I'm currently here on a 457 and have left my employer... after searching, I have found a new sponsor and the sponsorship and nomination applications are being dealt with by an agent (employer used them before for another employee.... but sponsorship expired)... it will be over 28 days since leaving my visa sponsor.

I had a call from immigration today to say they'd been notified by my previous employer and will be sending me some documentation next week... I have 12 days in which to respond and on the basis of my response they will decide whether or not to cancel my visa.

Am I in trouble here? Are they likely to kick me out when I have an application ready to go in?

Any information/advice would be greatly appreciated as I'm worrying my socks off here!

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I have def heard of cases on here where people had extensions beyond 28 days, I THINK.. just think, that you may have to show proof that you say in Aus - bank statements etc

http://www.immi.gov.au/skilled/faq-subclass-457.htm

Very well meaning advice from the above, but if it were me I would be contacting a reputable migration agent for advice and not taking what you get from a free internet forum. The addage here is true that you get what you pay for.

Again, if it were me I would contact George Lombard in Sydney for his advice. You can find his contact details by doing a search of his name on this site or look him up on the 'net.

Apologies, i should have made clearer, from the DIAC website in every situation it urges you to call them ASAP - if you already have a job offer on the table it may not be necessary to spend money on an agent

And it is probably not a good idea to speak to DIAC until you have gotten clear advice from a lawyer versed in immigration law. The people you speak to on the phone of at the desk at DIAC are clerks who do not know the ins and outs of what the laws actually are.

Thanks everyone... now I'm getting REALLY worried!

I will be speaking to the agent that my employer has used before in sponsoring.... but until I get the documentation from immigration I don't know what it is they want to see.

I've been in a situation before when first applying for the 457 where an employer put the application in but turned out to be real pigs to work for... I left and got in touch with immigration asking if they could put it on hold, which they did. A week later (my CO was on hols) someone else cleared the 'backlog' and granted the visa by mistake. I got in touch with them to explain the situation again and was thanked for calling as they would "probably have never known", and told to get the app in asap... it eventually took another 4 weeks after the 28 days.

This time I stupidly thought I could find another sponsor and get it in in time without having to contact them.....

I just wanted to know if anyone here had been through a similar experience, or knew anyone that had.