Skilled Employer Sponsored Regional (Provisional) visa (subclass 494)
The Skilled Employer Sponsored Regional (SESR) visa is a provisional employer-sponsored visa allows you to study, live or work in Australia for a maximum period of 5 years. The SESR visa enables regional employers to address identified labour shortages within their region by sponsoring skilled workers where employers can’t source an appropriately skilled Australian worker. For the sponsored skilled migrant, the visa means a pathway for permanent residence after 3 years with the employer.
You can live, work and study only in a designated regional area. Designated regional areas include all of Australia except for Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. Employer nominated stream which can allow for individual states, territories, or regions to respond to their own specific labour market needs through an agreement-based framework. Each individual state, territories, or regions will have their own occupations and features.
To apply for the Permanent Residence (Skilled Regional) visa (subclass 191) you must have held an eligible visa (491 or 494) for at least 3 years, have had a taxable income at or above the income threshold ($53,900/year) for at least 3 years, and all applicants must have complied with the conditions of their visa. With Australian permanent residency you can stay in Australia permanently, work and study in Australia, enrol in Australia's public healthcare system Medicare, sponsor your relatives to come to Australia, travel to and from Australia for 5 years, and if eligible you can apply for Australian citizenship.
Before you can apply for the visa, your employer will need to lodge a nomination application for you. They will only be able to do this if they are an approved work sponsor or have at least lodged an application to become a standard business sponsor.
To apply for a Subclass 494 visa, you need an Australian employer to offer you a job and to sponsor you. You must demonstrate that you have the skills, qualifications and work experience necessary to perform the nominated occupation. Except for some limited exemptions, an applicant must be under 45 years of age, have at least 3 years work experience in the nominated occupation, have competent English and a positive skills assessment for the nominated occupation. Generally, you should have gained your experience within the last 5 years. The period does not need to be continuous. The government might consider equivalent part-time work.
To prove that you have competent English, you'll need to provide evidence that you are a citizen of and hold a valid passport issued by the United Kingdom, the United States of America, Canada, New Zealand or the Republic of Ireland, with your application, or you have obtained one of these English language test results.
With the 494 visa you can also include family members in your application and bring them with you if successful. You can include them when you lodge your visa application, and add a dependent child after you lodge, but before a decision has been made on your application. If your partner or dependent children are not included in the application, you must share the reason why (for example: they already hold Australian citizenship or are a permanent resident). You and your eligible family members will be entitled to:
Reside in Australia for up to 5 years;
Live, study and work in a designated regional area of Australia;
Travel in and out of Australia as many times as you want during the duration of the visa;
Apply for permanent residency through the Permanent Residence (Skilled Regional) visa (Subclass 191)
Be eligible for Medicare
This visa costs AUD4,240 for the main applicant, AUD2,120 for each dependent 18 years and over, and AUD1,060 for each dependent under 18 years. It costs an additional AUD4,890 if any dependent applicants who are 18 years and over do not have functional English. This extra charge is called a second instalment. You will have to pay other costs including English language tests, health checks, police certificates and biometrics.
How do I get an employer to sponsor me in Australia?
To be eligible for Employer Sponsored Visas (subclass 494) in Australia, you need to have: an occupation on the Skilled Occupation List; minimum of 3 years recent, relevant work experience; but not necessarily qualifications (varies with each occupation). Check your eligibility by contacting a licensed immigration adviser for Australia, or check the eligibility requirements for employer sponsorship on the official immigration website.
In Australia, sponsors are not always publically published as in other countries, but there are a few ways to find them:
Search the main job listings for those sponsors who advertise sponsorship jobs, using keywords related to your eligibility, for example, “482 visa” or “457 visa” or “visa sponsorship”, “International candidates”, “international applicants”, etc. This will give you an indication of WHO is advertising visa sponsorship and these employers will be either registered sponsors or open to becoming sponsors.
Look for lists where sponsors may be published, for example, Australian Trusted Traders.
Also, look at other people working in Australia like yourself. Find them on LinkedIn, and if you analyze their work history, and they started their first job in Australia for this employer, it is likely that the employer might be a sponsor.
Target Multinationals: Multinational companies (who are present in other countries), are more open to sponsorship, because they sometimes have to move employees between countries for work. They are familiar with the sponsorship requirements and processes.
Build close relationships with employers in Australia, utilising a proper network and start engaging and interacting with them to gain familiarity and build trust. You can then work with the employer towards offering sponsorship if they are eager to get you onboard.
It is very possible to find employer-sponsored employment in Australia, especially now, during the skills shortages.
