilled worker on a TSS 482 visa.

 

Salary and conditions arrangement for TSS

Sponsors seeking to employ an overseas worker at a salary of under AUD250,000 will need to provide additional information to demonstrate that they will pay the market salary rate to ensure that overseas workers are protected and the local labour market is not undercut.

 

 

TSS 482 VISA TO PERMANENT RESIDENCY

Pathways to apply for Permanent Residency on a Medium-Term TSS 482 Visa:

• Employer-Sponsored Temporary Transition Stream (ENS/RSMS) for those who are on the Medium Term list
• Employer-Sponsored Direct Entry Stream (ENS/RSMS)
• General Skilled Migration (189/190/489)
• Partner Migration (As the partner/spouse/de facto of an Australian Permanent Resident or Citizen)

 

Medium-Term TSS 482 Visa

The medium-term TSS visa is :

• granted for four years.
• capacity for onshore visa renewals (not limited to one) and a Pathway to Australian permanent residency after three years-

 

This stream is relatively similar to the current 457-visa.

The medium-term TSS visa is aimed at applicants working in the skilled occupation, which the Government believes are critically needed – and will be required in the longer term.

To qualify for this visa, applicants must meet the following criteria:

• your occupation must be on the Medium and Long-Term Strategic Skills List.
• At least two years of relevant work experience is required.
• The existing 457 program only requires the applicants to have a closely related qualification at the correct level and do not require work experience. For the TSS Visa, each occupation still has a minimum work experience requirement – either three years or five years – based on the skill level of the nominated occupation.
• Candidates must be paid at the minimum salary for the position.
• Police check.

Employers must:

• Do Labour market testing
• Employers will be required to pay a $3000 or $5000 training levy to the Australian Government for all 186/187 applications.

 

TSS Visa To PR in 2018

Medium-Term TSS visa holders who have been working in Australia with the same employer for three years may be eligible to apply for Permanent Residency through the Transitional (TRT) Stream. Based on their postcode being regional or Metropolitan Australia, TSS visa holders will apply through either the Employer Nominated Scheme (186 ENS) or the Regional Employer Sponsored Scheme (187 RSMS). The employer must be willing to sponsor the candidate for permanent residency under the Temporary Residence Transition stream and lodge a valid nomination with the Department of Home Affairs (Previously the Department of Immigration). It is one of the most common pathways to permanent residency and gives you all the PR entitlements.