Temporary Skill Shortage Visa: Subclass 482 And Its Requirements

Overview of Temporary Skill Shortage Visa

Discuss about the emporary Skill Shortage Visa.

The Temporary Skill Shortage Visa, that is, subclass 482 is also referred to as the TSS. By virtue of this visa, employers are allowed to address their problem of labour shortage and bring workers in case there is a shortage of Australian workers[1]. In cases when an Australian citizen cannot source skilled Australian workers, they are allowed to bring genuinely talented workers to enhance their business. This is done with the purpose of addressing the issue of labour shortage. Overseas workers are brought to Australia to enhance their economy and business growth. The condition that needs to be satisfied by bringing an overseas worker is that the Australian worker shall get priority. The sponsor has to be an Australian and the worker can work under three designated streams- short term stream, medium term stream and labour agreement stream. The overseas can stay for a period of maximum of 4 years and the stay depends on the nominated occupation, the stream that has been selected and the circumstances. To qualify as an overseas worker’s permit visa, the worker has to qualify a few conditions[2].

1. The person sponsoring is an approved sponsor and his nomination of the overseas worker has been approved.
2. The worker has to meet a few requirements and skills and if there is any need to pass any skill assessment test
3. The person applying for the visa has to hold a substantive visa, if he is in Australia.
4. The applicant has to also follow the health requirements and pass the character assessment test.

The employer, under whom the overseas worker will be working, has to make an official nomination application for bringing the employee. If the nomination application is not in place, the sponsor has to make a request for nomination. Hence, there has to be a nomination application in place to make sure that the visa application is legal. There are three steps for the application of the Temporary Skill Shortage Visa which need to be followed in order to get a legal application.

Sponsorship application: the employer has to make a sponsorship application. The person making the sponsorship application shall have to first become a standard business sponsor

Nomination application: the employer has to make a nomination for a skilled position and the need for a skilled employee. One an employer becomes an approved sponsor, he shall have the power to nominate an overseas worker. The nominated worker is nominated for a particular purpose and in a designated position. While the decision on the application is made, the nomination visa must be effective[3].

Visa application: a visa application needs to be in place by the employee.

The visa permits the person to travel to Australia and stay for the purported time period and also work for the period which has been approved. Once the employer enters Australia and starts to work as an employee, he will be treated like a worker and all the rules of Australia shall apply to him[4]. Once permitted to work in Australia, the same rules of wages and pay shall apply to them. A labour agreement is entered between the employer the Australian Government[5]

Three designated streams and sponsor and worker requirements

The role for which the employer is applying ahs to be listed on the list of Eligible Skilled Occupations and it has to be in line with the approved list of occupations which have been approved by the Australian Government. It is a prerequisite that the applicant must have the required qualification to apply for that role[6]. The overseas worker who will be working in Australia as a worker needs to have a work experience in that field. Therefore, all the visa applications are approved on the basis of the sponsorship agreement.

In the present case, Charlie Hickering is an Australian citizen who owns a boutique in Sydney and has a shortage of skilled workers in his boutique. He requires a fashion designer who can help him in the business and also continue with the growth of the boutique Totally New. Charlie wanting more inspiration, travels to New York where he meets a fashion designer and realizes that Sarah is qualified to work as a fashion designer and therefore proposes the plan that sarah moves to Sydney and work with him. Sarah, the fashion designer is a citizen of United States and therefore to work in Totally New as a worker, she needs to get her visa approved. To work with Sarah, Charlie has to make a visa application under subclass 482 and make a sponsorship for Sarah. Making the sponsorship is important and a mandatory requirement to make sure Sarah works in Australia at Charlie’s boutique. To make the sponsorship application, Charlie ahs to be a registered sponsor and only then can he make a sponsorship for Sarah. Sarah has to show that she is from United States and she will work in Australia if Charlie is her official sponsor. Sarah needs to be nominated to work in the fashion department and manage the boutique. The qualifying criteria to get a visa in Australia is Charlie has to show that he is facing shortage of workers in his boutique and he is in need of workers for his business. After satisfying all the requirements, Charlie can apply for a visa for Sarah. In this case, Charlie will be the sponsor.

2. To operate as a migration agent under Australian Law, a person has to be registered with the Migration Agents Registration Authority, also called MARA, the Immigration department mandates that there shall be a migration agent who shall act in accordance with the standard rules of conduct[7]. The Migration Agents Registration Authority is responsible for the code of conduct of the migration agents. All the migration agents need to be registered with the Migration Agents Registration Authority. The purpose of the code is to make sure that the behavior of all the agents are under control and they are not acting in contravention of their laid down duties[8]. The Agents need to exude good behavior and their conduct has to be approved and sound. The agents are required to have good character and are also required to be competent. The work of the agents is to work with the clients and ensure that their doubts are cleared. The clients are of primary importance in an immigration department and therefore the clients need to be protected and they should be given maximum importance. The Code only applies to migration agents who are already registered. Unless the agents are registered, they will not be bound by the Code[9]. The Code lays down the obligations that the agents owe to their clients. The agents are obligated to act in the best interest of the clients. The Migration Agents are governed under section 314 of the Migration Act, 1958[10]. The section dealing with the duties and obligations of the migration agent are laid down under schedule 2, Regulation 8 of the Migration Agents Regulation, 1998[11]. Under the Migration Act, 1958 there shall be a Migration Agents Registration Authority while is responsible for the conduct of the Code[12]. The code shall be applicable to any person who has registered himself with the Register of Migration Agents under section 287 of the Act. The code regulates the behavior and conduct of the agents towards the clients and in cases there is a failure to act in accordance with the provisions of the Act, there shall be no criminal sanction. The punishment shall be to apply administrative sanction, that is, the agent shall be suspended or he shall be made cautious of his duties that are owed to the clients. The Agent has to uphold the interests of the client and also the integrity of the Migration Act and therefore he cannot make any statement that is deceptive or has the potential of misleading his clients. The Agent has to act in honesty and also let know the clients the truthfulness of the application and not try to dupe them into believing a clause that does not even exist. The Agents shall not indulge in any activity that can give out misleading statements. No criminal liabilities are attracted in cases of failure to perform as per the regulations but in cases when the Agent outside the scope of his duty, he shall be reprimanded.[13] The Agent has to work diligently and honestly in the best interest of the client. He has to be in a position to deal fairly with the clients and not quote any amount that is unreasonable. To be working as a registered agent, he has to perform some minimum tasks that make him qualified to work as a client. There are certain minimum requirements that have been laid down in the Act that need to be complied with by the Agent. The Agent is in charge of giving sound and proper immigration advice and therefore he shall not act in violation of his duties[14]. The Agent has to be of a good character and shall have the integrity and morals to deal with the clients. The Act does not put a question mark on the competence of the agent if he does not qualify to be of good character but it is an implied duty that the agent must follow to uphold the interests of the client. Visa application and matters related to immigration is complex and therefore agents need strict guidelines and the agents should let the clients know the requirements of a particular visa application. The Migration Act also deals with standards of professional conduct and they  law down the requirements that need to be followed by the agent in connection with the regulations and the legislation[15]. In cases when the Migrating Agent accords in violation of the code of Conduct, he shall be made liable for the said breach and in those cases the Migrations Agent Registration has the power to impose sanction on the Migrating Agents.  The sanctions imposed by the Migrations Agent registration can be in the form of cautions or may also lead to the suspension of the registration or in some grave circumstances the cancellation of the registration[16]. To be appointed as the migration agent for Totally New Pty Ltd, the agent ahs to act in fairness and also in the best interest of the client. The migrating agent is obligated to act to further the interests of the client and let the client know truthfully and fairly all the requirements for the application. The ethical code of conduct in Australia sets high standards of professionalism and conduct. Therefore, in the light of the Code of Conduct, it can be said that the migrating agent has to act professionally and also abide by strict guidelines of ethics.

Under the Migrations Act, the duties of the Migrating Agent has been denoted which states that he needs to work with his best intentions and also ensure that he informs his client with utmost honesty. This can be done only if the agent has been under an obligation under the legislation. Under the obligations of the Code of Conduct, the agent has to convey all the honest information and he should not deceive the client. In the present case, Charlie is sponsoring the visa of Sarah who is a national of the United States and is a local resident of New York. Having a shortage of workers, Charlie wants to appoint an overseas worker who can come to Australia and work for the betterment of the boutique. Under the circumstances, there is an immediate need of a worker and Charlie needs the worker at the shortest time frame Charlie has applied for the visa under subclass 482 that applies to applicants who want to make sure that the visa applicant can work in Australia under the Australian obligations and be subject to the same rules and regulations that apply to an Australian citizen. The Agent has to be of a good character and shall have the integrity and morals to deal with the clients. Acting as the migrating agent, he is duty bound to work in the best interest of Charlie and give him all the correct information and not try to dupe him. The time frame of 2 weeks has been given because he shall be departing New York soon and then after that he would require that the process is done promptly. Though the client requirement is of utmost value, it is also important to keep in mind that as a migrating agent it is his duty to give all the correct information to his client. The client wants that the visa application be processed soon and without any delay as it is urgent for him to make sure that Sarah joins the business as soon as possible. Getting to know the client’s requirement, the migrating agent checks the internet and the government website where he finds out that the time frame that the visa takes to process is longer than what the client is expecting. To be on the safe side and be ethically correct, the migrating agent is duty bound to let the client know the right time of the visa and the exact amount of time that will be required by the government to process the application. The website of Immigration has clearly notified the date and the time within which the visa application is processed. Therefore, guided by the code of ethics, the migrating agent is duty bound to inform the client the exact time that will be needed to process the visa application.

Steps for application of Temporary Skill Shortage Visa

Though the actual time that is required to process a visa application is 5-9 months, under priority processing, the Department of Home Affairs processes the application and the visa application fast tracked. This can be done at the insistence of the applicant and the application, who is the sponsor, has to prove that he wants to transfer the existing visa to a Temporary Skill Shortage Visa. In certain cases, if there is an urgent requirement that the visa needs to be processed under difficult conditions, it is important for the applicant to show the urgency. After the department of immigration is satisfied with the urgency, the processing time decreases from 5-9 months and reduces to 1to 4 weeks[17].  It is the duty of the agent to inform his client about all the requirements that have to be kept in mind and proved to the Government. The Migrating Agent, being a qualified agent and being aware of the legal requirements, has to convey all the important information to the client. Bound by the Code of Conduct, he is duty bound to act in the interest of the client and also ensure that the agent helps the client in processing the application faster. Being fully aware of the requirements, it is important for the migrating agent to inform the client that unless the application is processed under the priority processing, it will be very difficult for the client to get the application on time. In the above mentioned factual situation, since the advice of the agent is sought on how to process the application the fastest, the agent is bound by ethics to make sure that all the correct information is given to the client.

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