Factbox: what is a 457 visa?

7 Mar 2013, 7:51 pm   -   Source: SBS
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The majority of 457 visa holders are from the UK, India and Ireland. (Department of Immigration and Citizenship)

The majority of 457 visa holders are from the UK, India and Ireland. (Department of Immigration and Citizenship)

There are over 80,000 people working in Australia on 457 visas, according to the Immigration Department. But what is the 457 visa and how do people receive one?

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According to the Immigration Department there are over 80,000 people working in Australia on 457 visas. But what is the 457 visa and how do people receive one?

Also known as the Temporary Business (Long Stay) visa, the 457 is a subclass of visa for skilled overseas workers to work in Australia temporarily, provided they are sponsored by an Australian or overseas employer.

WHO IS ELIGIBLE FOR A 457 VISA?

The 457 visa was introduced in 1996 and allows skilled workers to be employed in Australia for up to four years. Applicants must be sponsored by a local business for a specific job, relevant to their skillset.

In most cases, visa holders are permitted to bring family members with them.

According to the Department of Immigration and Citizenship's 2012 State/Territory Summary Report  most 457 visas are granted to managers, professionals, technicians and trades workers.

Most new workers come from the United Kingdom, India and the Republic of Ireland and most find employment in New South Wales, Western Australia and Victoria.

APPLYING FOR A 457 VISA

Before a business can sponsor an overseas worker they must first confirm there are no appropriately skilled Australian citizens or permanent residents who could do the job.

The Department of Immigration and Citizenship updates a Consolidated Sponsored Occupations List each year, which records occupations that have a low skilled labour force in Australia.

Applicants for these jobs must then contact a relevant assessing authority to obtain a skills assessment and various necessary application forms.

Visa holders must also show that their salary while working in Australia will be above $51,400 and certain passport holders may need to pass an English language proficiency test.
 
RESTRICTIONS ON 457 VISAS

Holders of the 457 visa cannot be unemployed for more than 28 days.

Because most 457 visa holders are in Australia for long-term employment, and many even become permanent residents, holders have unlimited re-entry into Australia and can borrow from Australian banks.

In July 2012, the Australian Government revised the 457 visa, allowing non-resident workers to transition to permanent residency visas if they have worked with the sponsoring employer for two years in a full-time position.

Under the new scheme, employers can sponsor employees for a fast-tracked pathway, called the Temporary Residence Transition Stream, to permanent residency.
 

Australia , Visa 457

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Unable to police or prosecute

457 rorts mostly by small business - from Melbourne, 3 months ago

The truth is that Immigration has insufficient legal powers or will to prosecute the small employers who tend to rort the 457 system. These are seen as the "small fry" and it is just not worth the cost. Most rorting occurs by small businesses owners who employ persons from their own previous countries of origin using the nepostism, cronyism, clanism and corruption which reflects where they are from. We don't need plasterers and panel beaters from China, India or the Mid East for example...

457 scam

tasdev - from Altona, 3 months ago

For all those poms coming here on 457 visa ,WHy ??? that's right, you can't work in England because the same has happened there true or just that you can't get fish and chips without Curry lol

Give 457 another chance

Melissa - from Paramatta, Sydney, 3 months ago

Gilliard and Co please don’t give residency to those people arrive illegally there by boats. People arriving on 457 visas or who intend to go to Aussie on 457 visas are hardworking, educated people. So please do not cut back on 457 visas, let us pay taxes like all other Australians. I am sure we will contribute positively to the Aussie economy-look what has happened to the Aussie economy from 1996? It is even doing better than the US economy.

mr

bill banter - from brisbane, 3 months ago

Fact - actually foreign firms can send their own employees here on a 457 visa as well. Some of these 457 visa holders will be employees of businesses that have won contracts here in Australia. Tax - 457 workers pay the same income tax. But if they want to send their children to school in Australia, even a State School, it costs them up to $10,000 per year fees. So they pay tax without the benefits.

johno

John goymer - from aubin grove, 3 months ago

Carnt you see whats happening the employees are building up there numbers of 457 visa holders,you will find out When ABBOTT gets in, .Just a hunch?

457visa holders' contribution

kelly - from SA, 3 months ago

I donnot think 457holders break the labour market. they pay tax, super and other fees from their wages,, but get nothing from welfare of Australia. compared with boat man, they are have more right to stay in Australia. how about boat man?they just enjoy the welfare which paid from all of people working in Australia.

what about 175,176 visas?

onlooker - from melbourne, 3 months ago

...what about the people who officially immigrated to aussie and have pr...they are not aussie and not "guests"....they are stuck in the middle and subject to competing with 457's on the one hand and not aussie by birth....i am one such and turning into a refugee in aus...have a wife and 3 kids, an engineer, studying an mba here in aus and apparently have critical skills in sap...cannot get an interview and worked 10 months in 30....

457 visa taking jobs away

Auzzie Expat - from Vancouver, 3 months ago

tried getting job back in Sydney last October. Faced with reality firms are pulling people from China on these Visas on instead of hiring locals. Couldn't get an interview. Australia is in trouble. Isn't it called scab labour

Where arebthem457'visa jobs advertised

Another Aussie - from Yeppoon, 3 months ago

I would like to see one website where companies are forced to advertise "457 jobs" so Australians and the "457 people" can all apply. It's all about transparency. Btw you don't need to speak English to make a delicious curry or bone a carcass.

The truth, for the insulated Aussie

RaoulDuke66 - from Bulimba, 3 months ago

The vast majority of 457 visa holders are from elsewhere in the Anglo-sphere, are professionals, have no entitlement to any public services, and, if they have children here, those children aren't classed as Australian citizens. This is a class of professional people who speak proper English (as opposed to the bastardised Australian version of the language) who work, pay tax, and take nothing from the public benefits system. A 457 worker creates vastly more net wealth than an Aussie - fact.

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