Are you a water engineer or water specialist looking to live and work in Australia?  Australia needs your skills in their cities, regional and rural areas.   Read on to find out more about your visa options including special visas for those who wish to live and work in regional and rural areas. The following information is provided by Visacorp - immigration made easy!
 

The work permit (subclass 457 visa)
With this visa Australian companies and large overseas companies can sponsor overseas workers for a period of between three (3) months and four (4) years.

With this visa those overseas nationals can:

• work in Australia for a period of between three (3) months and four (4) years
• bring any eligible secondary applicants with them to Australia - secondary applicants can work and study
• after entering Australia, have no limit on the number of times they travel in and out of Australia.

There is a 3-step application process as follows

Step 1 - Employer Applies to be a Sponsor
The employer must complete an application to become a sponsor.
Step 2 - Employer Nominates a Position
The employer must nominate the position to be filled and must pay a minimum of $41,850 + superannuation per annum
Step 3 - Employee Applies for a Visa
The employee must apply for a visa to be allowed to work in Australia.

There are special waivers on the minimum salary requirements for those people employed in regional or rural areas.

Employer Sponsored Migration (permanent residency subclass 856/121 visa)

The Employer Nomination Scheme allows Australian employers to sponsor employees who are foreign nationals for a permanent visa to work in Australia.  The employees can be either highly skilled workers from overseas, or highly skilled temporary residents currently in Australia.

This visa allows you and any dependent family members included in your visa application to live as permanent residents in Australia. Australian permanent residents can live and work in Australia on a permanent basis, study in Australia at school or university,  
receive subsidised healthcare through Medicare and the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS), access certain social security payments (subject to waiting periods), be eligible for Australian citizenship (subject to the residency eligibility criteria) and sponsor people for permanent residence.

For this visa, you will need an Australian employer, a highly skilled employee and an eligible occupation.

The process for obtaining a visa under the Employer Nomination Scheme is summarised below:

Step 1 - Employer nominates the position(s) that they wish to fill and finds a suitable employee who is willing to work for them in Australia. The position must be an eligible position.  An eligible position must be full-time, ongoing and available for at least 3 years, must
provide working conditions that are no less favorable than provided for under the relevant Australian legislation and awards, be a highly skilled occupation that is on the Employer Nomination Scheme Occupation List (ENSOL) and meet the minimum salary level for ENS.
 
Step 2 - Employee accepts the offer of employment from the nominating employer and applies for a visa and meets any conditions on their visa (once approved).  An employee is a foreign national who meets the age, skill and language requirements and has an employer that is willing to sponsor them for this visa.  To be eligible for permanent residency under this visa, the employee must meet one of the following requirements:

• have worked full-time in Australia in the nominated occupation on a Subclass 418, 421, 422, 428, 444, 457 or 461 temporary residence visa for the last two years prior to the visa application being made (including at least the last 12 months with the nominating employer); or
• have been nominated to fill a highly paid senior executive position with a salary of more than $165,000 per annum (excluding superannuation or allowances); or
• have had their skills assessed as suitable by the relevant skills assessing authority and, unless exceptional circumstances apply, have at least three years full-time work experience in the occupation immediately before the visa application is lodged; and
• have an employer who is willing to sponsor them for permanent residency; and
• demonstrate that they have the appropriate skills, qualifications and/or experience to fill the position; and
• meet any mandatory licensing, registration or professional membership requirements; and in most cases
  be under 45 years of age
• have Vocational English language ability
• provide a letter of appointment or a contract signed by both the employer and employee.

Exemption from eligibility requirements
Under some circumstances, visa applicants may seek exemption from skill, language or age eligibility requirements.

There are regional visas in this category called the Regional Sponsored Migration Scheme (subclass 857) with lower requirements.

Skilled Migration (subclass 175 and 176)

This programme, also known as the General Skilled Migration programme, is for people who are not sponsored by an employer and who have skills in particular occupations required in Australia. Applicants must be over 18 and under 45 years of age, with good English language ability, and recent skilled work experience or a recently completed eligible Australian qualification.  Applicants must also have skills and qualifications for an occupation listed on Australia's Skilled Occupation List (SOL).

There are a range of visa options under the General Skilled Migration programme for skilled workers who want to live in Australia and who do not have an employer sponsoring them. These include options for skilled people applying as an independent migrant as well as those sponsored by a relative, or nominated by a State or Territory government.

Distinguished Talent Visa

The purpose of this visa is to allow people with distinguished talent who are outside Australia to apply to migrate to Australia.

This visa is designed for people who are internationally recognised for exceptional and outstanding achievement in their profession or in research and academia.
You must still be active in your field of expertise and you will need an eligible person or organisation to nominate you for this visa. This visa allows you and your dependent family members to live as permanent residents in Australia.

The process for obtaining a visa under the distinguished talent visa is as follows:

Step 1 - You must have an eligible person or organisation to nominate you for this visa. The nominator is a person or organisation with a national reputation in Australia in your field of expertise. The nominator must know you personally and be one of the following:

• an Australian citizen; or
• an Australian permanent resident; or
• an eligible New Zealand citizen; or
• an Australian organisation.

The role of the nominator is to recommend you as a person of distinguished talent. They do this by completing a nomination form and giving it to you to attach to your visa application.

Step 2 - As the visa applicant, you must meet the following requirements to be eligible for this visa. You must provide evidence of each with your application. You must have a record of exceptional and outstanding achievement in a profession or research and academia. You must still be active in your field of expertise. Your achievements must be internationally recognised.  You must provide evidence that you are still prominent in your profession, the arts, sport or research and academia.  You must be able to show either that you have a job or you can establish a viable business in Australia. You must be considered a potential asset to the Australian community. You must show how your settlement in Australia could contribute economically, socially or culturally to the nation as a whole - not just a local community.  If you are below 18 or above 55 years of age, you must provide evidence that you would be of exceptional benefit to the Australian community. You must be able to support yourself and all accompanying family members. You must not be financially dependent on the Australian community.

For a free assessment or to find out more about your visa options please contact Liana Allan at Visacorp, registered migration agent No. 0104178 on +61 (0)2 92210370 or liana@visacorp.com.au.  Liana can professionally assess your details and information and advise you on the options available to you, the costs and the likely timescales.