Here is a quick reminder of the key requirements for employer-sponsored migration:

– A position that matches your professional qualifications:You must work in a role that aligns with your educational background, your occupation must be highly relevant to the nominated occupation, and you must meet the ANZSCO qualification level requirements.

For example, an accounting role requires at least a bachelor’s degree, so the applicant must hold a bachelor’s degree in an accounting-related field. Some roles also have additional requirements — for instance, accounting positions require the employer to have a minimum annual turnover of AUD$1 million, while chef roles require a formal skills assessment.

– A sponsoring employer that meets Department of Home Affairs requirements:A qualifying employer must offer a genuine position, have a sound operating history, be financially healthy, and have a well-structured organisation.

– English requirement:For short-term stream occupations, an overall IELTS score of 5 with no band below 4.5 is required; for long-term stream occupations, a score of 5 in each band is required.

– Work experience:The Subclass 482 requires 2 years of full-time work experience, while the Subclass 186 requires 3 years; part-time work can be converted on a pro-rata basis.

Below I will also provide answers to common migration questions. If you already have a basic understanding of employer-sponsored migration and have specific questions, feel free to contact us directly!

The first question that arose after the new policy was announced is:The short-term stream policy update requires applicants to have been in Australia for at least 12 months between 1 February 2020 and 14 December 2021 — does this mean they must have held a Subclass 482 visa during that period?

At present, the migration legislation does not explicitly require that a Subclass 482 visa be held during that period. The legal documents reviewed previously only indicate that any applicant who has resided in Australia over the past two years may, through a short-term stream occupation under the Subclass 482, transition to PR after working for the same employer for three years. In other words, regardless of which visa you held, as long as you were in Australia throughout the two-year pandemic period, you will be able to transition to PR via the Subclass 186 TRT.

However,the Department of Home Affairs website was recently updated to state that this pathway has a validity of only 2 years — all those wishing to apply for a Subclass 186 PR via a short-term stream Subclass 482 position must complete their application within 2 years. This means that if you did not hold a Subclass 482 visa between 1 February 2020 and 14 December 2021, you would clearly not meet the eligibility requirements.

However, no corresponding legislative documents have yet been sighted for this requirement — further monitoring is needed. If any legislation is released, we will provide an update.

When does work experience for employer-sponsored migration start being counted? Does experience during your studies count? What about experience before a skills assessment is obtained?

For employer-sponsored migration, work experience is generally counted from the point of graduation from the minimum qualification required for the nominated occupation.For example, if your undergraduate degree is in accounting and your postgraduate degree is in IT, then work experience for nominating accounting can start being counted from after your undergraduate graduation, whereas work experience for nominating IT can only start being counted after your postgraduate graduation.Based on the above, we can see that ifyou are completing an IT postgraduate degree and simultaneously working part-time in accounting, that accounting workexperience can be counted; however, if the part-time work is in IT, it cannot be counted — you must wait until your master’s degree is completed.

The assessment of work experience for employer-sponsored migration differs slightly from the points-based skilled migration assessment — the two cannot be treated the same, and this distinction is important to keep in mind.

How do you assess whether an employer is eligible to sponsor you? If the employer has never done employer sponsorship before, and is a small company with around ten employees and an annual turnover of approximately AUD$1 million, would this work? If the employer is currently sponsoring another colleague, can they still sponsor me?

Assessing whether an employer can sponsor primarily involves looking at the employer’s actual circumstances, the company’s operating performance, profitability, and staff structure.This is a holistic assessment — it is not simply a matter of how much money the employer makes or how many years the company has been established.Similarly, whether an employer currently sponsoring another colleague can also sponsor you depends primarily on the genuineness of the position and the company’s overall circumstances.

To give a simple example: a small business with 5 employees and an annual turnover of AUD$1 million could reasonably sponsor one accountant — having one accountant among five employees is entirely normal — but sponsoring two accountants at the same time would raise questions. However, for a large international company with 3,000 employees and annual revenue in the tens of millions, it is clearly impossible for such a company to have only one accountant; in that case, sponsoring several people simultaneously would be entirely plausible.

So assessing the employer’s situation ultimately comes down to the company’s actual circumstances and scale.

I have three more months to go before I reach three years working at the same company. I was previously on a 2-year Subclass 485 and am now on a Subclass 408. My work falls under the nominated occupation — can I simply apply for a Subclass 186 once I reach the three-year mark?

Simply put, yes — you can apply directly for the Subclass 186 once you reach the three-year mark. The prerequisite for a Subclass 186 application is simply having 3 years of full-time work experience,so regardless of what visa you held while accumulating those 3 years of full-time work experience,you simply need to ensure the experience is legitimate, properly taxed, and compliant with regulations.

However, do not overlook the most important point: the employer must be willing to cooperate and provide the necessary documentation for the application. The Subclass 186 requirements and processing are also more stringent than those for the Subclass 482.

For many recent university graduates, accumulating work experience is a critical issue. We generally advise starting to look for work as early as possible — for example, beginning to plan your subsequent visa application as graduation approaches.

For those with a2-yearSubclass 485 (for example, bachelor’s degree graduates), the two years on the Subclass 485 can be used to accumulate work experience, and once requirements are met, a Subclass 482 application can be made. For those with a3-yearSubclass 485 (for example, a coursework master’s degree), you may consider directly accumulating 3 years of qualifying work experience on the Subclass 485 and then applying directly for a Subclass 186 visa.

If you are unable to accumulate sufficient experience within the Subclass 485 validity period to apply directly for employer sponsorship, you may consider applying for a Subclass 407 midway through to build additional work experience,before then pursuing employer-sponsored migration.

What Australian benefits are available during employer sponsorship? Is Medicare included?

For an employer-sponsored visa, if you have lodged a186— which is a permanent resident visa application —you are eligible for Medicare benefits from the date of lodgement. If you have lodged a482visa, Medicare is not yet available — you must wait until you laterapply for a migration-class visa to access Medicare.

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