Australia
Employer
Nomination Scheme

This visa is for Australian employers who want to sponsor highly skilled workers for a permanent visa to work in their business. The employees can be either:
highly skilled workers from overseas
highly skilled temporary residents currently in Australia.

This visa allows you and any dependent family members included in your visa application to live as permanent residents in Australia.

Australian permanent residents can:

• live and work in Australia on a permanent basis
• study in Australia at school or university
• receive subsidised healthcare through Medicare and the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS)
• access certain social security payments (subject to waiting periods)
• be eligible for Australian citizenship (subject to the residency eligibility criteria)
• sponsor people for permanent residence.

The current processing time for migration under the employer nomination scheme is four to six months from the time the application is lodged.

This is a permanent Australian visa.

Yes, you can add dependent family members to your application.

For this visa, you will need:

• an Australian employer;
• a highly skilled employee;
• an eligible occupation.

The validity period of the nomination approval is 6 (six) months. This visa is permanent.

There are 3 routes to obtain this visa:

1. you have worked full-time in Australia in your occupation on a temporary residence visa for the last two years prior to the visa application being lodged (including at least the last 12 months with the nominating employer), or
2. you have been nominated to fill a highly paid senior executive position with a salary of more than $165 000 per annum (excluding superannuation or allowances), or
3. you have your skills assessed as suitable by the relevant skills assessing authority and have at least three years full-time work experience in the occupation before the visa application is lodged.

In addition to the main application criteria, the following apply:

• you have an eligible job offer for permanent employment for at least 3 years;
• you have an occupation on the (Employer Nomination) Scheme Occupation List (ENSOL);
• you meet the minimum salary level for ENS of AUD 45,220 (or AUD 61,920 for computer professionals) - benefit in kind must be excluded from the above salary level;
• your employer must have a training strategy in place;
• you need relevant qualifications and/or experience to fill the position;
• you must meet any mandatory licensing, registration or professional membership requirements which allow you to work unsupervised and without further training;
• you must be under 45 years of age;
• you must provide a letter of appointment (job offer) or a contract signed by both the employer and yourself;
• you have vocational English language ability - IELTS of 6 or higher.

After four years as a permanent resident of Australia you can apply to become a citizen of Australia. The Australian Government allows for dual nationality, so you may be able to retain your current passport and jointly hold an Australian passport. Please check with the rules of your own country to ensure they also allow dual nationality.