Newland Migration Law Services : Migration Specialists

The Employer Nomination Scheme (ENS) allows Australian companies with skills shortages to nominate skilled workers from overseas for permanent residence in Australia and is divided into three categories of visas:

The ENS allows Australian employers to nominate highly skilled people for permanent visas. The ENS process has two parts. Firstly, the employer must apply to the Department of Immigration for approval of a nominated position as an 'approved appointment'. Secondly, the nominated employee must make a separate application for a visa. For a visa to be granted the nominated appointment must be approved and the visa applicant must meet relevant criteria for the grant of the visa.

The visa application and the application by the employer can be lodged at the same time. Alternatively, the application for approval of the nominated position can be lodged first and the visa application can then be lodged up to six months after the nomination is approved.

Regional Sponsored Migration Scheme (RSMS)

The RSMS allows Australian employers in regional and low population growth areas to fill full-time skilled permanent vacancies that have been certified by a Regional Certifying Body (RCB) with people from overseas, where the employer cannot find a suitable qualified employee from the local labour market. The scheme aims to increase migration to Australia to boost population. All areas of Australia are currently covered by the RSMS except Sydney, Wollongong, Newcastle, Melbourne, Brisbane, the Gold Coast and Perth.

Labour Agreements (LAs)

Labour agreements enable Australian employers to recruit a specified number of workers from overseas in response to identified or emerging Australian labour market (or skill) shortages. Employees may come come to Australia on either a temporary or permanent basis. An industry body, a company or an umbrella organisation may negotiate for the entry of a number of people to fill positions across a wide range of occupations.

The Invest Australia Supported Skills (IASS) program allows international corporations to transfer key managerial and key specialist personnel to Australia on permanent visas and replaced the previous Regional Headquarters (RHQ) arrangements. If nominated by an employer under the IASS program, the applicant can apply for a Labour Agreement Visa.