What you need to know about the Employer Sponsored Stream in the Skilled Employer Sponsored Regional Visa (subclass 494)

What is the Skilled Employer Sponsored Regional Visa?

The Skilled Employer Sponsored Regional visa allows regional employers to address labour shortages within their region by sponsoring skilled workers where employers cannot source an appropriately skilled Australian worker. There are three streams:

1. Employer Sponsored Stream

2. Labour Agreement Stream

3. Subsequent entrant

Employer Sponsored Stream 

This visa allows you to stay in only designated regional areas of Australia for up to 5 years and to travel to and from Australia during this time. You may be eligible for permanent residency after 3 years from the time your visa is granted. It is critical that you are nominated in an occupation on the relevant skilled occupation list otherwise you will not be eligible. The cost of this visa starts at $4910 and does not include further costs like English language tests, police certificates or health checks.

It is also important to consider that you must be of under 45 years old when you apply for this visa, with some special considerations such as being nominated as an academic at an Australian university, have held a Special Category visa (subclass 444) or New Zealand Citizen Family Relationship visa (subclass 461), nominated as a medical practitioner and in the 3 years immediately before you have applied have worked in that occupation in a designated regional area of Australia for 2 years as a Temporary Work (Skilled) visa (subclass 457) or subclass 482 visa etc.

The steps needed to apply for this visa are quite detailed so please ensure you understand each of them.

1. Ensure you are under 45 years old, unless you meet the exemptions from these criteria as mentioned above.

2. Be nominated by an approved sponsor. This means their business must be lawfully operating in Australia and located in a designated regional area of Australia.

3. Ensure you have the relevant skills and experience, meet at least Competent in English, meet the health and character requirements and Sign the Australian values statement.

4. Submit all relevant documentation and apply for the Visa via your ImmiAccount.

There are a few key differences between the employer sponsored stream and labour agreement stream that you must be aware of:

1. For the Employer Sponsored Stream, your occupation must be on the Regional Occupation List (ROL) while your occupation is specified within the individual agreement in the labour agreement stream, meaning it can include roles not on the ROL.

2. The skill assessment is mandatory for the primary applicant for the employer sponsored stream while it is only required if specified in the specific labour agreement

3. The employer sponsor must be an approved standard business sponsor (SBS) while the labour agreement stream is a formal negotiated contract between the employer and the Australian government.

Overall, your personal situation can make a difference when it comes to applying and the granting of this visa. This is a notoriously complex area of law and mistakes can be made. The experience and guidance of a professional migration agent will be invaluable to a successful application.