How to avoid 457 visa cancellations

The 457 visa programme is one of the most popular visas under the Employer sponsorship visa pathways. The purpose of the 457 visa programme is to fill the gap in skilled employment in Australia.

Employers having difficulty in recruiting Australian citizens/ permanent residents to work in skilled positions can sponsor overseas workers to work in those occupations under this scheme. The Department of Immigration and Border Protection (DIBP) has provided a list of nearly 400 occupations from which sponsoring employers can choose to nominate. The list includes a range of highly skilled and semi-skilled occupations including but not limited to Managers, Medical professionals, Engineers, IT professionals, Farmers and Trade persons. Although the visa scheme offers great benefits for both the sponsoring employer and the sponsored person, a number of obligations are required to be complied by both the sponsoring Employer and the sponsored 457 visa holder under this scheme.

Failure to comply with these conditions can lead to thousands of dollars in fines imposed on the sponsoring employer by the Department of Immigration and Fair work Australia The sponsoring employer can also be excluded from sponsoring overseas workers for up to five years.  The person holding the 457 visa can face visa cancellation especially if he/she is found to be working for an employer other than the sponsored employer or working in any other occupation other than the approved nomination occupation under this scheme.

To avoid having your 457 visa cancelled or the sponsoring employer being barred, it must be ensured that:

• The 457 visa holder works full time and in the nominated occupation approved by the Department of Immigration and Border Protection.
• The 457 visa holder must be paid the salary approved by the Department of Immigration under this scheme.
• The terms and conditions of employment offered to the 457 visa holder are according to Fairwork Australia including superannuation, annual leave and sick leave.
• The 457 visa holder’s salary must be paid in the bank account by the sponsoring employer to ensure record keeping is maintained.
• The person holding the 457 visa cannot work for any other employer, other than the sponsored employer.
• The sponsoring employer must report the termination of employment of the 457 visa holder within 28 days of such occurrence.
• The 457 visa holder must have a nomination approved from another sponsoring employer within 90 days of the termination of employment from the original sponsored employer.
• Employers must ensure training obligations are met each financial year and the expenses incurred towards training Australian staff members is at least 1% of the total payroll expenses or that at least 2% of the payroll expenses are donated to the Industry association.

If the sponsoring employer breaches any of the obligations and is excluded from sponsoring for a certain period, they are not only barred from sponsoring anyone for a 457 visa but also for permanent residence (ENS visa or RSMS visa). This means that after spending a number of years working for the sponsoring employer, the 457 visa holder will be unable to apply for permanent residence under the Employer Nominated scheme or RSMS visa. Although these obligations have been imposed by the Department of Immigration to avoid sponsoring employers exploiting overseas workers, adverse effects are felt more by the overseas workers applying for 457 visas and/or permanent residence through the Employer sponsorship pathways. It is important for 457 visa holders to find another employer to sponsor as soon as any breach of obligations by the sponsoring employer are realised and avoid situations where they are unable to be sponsored for permanent residence or face visa cancellations.

For further advice on 457 sponsorship obligations, contact us  www.proexcel.co.in or info@proexcel.co.in or  9030890022/33/44