Visa Information

The information below details the various types of visas we aid our applicants in applying for. If you’d like to know more, feel free to contact us.

These visas are available for those who have:

• Management backgrounds
• Professional backgrounds
• Semi-professional backgrounds
• Trade backgrounds

The applicant’s occupation must be listed on the Combined Occupations List and their qualifications must be assessed by the relevant body as being equivalent to the Australian entry requirements for the occupation.

The visas are available in four main categories:

• Skilled Independent (Subclass 189)
• Skilled Australian Sponsored (Subclass 190)
• Skilled Regional (Provisional) (Subclass 489)
• ENS (Subclass 186) & RSMS (Subclass 187)

The Skilled Australian Sponsored visa, you must be sponsored by an eligible relative living in Australia or obtain nomination from a participating State or Territory government agency.

Both visas are subject to a points test in which points are awarded for Skills, Age, English Language Ability and Specific Work experience in the chosen occupation.

For an assessment of your details, and an indication of your chances of success in obtaining one of these visas please go to our assessment form, provide the information requested and submit this to us.

Independent Migrants (Subclass 189)

Independent migrants are selected on the basis of their education, skills and work experience, and their potential to contribute quickly to the Australian economy. They are not sponsored by an employer or relative in Australia. This group forms the largest contingent of skilled migrants each year.

Skilled – Australian Sponsored (Subclass 190)

Skilled – Australian Sponsored category migrants are selected on the basis of their skills, age, English-language ability and family relationship. They must be sponsored by a relative already living in Australia.

Employer Nomination Scheme (Subclass 186)

The Employer Nomination Scheme (ENS) allows Australian employers to recruit, on a permanent basis, ‘highly skilled’ positions with non-Australian citizens, where they have been unable to fill a vacancy from the Australian labour market or through their own training programs.

This visa is a permanent residence visa for skilled workers. It allows you to work in Australia under one of three streams:

• the Temporary Residence Transition stream
• the Direct Entry stream
• the Labour Agreement stream.

Regional Sponsored Migration Scheme (Subclass 187)

This visa is a permanent residence visa for skilled workers who want to work in regional Australia. It allows you to work in Australia under one of two streams:

• the Temporary Residence Transition stream
• the Direct Entry stream.

This visa allows skilled workers to live and work in regional or low-population growth metropolitan areas of Australia for up to four years.

There are three pathways to the visa:

• The Extended stay pathway
• The Invited pathway
• The Subsequent entry pathway

This visa might lead to the permanent Skilled Regional visa (subclass 887).

The Skilled–Independent Regional (Provisional) (SIR) visa is for skilled people who wish to live and work in a regional or low population growth area in Australia.

The visa was developed in consultation with state and territory governments and is designed to assist regional areas attract, and retain, skilled migrants to fill skill shortages, boost development in regional communities, and counter the population decline in rural areas.

The Skilled Regional (Provisional) visa 489 is a temporary visa valid for a period of 4 years.

Applicants for the visa will be required to sign an undertaking that they, and members of their family unit, will live, work or study in regional Australia or a low population metropolitan centre for the duration of their visa.

Applicants for the visa must have state or territory government sponsorship or Family Sponsored.

Through a two-stage visa process, visa holders must live and work in or a low population growth metropolitan area for at least 2 years before they can apply for permanent residence.

Two stage process to permanent residence

Skilled applicants who are sponsored by a state or territory government, or Family Sponsorship, and who can obtain 65 points on the general skilled migration points test can apply for permanent residence through a two stage process:

Stage 1

Regional Skilled (Provisional) visa 489 – successful applicants will be granted a 4 year temporary visa to live and work/study in regional Australia.

Stage 2

Permanent residence stage – Regional Skilled visa holders who have met the Regional Skilled visa conditions of:
having lived in regional Australia for at least 2 years; and having been employed (including self -employed) for at least 12 months in regional Australia may apply for one of the following permanent residence 887 visa.

Business Skills migration

The Business Skills program encourages successful business people to settle permanently in Australia and develop new business opportunities.

Provisional Business Visas

These visas allow business people to enter Australia for a period of up to 4 years. During this time they are allowed to set up a new business, purchase a business or go into partnership with an existing business.

When the business is a going concern, employing Australians and able to provide financial statements, usually after at least 2 years, permanent residency can be applied for. Certain requirements must be met to attain permanent residency such as business turnover, employing staff and holding business and personal assets to meet the requirements set.

The Business Innovation and Investment (Provisional) visa (subclass 188) is part of the Business Innovation and Investment Program.

You must submit an Expression of Interest (EOI) through Skill Select and be nominated by an eligible government organisation before being invited to apply for this visa.

The visa includes five streams:

Business Innovation stream

For people with business skills who want to establish, develop and manage a new or existing business in Australia. Applicants must be nominated by a state or territory government.

Investor stream

For people who want to make a designated investment of at least AUD 1.5 million in an Australian state or territory and maintain business and investment activity in Australia. Applicants must be nominated by a state or territory government.

Significant Investor stream

For people who are willing to invest at least AUD 5 million into complying significant investments in Australia and want to maintain business and investment activity in Australia. Applicants can be nominated by a state or territory government or Austrade on behalf of the Australian government.

Premium Investor stream

For people who are willing to invest at least AUD 15 million into complying premium investments in Australia and want to maintain business and investment activity in Australia. Austrade will make the initial contact with suitable candidates for nomination on behalf of the Australian government.

Entrepreneur stream

For people who have a funding agreement from a third party for at least AUD200 000 to undertake a complying entrepreneur activity that is proposed to lead to either the commercialisation of a product or service in Australia or the development of a business in Australia.

Applicants must be nominated by a state or territory government.

Holding this visa is the first stage before becoming eligible to qualify for a Business Innovation and Investment (Permanent) visa (subclass 888).

Temporary Work (Short Stay Specialist) Visa (Subclass 400)

This visa is for people who want to travel to Australia doing short-term, highly specialized, non-ongoing work in limited circumstance participate in an activity or work relating to Australia Interests.

Generally the stay period is up to three months but up to six months may be considered in limited circumstances if supported by a strong business case.

Please apply for your eVisitor/ETA as early as possible prior to travel to allow sufficient time for your application to be processed.

An eVisitor visa or an Electronic Travel Authority (ETA) is equivalent to a visa, but there is no stamp or label in your passport. They are issued electronically by a computer system operated for the Department of Home Affairs (DOHA).

DOHA have implemented changes to the electronic system. Most applications will be issued instantly, however, in a small number of cases, some additional processing will be required. If your visa cannot be issued immediately we will advise by email and check the system in 12 hours to confirm whether your application has been successful. In most cases, we will be able to apply for and notify you of your approval by the next working day.

Important: You may not be permitted to enter Australia unless you are in good health and have no criminal convictions

You can submit applications directly through this web site by clicking the Fill in Application Form button at the bottom of this page.

We charge an administration fee of AU$50.00 for processing an application on your behalf and the government application charge is AU$20.00 for an ETA.

There are two types of eVisitor/ETA:

• Visitor
• Short Validity Business

The type you apply for depends on your reason for your visit, but please note that you are NOT ALLOWED to work in Australia as the holder of an eVisitor/ETA.

When an application for an eVisitor/ETA is submitted through this site, all you need to do is enter the details from your passport and your credit card information or payment.

When you arrive at an airport for check-in on a flight to Australia, the airline check-in staff can electronically confirm that you have authority to board the flight to Australia.

You are only eligible to apply for an eVisitor/ETA while you are outside of Australia. To apply you must hold one of the listed eVisitor/ETA eligible passports.

eVisitor

Applicants for family visas must be sponsored by a close family member, defacto or fiancé(e) living in Australia.

The sponsor must be either an Australian citizen, permanent resident or eligible New Zealand citizen, and would usually be 18 years of age or older.

Family Stream applicants can be sponsored for migration or permanent residence in one of the following visa categories:

Family Stream categories

Family Stream migrants are selected on the basis of their family relationship with their sponsor in Australia; there is no test for skills or language ability as for Skilled Stream migrants. The Family Stream component of the Migration Program consists of four main categories

• Spouse: the husband, wife or de facto partner of the Australian sponsor;
• Prospective Marriage: a fiancé(e) overseas who plans to marry their Australian sponsor in Australia.
• Interdependent Partner: a person in an interdependent relationship with an Australian partner involving a mutual commitment to a shared life together.

Child

• Dependent child: the natural, adopted or stepchild of the Australian sponsor;
• Adopted child: a child adopted overseas; and
• Orphan relative: an unmarried child under 18 at the time of application who cannot be cared for by either parent.

Parent

A person who meets the balance of family test and is sponsored by their child, who is an Australian citizen, Australian permanent resident or eligible New Zealand citizen. However, only aged parents can be granted a visa when applying within Australia. An aged parent is one who is old enough to be granted an Australian age pension. For male applicants the qualifying age for the Australian age pension is 65. For female applicants the qualifying age is gradually being increased from 60 to 65 (to 30 June 2003 the qualifying age is 62).

Other family

• Aged Dependent Relative: single, widowed, divorced or formally separated person who is dependent on an Australian relative;
• Remaining Relative: a person who has no close family ties outside Australia and is the brother, sister, child or step equivalent of an Australian citizen, Australian permanent resident or eligible New Zealand citizen;
• Career: a person willing and able to give substantial, continuing assistance to an Australian relative or member of their family who has a medical condition that impairs their ability to attend to the practical aspects of daily life. The need for assistance must be likely to continue for at least two years.

All Family visas apart from spouse visas will require an Assurance of Support to be lodged on behalf of the applicant.

If you would like to find out if you are eligible for a family visa please complete the application form and submit this to us.

This ‘once in a life time’ visa is for people aged 18 to 30 years of age, who are interested in a working holiday of up to 12 months in Australia.

If you are granted this visa you can:

• enter Australia within 12 months of grant
• stay up to 12 months
• leave and re-enter Australia any number of times while the visa is valid
• work in Australia for up to 6 months with each employer
• study for up to 4 months

If you are outside Australia and hold a passport for one of these countries, you may be eligible to apply for this visa.

Note: If you are from Chile, Thailand, Turkey or USA, you may be eligible to apply for a different visa – a Work and Holiday visa which provides similar opportunities for tertiary educated people aged 18 to 30.

People who have worked as a seasonal worker in regional Australia for a minimum of three months while on their first Working Holiday visa, may be eligible to apply for a second Working Holiday visa.

If you hold a second Working Holiday visa, you may return to work for a further 6 months for an employer with whom you worked on your first Working Holiday visa.

• be outside Australia when you apply and when your visa is granted
• not be applying more than 12 months prior to intended travel to Australia
• not have entered Australia on a Working Holiday visa before
• be aged between 18 and 30 years (inclusive) at the time of applying
• have no dependent children (at the time you apply and hold the visa)
• have sufficient funds for your stay AUD5,000 plus funds or airfare for departure
• hold a passport for a country or region participating with Australia in the Working Holiday Maker program valid for the entire period of your intended stay in Australia.

The Australia Student Visa allows you to study and work in Australia for the duration of the course.

This visa allows you to study in a full-time registered course, for example:

• Primary or Secondary school
• Vocational Education and Training (VET) courses – for the award of (up to) an advanced diploma
• English Language Intensive Courses for Overseas Students (ELICOS)
• Higher education courses – such as a bachelor or associate degree, a graduate certificate or graduate diploma, a masters degree by coursework or a higher education diploma or advanced diploma
• Post graduate Research degrees – a masters degree by research or a doctoral degree
• Non-award courses – non-award foundation studies courses or components of a course that do not lead to an award

The duration of the visa varies depending on how long the course is. Usually the visa is valid for a few months after the course completes.

Family members can be included in the application. It very important to meet the Genuine Temporary Entrant (GTE) requirement. Please contact us for eligibility and an overview of your circumstances.

Eligibility Criteria for Student Visas

The main requirements for an Australian student visa are:

• Have to show that you are a genuine student who wants to come to Australia primarily to study
• Enough funds available to you to support yourself for your first year in Australia
• Appropriate health insurance
• The appropriate age for your level of study
• Have an appropriate level of English
• Confirmation of Enrolment

Temporary Graduate Visa (Subclass 485)

Temporary Graduate visa lets new graduates from Australian universities and other higher education institutions stay in the country for up to 2 years with full work rights.

This gives you time to build experience for a general skilled migration visa or search for an employer to sponsor you for an employer-sponsored visa.

There are two streams for the temporary graduate visa and eligibility will depend on when you held your first student visa and what subject you studied.

Post-Study Work stream requirements

Specific criteria for the Post-Study Work stream include:

• Your first student visa must have been granted on or after 5 November 2011
• You must have been granted a bachelor degree or higher by a CRICOS-registered education provider within the last 6 months

Graduate Work stream requirements

Specific criteria for the Graduate Work stream include:

• You have nominated an occupation on the MLTSSL
• Studying for a degree, diploma or trade qualification that is closely related to your nominated occupation
• Have applied for a subclass 485 skills assessment before applying for the visa
• Your skills assessment must be approved before grant of the visa

Requirements for both streams

There are several requirements that are common to both streams of the temporary graduate visa. These include:

• You have not held a subclass 485 or 476 visa as a primary applicant before
• Have achieved at least a score of 6 or equivalent in the IELTS before applying for the visa
• Applied for an Australian Federal Police check before applying for the visa
• You have health insurance arrangements in Australia before applying for the visa
• Standard health and character criteria
• Have satisfied the Australian study requirement  in the 6-month period immediately before applying
• You must either: Hold a student visa OR Have held a student visa in the past 6 months and currently hold a bridging visa A or B

Apply for an Australian Visa with us by filling in the form below with the visa(s) you require, we will be in contact with you shortly to arrange your application with you.