AndrewMarilyn

Can anyone give us an opinion on this. please?

We are moving to Sydney on a company sponsored 457 in January, which will provide us (hopefully) with 4 yrs temporary residency.

During that time we will apply for PR, BUT we are concerned that if that application is turned down, we may have to return to UK without work!

Would it be routine to get PR if you had worked on a 457 sponsored Visa, and say had completed 2 years employment? Or is there a real risk of rejection?


Thanks

Mike 3G

I am in the same boat as yourself in that we came on a 457 with a view to obtaining ENS (employer nominated sponsorship). The reason we took this path is that we didn't have the points to get PR off the bat therefore the ENS route gets us in, are you in a similar position?

I stipulated that my employer put the ENS PR in the offer letter so that we had some sort of security to getting the PR we so desire. This is all good and well in theory if you like your employer and job then the 2 years required to achieve this no real problem, if however they are bunch of f@###@s then thats another story. My advice is make sure the company you are coming with are decent and are going to look after you to the standard you would expect in your field in Europe. I had two offers both on slightly better cash than the one I chose however they didn't check out well after speaking to people who had done work for them and their general manner attitude didn't do it for me.

In short it is normal for a company employing you on 457 to offer ENS and pay for the whole shooting match. If this is agreed at the beginning of the employment they may not offer LAFHA as if they intend to employ you long term ie not temp then you are not eligible for LAFHA, I'm sure there are way around this though.

Gems

We did 457- ENS.
Our sponsor paid for ziltch, so dont automatically think they will pay for the visa or anything. We were a family of 6 so it cost us over $2000 just on the medicals!

However for us the 457-ENS was worth it as we had job, housing on arrival. Worth every penny we spent.

But I have heard several times on here about companies going under or deciding to lay you off before the ENS visa.
So its not written in stone.

All PR visa have to be assessed by immigration, so although unlikely you could be turned down by immigration. Say if you developed a serious illness (heart disease, cancer) or something during the time you were here, your likely to fail the medical for ENS visa. ENS visa usually go through ok, but you cant predict an unkown event in the 2 years your on 457, e.g illness,accident.

You just have to hope you have got a good company that will go through with the ENS. To be honest its a bit like a leap of faith.

We had a government dept sponsoring us, so we knew it was unlikely to fall through. However if your going with a small company Id be more cautious.

For us 457-ENS worked a treat for us, so it can work well.

Gems

Gems

Oh, and not all companies off LAFHA, ours wouldnt do it.
You need the company to agree to this.

Gems

JAJ

There is a real risk of rejection. A risk that increases to around 100% if you don't meet the requirements. Have you looked to see what the process of getting a permanent visa involves. A 457 on its own isn't going to help you much.

Mike 3G

Hi JAJ,

What do you base the real risk of rejection upon?

I was led to belive that it wouldn't be a real problem for us to get PR after 2 years with the same employer via ENS.

asher

people are led to believe a lot of stuff

a pr visa application is looked at more rigorously than a 457 you have to go through the whole process again and yes you can be rejected even though you passed for a 457
As jaj said look at the criteria for ENS do your skills and job fit?

we have just been through all this and have PR but to take it for granted you will get it is a mistake in my opinion

JAJ

What do I base it on? Only the experience of hundreds, if not thousands of 457 visa holders, who had to go home when things didn't work out.

Sometimes (often, in fact) employer refuses to sponsor for PR.
Sometimes employer is ineligible to sponsor.
Sometimes the rules have changed.
Sometimes a family member has got sick and no longer meets health requirements for PR.
Sometimes there has been a death or divorce in the family.

And so on.

seanpears99

I agree with the above plus you dont have to wait for 2 years to apply for PR. Our 856 was sponsored by queensland health after we had been here for 8 months and we had PR granted 8 weeks later.

If you are seen as a worthy candidate and you have something to offer and want to apply, then it is usually in the interests of your employer to assist (we had to pay the 2.5k fee).

There are stipulations on working for them for 3 years as well to take into account, some people have swerved this after the event, but not sure I would go down thay route.

We arrived on a 457 with the intention of staying for 4 years but as every else has mentioned, you are classed as a second class citizen in some peoples eyes, so its best to try and get PR asap if you want to stay in australia.

Good luck.

Mike 3G

JAJ,

I agree with above.

Perhaps I should have made my point a little better, my occupation is on the list and I do along with family members meet the criteria. It is worth while pointing out the pitfalls and anyone considering this route should research all of the above. I do feel its important to give a balanced view of the 457 - PR option as it may be the only way for some people to get into Australia. In our case its been a very good way of doing things due to the integrity of my current employer, I appreciate not all are as lucky as we have been in this respect.

The main point for me is the applicant has to understand all the possible ramifications of choosing this option and be willing to accept some degree of risk when doing so.