Advice on Visa & Sponsorship

Many recruiters come to Australia initially on a working holiday visa (subclass 417) which permits you to work for a maximum period of 6 months for any one employer. The 417 visas are valid for 12 months but in recent times have been revised to 24 months if certain conditions are met. For a Recruitment Consultant looking for work there are rarely opportunities for such a short period of time in the recruitment industry. Therefore, many employers would look to “sponsor” a candidate on a business class visa for a period of 2 years, a second 2 year visa is available at the end of this period. The “sponsor” is the terminology used to describe the entity that will take sponsorship responsibility for your visa during your stay in Australia – your employer. All applications for visas are made to the Department of Immigration and strict criteria must be met for such a visa.

Most recruitment agencies in Australia are set up and able to sponsor recruitment consultants. The majority of our agency clients are open to sponsoring overseas talent. However, costs associated with sponsoring individuals have recently increased, therefore a higher level of commitment and dedication will be expected from you for companies to commit to this investment. It is much more difficult to secure sponsorship for internal recruitment positions; competition for these opportunities is high on a local level and most consultants applying already have their PR, coming with no restrictions or cost to the business.

You may include the following family members in your visa application:

Children under 18 years
Dependent children 18 years or older – must be financially and emotionally dependent on you (proof must be supplied)
Spouse (opposite sex)
De-facto partner, including same-sex couples, if you can prove you have lived together for a minimum of 6 months immediately prior to the date your application is logged.

Visas granted to family members do not have any limitations on work rights – they may work part-time, full-time and are not restricted to any particular type of work. Study is also permitted.

Should you leave your employment the “sponsor” i.e, your employer is obligated to inform the Department of Immigration of this. On receipt of this information, the department will contact you directly to provide you with the options available for a further stay in Australia. Should you wish to change employers, you can simply transfer your original visa to your new employer (as long as you are not changing occupation). The new sponsor must take over your application within 60 days of your previous employer terminating it. The remaining time available on the visa does not change with a move.

Yes. We have a very strong overseas recruitment program, however in some cases being overseas can limit your options. Some of our clients either have offices in the UK or will fly representatives over to the UK to interview; however where this is not possible, interviews will be done via video conference so that at least you can see your potential employers. In some cases clients are happy to conduct the entire interview process remotely and offer you a position before you leave the UK.

In our experience, we have found that candidates who are prepared to fly over to Australia for final stage interviews with a small number of companies have a much higher chance of making the right decision. Meeting potential managers and team members and actually seeing the working environment that you will be working in can often make or break a decision and may help avoid problems down the track. This commitment and flexibility will also make you more attractive to prospective clients.

It is possible to enter Australia under a tourist visa, which allows you a maximum of 3 months stay in the country. Tourist visas do not carry any working rights and you are unable to work in any capacity.

You can however apply for a business visa whilst on a tourist visa, providing Condition 8503, “No Further Stay” is listed on your Tourist Visa.

Each business visa is valid for up to two years, after which time you may apply for another two-year visa.

The visa is not transferable between other occupations but is transferable on the same occupation between employers.

The holder is permitted to enter and leave Australia without restriction while the visa is valid.

You cannot work for yourself, another company or individual – you can only work for your sponsoring employer.

Please visit www.immi.homeaffairs.gov.au for more information.