dtro

Hi Guys!

My employer sent an application for nomination three weeks ago. She informed me a few days ago that they've received a few calls from the immigration office to interview my boss in regards to the company and its activities.
According to my boss, the immigration officer advised them to put the application on hold since the company is a start-up company (exists since 2004) and does not have any sales, revenue or approval to sell a product (it's a medical device company and the products are highly regulated by TGA and FDA and require approval to sell, which we haven't got yet).
As far as I could understand from my boss, there isn't much chance the nomination will get approved at this point.


I just wanted to know if there's anything I can do in the matter ?
I am thinking of consulting an immigration agent, but would not want to pay for the whole application if the chances of actually getting it are not good or non existing.


Some background:
I'm a 26 years old Software Engineer. I do not have 4 years of full time experience yet (I've got 3) which is why I cannot apply for any visa which requires a skill assessment (ACS requires 4 years of full time work experience).
I've been on a 457 for more than two years, contracting for the first one and directly working for my current employer for a year.
I am not British, but have been reading this forum for a while and found it very useful.


Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks,
Daniel

George Lombard

Hi Daniel,

No reason why you can't be sponsored by a start-up, but given an organisation that has been around for 5 years I don't know if they'd consider that a start-up. Depends on the circumstances of course but to put it in context we see 5-10 homemade ENS nominations refused every year - no-one should ever assume that an employer is automatically eligible to be an ENS, RSMS or 457 sponsor - and hopefully there's a workaround for you.

Cheers,

George Lombard

dtro

Hi George, thank you for your reply.
Maybe they do not consider it a start-up, but just a company which doesn't make any money ?
It's a small company and There are two people currently on 457 (me and another guy) and they are currently in the process of applying for a 457 for another guy. So, maybe that looks "suspicious" to immigration ?
When you say you see nominations being refused, do you mean they come to your for help with appealing ? If so, how many of them are successful with their appeal (with your help).
I really hope there is some sort of workaround. There's nothing in the world I want more than this PR right now. I just don't want to go on a Wild goose chase.
Also, While my employer is willing to sponsor me for ENS, they would obviously prefer to keep the "hustle" down to a minimum. After all, from their perspective, I can still work on a 457 till 2011. The agreement between us also says I pay for all expenses for the visa.

Thanks,
Daniel

Les Mighalls

And I would second that in spades.

Any employer needs to make a very good submission, especially since the onset of the GFC.

We obtained ENS approval to bring a guy in for a start up that wasn't even trading at the time of approval, but he was a critical employee who was going to train Aussie staff as well as the employer/director.

The way we did it was to put together a da*n good business plan to accompany our submission.

George Lombard

Hi Daniel,

The rules for 457s and ENS are different and we just take on the cases which are winnable, some people just aren't with the right employer. Email us if you like.

Cheers,

George Lombard