Immigration to Australia: Employer-Sponsored Temporary Visas

Skilled laborers can easily apply for immigration and work in Australia on a temporary or permanent basis. All you need to do is look for an Australian employer willing to sponsor you. The company must be a lawfully operating Australian or overseas employer.

A temporary visa is divided into five subclasses. People seeking immigration to Australia on a more permanent basis can use a temporary work-sponsored visa as a stepping stone.

1. Business Long Stay Visa - Subclass 457 or the Standard Business Sponsorship. It can let visa holders work in Australia for a period of three months to four years. There is no limit to the number of time the visa holder can travel in and out of Australia.
2. Service Sellers - For representatives of overseas suppliers of services. The visa holder is allowed to work in Australia for six to 12 months. The reason to stay is for negotiations or to enter into agreements to supply services - not products -- in the country.
3. Medical Practicioner - Subclass 442 allows foreign doctors and nurses to work in Australia for as short as 3 months to as long as 4 years. Aside from the cost of the visa, the applicant also needs to shoulder additional costs such as medical examinations, translation of documents, providing penal certificates for stays of over 12 months.
4. Educational Visa - Subclass 418 allows education workers to stay up to four years at a time. The sponsoring company must be an Australian tertiary education or research institution. This is for academics, librarians, technicians, lab demostrators, graduate school researchers or teachers.
5. Labour Agreements - Good fro 2 to 3 years, this visa allows both temporary and permanent immigration to Australia for work. These are formal agreements to recruit a set number of overseas skilled workers.

The temporary employee-sponsored visa gives holders the best of both worlds: you get to spend time in Australia while deciding on what you want to do at the same time, you can earn money.