Solve your staffing issues by looking into an Employer Sponsored Visa

Your plumbing business is going well. You have started from scratch and now have some regular contracts along with picking up business from individuals as you go. In fact, you are struggling to keep up with demand, which is a sign of quality and good reputation, but it also creates potential issues.

You have managed to satisfy most of your customers, partly through the help of a visitor. Fred is a 22-year-old young fella from England on a working holiday visa to help subsidise his trip after training back home to become a qualified plumber a couple of years earlier. He loves working with you and is a popular member of the team. He is happy to stay as he has no commitments, which would suit you as well. It is time to consider applying for the Employer Sponsored Visa, Subclass 482.

About the visa

It is available to anyone who can be nominated to work in an occupation on the list of eligible medium and long-term skilled occupations. As luck would have it, a qualified plumber in on the medium-term list, which will allow Fred to remain and work in Australia for 4 years.

It will cost your company AUD 2,770, which will prove to be good value, especially if it means you can keep existing trade and even add to your customer base. It will be more cost effective than the time lost while you train someone else, though this can now be done at the same time, so there is a replacement if Fred does leave after 4 years. However, you do point out to him that he can apply for Australian permanent residency while he works under the visa.

Fred, like anyone else under the visa requires to be fully trained in their trade for two years for an application to be eligible. Workers must remain in the employment of the sponsor who makes the application, offering a safeguard that your employee won’t be headhunted elsewhere.

Anyone who qualifies for the scheme must meet minimum standards of English language proficiency. Fred most certainly qualifies, despite some of the ribbing he gets from colleagues about his accent. Whoever is sponsored also has the comfort of being able to enter and leave Australia as many times as they want during the timescale of the visa.

Don’t be short staffed and lose potential business. Look into the viability of an Employer Sponsored Visa, Subclass 482