Australian Immigration Services

InterStaff International are the immigration experts. Our talented team, comprising of Registered Migration Agents and Graduate Trainee Agents, can provide assistance with your migration matters across all visa classes, including employer sponsored, general skilled, family and business migration. If you are an employer wanting to employ a skilled person in Australia or are looking to move to Australia yourself, contact our friendly, expert staff to assist you through the process.

Australia is the lucky country, but getting into Australia takes more than good luck - contact the visa and immigration experts who have been in the business for over 20 years.

Visa Options for 457 Visa Holders Facing Redundancy

In general terms, the most common options for a 457 visa holder in this situation would be as follows:

- Transfer the remain “balance” of the 457 visa to a new employer, if a position can be secured and a new nomination lodged before the existing 457 visa is cancelled by DIAC;

- It may also be possible to apply for Employer Sponsored permanent resident visas if a position with a new company is secured, this is not a quick process, and the applicant cannot work with the new employer until the new visa has been granted. In addition, a skills assessment from the relevant Australian assessing authority for the occupation may be required, depending on the circumstances;

The applicant may be able to apply for a Partner visa, if he / she is in a genuine relation with an Australian citizen / permanent resident / eligible New Zealand citizen; The applicant may be able to obtain a Student visa, but college fees are expensive and work rights may be limited;

The applicant may be eligible to apply for General Skilled Migration. But this would require the following steps:

o a formal assessment of qualifications must be obtained;

o an IELTS test may be required;

o an expression of interest application must be lodged through the DIAC SkillSelect process;

o an offer of State Sponsorship from the relevant Australian State Government may be required;

o an invitation to lodge a visa application must be offered through SkillSelect;

o A visa application can then be lodged.

If this process is all successful, it would result in the granting of a permanent resident visa. This process can take several months to be completed, particularly as many of the Australian assessing authorities may take 2-3 months or more to finalise assessment applications. However, if a visa application can be lodged whilst the applicant is in Australia holding a valid visa, they will be allocated a bridging visa to allow them to remain here whilst the process is completed.

If your employees are holding a 457 visa and would like to remain in Australia, you should certainly make them aware of General Skilled Migration as early as possible. If you would like more information or would like us to visit your company and discuss the various options mentioned above please let me know.