457 Labour Market Testing (LMT) to commence
on Saturday 23 November 2013
Perdaman Global Services encourages you to work closely with your account manager to discuss any 457 visa applications that can be lodged in the next two weeks. We can work with you to minimise the impact of Labour Market Testing on your business.
From 23 November 2013, Subclass 457 visa sponsors will be required to undertake Labour Market Testing (LMT) prior to nominating an overseas worker. Sponsors will be required to provide evidence that they have made efforts to find suitably experienced and qualified Australian citizens or Australian permanent residents to fill the position in a four month period prior to lodging a 457 visa. The recruitment attempts should include advertising (paid or unpaid) of the position or any other similar position.
LMT will apply for all new positions and will be mandatory for occupations such as engineering, nursing, trades and some technical occupations. Exceptions will apply in cases where LMT is inconsistent with Australia’s international trade obligations, specialist occupations associated with disaster relief situations, or for certain nominated occupations based on skill levels i.e. where the occupation requires a bachelor’s degree, diploma or higher.
If you are planning to sponsor someone from these occupations Perdaman Global Services strongly encourages you to start gathering information on current advertising activity and prepare to answer questions about LMT activities in relation to nominating these occupations.
If redundancies or retrenchments have occurred within the past 12 months in the occupations you intend to nominate for a 457 visa, additional evidence may be required. Advertising for these positions will need to have occurred after those redundancies or retrenchments took place.
It is not clear whether applications lodged prior to 23 November, but still being processed by the Department after this date, will be impacted by LMT.
Current applications have been taking up to 8 weeks to process and it is likely that with the introduction of LMT there will be an influx of subclass 457 applications lodged prior to 23 November. This is likely to impact on processing times, so you need to be mindful of this when mobilising international workers.
Perdaman Global Services urged you to consider the possible impact of labour marketing testing on your business and to liaise closely with your Perdaman Global Services Migration Agent to plan for the changes.
For further information contact Perdaman Global Services on
08 9346 8888,or email migration@perdaman-gs.com.au
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