Employer Sponsored Migration

Regional Certifying Body

- Regional Sponsored Migration Scheme 119/857

Regional Certifying Body

Sponsoring Overseas Workers

Click here to view the brochure (Adobe PDF)

Tasmania is currently experiencing the lowest levels of unemployment in 30 years. As the competition to attract and retain skilled employees becomes more intense, businesses are looking for new sources of skilled labour - including recruiting skilled workers from overseas. Under current immigration policy, employer-sponsored visas are given priority in processing by the Department of Immigration and Citizenship.

Sponsoring an employee is not necessarily difficult or costly. As long as the business can offer a skilled, full-time position for a certain period of time (i.e. minimum three months) and that cannot be filled by Australian workers, it will be worth considering this option. Please note that employment must be in accordance with prevailing industry standards and awards with heavy penalties applying to businesses that deliberately exploit or underpay sponsored migrants.

Who can be sponsored?

Employers can sponsor skilled, English-speaking workers for positions that require a trade certificate, diploma or degree. The Australian Standard Classification of Occupations (ASCO) is a helpful guide to ensuring that the vacancy is a skilled position. ASCO classifies and describes a variety of occupations from levels 1 – 9 and is the reference used by the Department of Immigration and Citizenship in assessing skilled migration visa applications. To be considered as ‘skilled employment’, the position should be within the ASCO 1000 – 4000 series. See below for the different categories.

Managers and administrators (ASCO 1000 series) - i.e. construction project manager, general managers.
Professionals (ASCO 2000 series) – engineers, accountants, doctors, architects, etc.
Associate Professionals (ASCO 3000 series) – chefs, engineering associates, etc.
Tradespeople (ASCO 4000 series) – i.e. welders, electricians, motor mechanics.

What visa options can employers use?

The two visa options below are the most suitable for Tasmanian employers:

The Regional Sponsored Migration Scheme (RSMS) visa. This is a permanent visa which requires a minimum two year full-time employment contract. For more information on the RSMS visa program, please click here.
The business Long Stay visa (subclass 457) offers a temporary residence visa for a minimum of three months to four years. The visa holder must work full-time for the sponsoring employer for the duration of the visa. For more information on the 457 visa program, please click here.

How can I recruit skilled workers from overseas?

There is no single way or ‘magic wand’ to locate skilled workers from overseas to work for your business. Many other countries are also experiencing skills shortages and locating suitable foreign workers is often the biggest challenge when considering the employer-sponsored visa program.

Some options to locate skilled foreign workers include:

advertising positions in target countries/industries through newspapers, industry associations, or professional/trade journals and interviewing or ‘flying out’ promising leads
using international recruitment consultants or migration agents active in target countries
participating in recruitment/migration expos in key source countries.

The options above can generate outcomes but they are costly and may not succeed unless carefully researched and planned.

Two other options that involve no cost are:

contact the Department of Economic Development, Tourism and the Arts to discuss the vacancy and complete an employer proforma which allows the department to promote the vacancy to prospective skilled migrants or
search the Department of Immigration and Citizenship’s Skill Matching Database (SMD). The SMD contains occupational information on people who have applied to migrate to Australia independently. Employers can search the database by occupation and view the profiles of potential employees. The employer can then contact the most suitable skilled workers directly.

For more information or to search the Skill Matching Database visit: http://www.immi.gov.au/skills/index.htm

If you would like more information or wish to contact a particular candidate you found on the database, please contact the Department of Economic Development and Tourism or the Department of Immigration and Citizenship's Hobart Business Centre (phone: (03) 6220 5361). You will need to quote the Internet ID for each applicant in order to obtain the information.

Have you checked the work entitlements of your employees?

It is a criminal offence to knowingly or recklessly allow an illegal worker to work, or to refer an illegal worker for work. Individuals and companies convicted of these offences face fines and/or imprisonment. If you are convicted of these offences you could face fines of up to $13 200 and/or two years’ imprisonment per illegal worker hired. Companies face fines of up to $66 000 per illegal worker. The safest way to avoid committing the offences is to check that all prospective workers have a valid visa with permission to work in Australia. It is easy to check the work entitlements of a prospective employee using either DIAC’s Visa Entitlement Verification Online (VEVO) website service or DIAC’s toll-free Visa Entitlement Verification Faxback Service.

Details of both services are available on DIAC’s website at : http://www.immi.gov.au/managing-australias-borders/compliance/employer-obligations/about.htm