visa subclass 457 is getting harder and harder

Well...this is just my own opinion. Compare to 2-3 years ago, the working visa subclass 457 seems to be harder and harder, since 1 July 2013. Now, we have the labour market testing mandatory from 23 November 2013. That will be just add more paperwork into that. Of course, guess that it is for the integrity of the immigration program which I am 100% support the change. It's amount of paperwork and time spend on the case. That is all. Not many people clients or people who plan to lodge the visa subclass 457 by themselves realized that.

Since 1 July 2013, the employer really needs to show that the position is a genuine position. It is not a position that someone in the family just created for his/her family members or close friends..etc... The position need to be justified. The photo of the premises need to be submitted...etc...

Since 1 July 2013, the employer also needs to ensure that the terms & conditions of the employment is not less favour than the local employees (citizens or residents). As there were a few protests this year that local people protested at the mining company that the company employs people from overseas on visa 457 while the local people can't really get a job. Therefore, the government needs to ensures that the terms & conditions of the visa 457 holders are not less favour than local employees. So that, visa 457 holders won't be exploited. Therefore, the full "Contract of Employment" need to be signed and submitted as well. That will be a huge job for someone who are not familiar with the law or not a HR personnel that good with this kind of "Contract of Employment" letter and so forth.

I must admit that since 1 July 2013, the amount of paperwork has been increased tremendously (for me...anyway). Anyone plan to do this on your own, you really need to rethink. I have had a client who came to see me because his employer couldn't get the nomination done and I actually don't like to redo and solve other people mess. I rather prefer a fresh application.

If you or your employer plan to do this on your own, please plan it nicely and start thing a bit early.

Labour Market Testing (LMT) requirement for 457 Company Sponsorship

Effective from 23 November 2013, labour market testing has become mandatory requirement for most sponsoring businesses in a manner consistent to Australia's international trade obligations.

Similar to RSMS visa schemes, sponsoring businesses are now required to provide explanatory evidence of their attempts to recruit suitably qualified and experienced local employees (citizens or residents) to the nominated position. The evidence should include details of role advertising (paid or unpaid), such as copy of the ad, media and date of advertising, job advertisement fees and any explanatory responses received. In addition, the sponsoring business is also obliged to provide full details of any past retrenchments in all occupations, which have occurred during the past four months leading to the nomination. 

457 training brenchmark

Lots of people asked me about the subclass 457 training benchmark. Guess that it's a good chance of writing the blog about this. Particularly, after the 1 July rush.

Training benchmark is the commitment from employers to show that they are good employers, from Australian government's perspective. When we say "good employers from Australian government's perspective", it means that employers need to create job for Australian people, to boost economy and not just give away jobs to foreigners workforce. Training benchmark is just one of the measurements to see how committed the employers are.

Training benchmark is the expenses that the employers had spent for the last 12 months immediate before the visa application lodge, to train or improve the employees skills. So that employees have enough skill to perform their task and hope that with that skills in hand, they would be able to go up the corporate ladder or move up to higher and better position and so forth. Ultimately, the Australian government "want" all these employees to be able to take up whatever position that will be advertised by employers so that employers won't need to employ the foreigners anymore.

One important thing to take note is that only the expenses spent on the training for Australian citizen or Australian permanent resident can be counted toward the training benchmark and it need to be at least 1% of the payroll (for the last 12 months immediate before the lodgement).

The payroll is staff's salary or wages for the last 12 months. For those business that trade under 12 months, I will write in separate blog.

The expenses for the training can be:
- the course fee, seminar fee that employees attend.
- subscription fee to magazine or professional association.
....and the list go on.

Employers or migration agents need to be creative about this. Please consult your registered migration agent about that fees or expenses can be used as part of the training benchmark.

Note:
Training benchmark is the mandatory, not a commitment. Australian government is really strict on this. Particularly, after 1 July 2013!!! Do things right, and that will make your life easy....in the long run.

No rush this 1 July

As 1 July is approaching. Lots of applicants quickly rush their applications in order to save some application fee and at the same time using the old relislation and so forth. With that, the DIAC system has been overloaded and downed for a long period of time. Create such an unnecessary hectic. My advice is really simple, do not rush. Prepare your application nicely. Slow but sure. Don't simply rush in your application just to save a few dollars. It's not worth it. I rather have all necessary documents ready and submit an "ready application" which will in turn get it done and processed faster.

Well...it's just my worth 2 cents anyway.