Accreditation changes
for 457 Sponsors
As some clients may know, there are a number of changes to
the sponsorship accreditation scheme for businesses which sponsor 457 visa
holders. Here are the major changes
which come into effect from 1 July 2016
What is an
accredited sponsor?
457 sponsors who have a long history of good dealings with
the Department of Immigration and Border Protection (DIBP) are able to apply to
become ‘Accredited Sponsors’. If approved, an accredited sponsorship is
then valid for six years instead of the usual five years, and nomination and
visa applications receiving priority processing.
Changes to
accredited sponsorship arrangements from 1 July 2016
The required characteristics that a company needs to meet to
become an Accredited Sponsor will change on 1 July 2016.
In order to qualify for Accredited Status, a sponsor must
meet all the normal requirements for standard business sponsorship and
have all of the following additional characteristics:
·
be a government agency, a publicly-listed
company or a private company with at least $4m annual turnover for the last
three years;
·
have been an active 457 sponsor for at least
three years (with no more than a six month break in the past 36 months), with
no adverse information (based on monitoring, including formal warnings and
sanctions);
·
have sponsored at least ten primary 457 visa
holders in the 24 months prior to the application for accreditation;
·
have lodged an agreed level of decision-ready
applications over the previous two years;
·
have a non-approval rate of less than 3% for the
previous three years;
·
have Australian workers comprising at least 75%
of their workforce in Australia;
·
engage all 457 holders as employees under a
written contract of employment that includes at least the minimum employment
entitlements as required under the National Employment Standards (unless their
occupation is exempt from this requirement);
·
have all Australian employees paid in accordance
with an Enterprise Agreement or an internal salary table that reflects the
current market salary rates for all occupations in their business;
·
have provided details of all business activities
undertaken by their business to the department; and
·
have provided details of all Principals /
Directors of their business to the department.
Are there any
additional benefits associated with sponsorship accreditation?
In addition to priority processing of nomination and visa
applications, sponsors approved with accredited status after 1 July 2016 will
also be eligible for streamlined processing of nominations where the nominated
base salary is equal to or greater than:
·
the Fair Work High Income Threshold (The FWHIT
is currently $136,700) and the occupation is classified as ANZSCO skill level 1
or 2
·
or
·
$75,000 and the occupation is classified as
skill level 1 or 2 in the ANZSCO with the exception of the following
occupations:
–
recruitment consultant
–
sales representative (industrial products)
–
customer service manager
–
corporate general manager
–
procurement manager
–
quality assurance manager
–
sales and marketing manager
–
specialist manager NEC
–
hotel/motel manager
–
contract administrator
–
information and organization professionals NEC
How do I get
accreditation?
DIBP will write to existing accredited sponsors and giving
them an opportunity to upgrade their accredited status in June 2016 to enable
them to access the new streamlined nomination processing arrangements. If they
chose not to ‘upgrade’ or do not meet the new characteristics, they will
continue to receive priority processing as per current arrangements until the
end of their current sponsorship agreement. DIBP will, however, be
reviewing existing accredited sponsors to ensure that they do meet the current
criteria for accreditation, and may revoke accreditation where this is not the
case.
If you are an existing sponsor who now meets the
characteristics for accreditation, you can lodge a sponsorship variation
application post 1 July 2016 and ask to be considered for sponsorship
accreditation.
If you require further information or would like to apply
for accreditation please contact Visa
Solutions for specific and tailored immigration advice for your company.
Dan Engles
Managing Director
www.visasolutions.com.au
