457 Visa questions

Diddlydoubt

Myself (accountant) and my girlfriend (nurse) have been on the WHV in Australia since January.

we would like to extend our visas for another year but are not really interested in staying beyond 1 more year due to commitments at home in ireland.

the company my girlfriend works for has said that they are willing sponsor her for 457 visa for 4 years and they will pay half of the costs (which they maintain are about $4000).

They have said that if she leaves before the 4 years are up on the visa that she will have to repay the costs they paid for her which going on what they have said would amount to about $2000.

this doesnt seem correct to me.

so i am wondering if they could nominate her for the position and act as her sponsor, and she pays the costs herself can she get the visa in this way, as opposed to them paying the costs and her repaying them to her employer when we leve the country?

can anyone advise on this?

have looked at the government website but cant find clarification on it

thanks in advance

danotroy

What would the difference be in paying the employer or paying the costs up front?

Diddlydoubt

danotroy wrote: »

What would the difference be in paying the employer or paying the costs up front?

how do you mean?

Thats what i am trying to figure out. if it is possible for her to do it herself and pay for it herself and it works out cheaper then that is more appealing to do that than to repay the employer if that costs more.

mandrake04

The employer should be advised that they must adhere to their obligations.

Before 1 July 2013 - Sponsors were obligated not to recover certain costs from a primary or a secondary sponsored person.
After 1 July 2013 - Sponsors will be required to pay certain costs associated with becoming a sponsor and not pass these costs, in any form, onto a sponsored person.

Obligation not to recover certain costs from a primary sponsored person or secondary sponsored person

The sponsor must not recover, or seek to recover, all or part of the costs (including migration agent costs) from the primary or secondary sponsored person:
• that relate specifically to the recruitment of the primary sponsored person, or
• associated with becoming or being an approved sponsor or former approved sponsor.
How long does this obligation apply for?
This obligation starts to apply on the day the sponsor is approved as a standard business sponsor or the day the labour agreement commences.
This obligation ends 2 years after the following 2 events have occurred:
• the approved standard business sponsorship or the labour agreement ceases, and
• there are no primary or secondary sponsored persons in relation to the sponsor.
These sponsorship obligations are correct as of April 2013 and are subject to change. Please refer to the department’s website www.immi.gov.au/skilled/skilled-workers/sbs/obligations-employer.htm for an up- to-date list of the obligations.

menuisier

Why is it 8,000$ grand? I thought the 417 was less than 1,000$
My recruiter told me my company would be willing to sponsor me after the probation period if they liked me and it would cost 8,000$

I'm assuming that's going through a immigration agent, If I was willing to do it myself I'm wondering if I could take the cost of the agent for myself. Is it a lot of hard work or could I mess up the application if I don't know what i'm doing?

Sorry for hijacking

mandrake04

menuisier wrote: »

Why is it 8,000$ grand? I thought the 417 was less than 1,000$
My recruiter told me my company would be willing to sponsor me after the probation period if they liked me and it would cost 8,000$

I'm assuming that's going through a immigration agent, If I was willing to do it myself I'm wondering if I could take the cost of the agent for myself. Is it a lot of hard work or could I mess up the application if I don't know what i'm doing?

Sorry for hijacking

417 is $365

In the past few years a 457 was easy enough to do yourself, probably a bit too easy as you could put whatever version of the truth you wanted.

Now DIAC are cracking down on proof of the Labor Market testing, enforcing training benchmarks, etc. Even some of the migration agents are very slow at getting their heads around it, seems their fees have going up a bit ($8K is a bit OTT) as the application has to now at least resemble genuine.

The sponsor has to pay the Migration Agents fees, Nomination, SBS application fee.

The employee only has pay the $900 VAC and the dependents fees

or the Sponsor could pay the whole lot.

There none of this 'sponsor me and I will pay the costs' any more, or at least if there is... they are breaking the law and for a genuine business the chance of getting caught and damaging their reputation is not worth it.

ifeelill

menuisier wrote: »

Why is it 8,000$ grand? I thought the 417 was less than 1,000$/QUOTE]

It's a 457 not a 417

ifeelill

Diddlydoubt wrote: »

we would like to extend our visas for another year but are not really interested in staying beyond 1 more year due to commitments at home in ireland.

the company my girlfriend works for has said that they are willing sponsor her for 457 visa for 4 years and they will pay half of the costs (which they maintain are about $4000).

Im guessing that you have disclosed your intentions to your employer hence why they are saying you'll have to repay the costs of the visa ?

Diddlydoubt wrote: »

They have said that if she leaves before the 4 years are up on the visa that she will have to repay the costs they paid for her which going on what they have said would amount to about $2000.

this doesnt seem correct to me.

Nor me im pretty sure what the employer is asking is illegal and would have a hard time extracting the funds when you guys do leave.

I can see you guys going back to the employer and calling bull**** on the fee repayment clause and then the offer of employment will be withdrawn.

That's just my own opinion seeing how the employer is skirting the law here

mandrake04

Diddlydoubt wrote: »

the company my girlfriend works for has said that they are willing sponsor her for 457 visa for 4 years and they will pay half of the costs (which they maintain are about $4000).

They might maintain is $4000 but if they never sponsored beforeit not far of the mark.

The SBS Approval $420

Then your applications

Primary VAC $900
Secondary VAC $900
Nomination fee $330

Plus $2500-$3000 in agents fees to help them through the quagmire of the recently introduced LMT, training Bench mark enforcement, Market salary etc etc......etc

Frankly $4000 probably wouldn't cover it.

Technically they can only make you pay the 2x $900 VAC as those are your visa's (in that you can carry those visas to another nominating employer).

If they tried to recover anymore costs they would be breaking the law, but then their MARA agent would be making that very very clear.

ifeelill wrote: »

Nor me im pretty sure what the employer is asking is illegal and would have a hard time extracting the funds when you guys do leave.

Employer also has to pay for the flights home if requested, that's about another $1500 each on top of the above and the employer cant ask for that back either.

castie

mandrake04 wrote: »

The employer should be advised that they must adhere to their obligations.

That is the costs to become an approved sponsor.
Not for the actual sponsorship.

Note the costs are likely because the company will use an immigration lawyer and they are not cheap. My company paid over 5k AUD almost 2 years ago.

dodgylegs

Diddlydoubt wrote: »

Myself (accountant) and my girlfriend (nurse) have been on the WHV in Australia since January.

we would like to extend our visas for another year but are not really interested in staying beyond 1 more year due to commitments at home in ireland.

the company my girlfriend works for has said that they are willing sponsor her for 457 visa for 4 years and they will pay half of the costs (which they maintain are about $4000).

They have said that if she leaves before the 4 years are up on the visa that she will have to repay the costs they paid for her which going on what they have said would amount to about $2000.

this doesnt seem correct to me.

so i am wondering if they could nominate her for the position and act as her sponsor, and she pays the costs herself can she get the visa in this way, as opposed to them paying the costs and her repaying them to her employer when we leve the country?

can anyone advise on this?

have looked at the government website but cant find clarification on it

thanks in advance

You could apply for a permanent visa with out the sponsorship (and without using an agent) probably cost 5k(+depending on cicumstances) though. We are in oz, applied on the 24th may, made permanent residents 1st july. Neither of you are tied to any employer. Think it poses problems for claiming superannuation back though.

mandrake04

castie wrote: »

That is the costs to become an approved sponsor.
Not for the actual sponsorship.

Note the costs are likely because the company will use an immigration lawyer and they are not cheap. My company paid over 5k AUD almost 2 years ago.

Did you read my other posts?

As of the 1st July the sponsor has to pay for everything except the Visa Application charges (VAC), the employee cannot offer to pay anything other than the VAC nor can the sponsor recoup the costs of Migration Agents, SBS Approval, Nomination etc from the employee at anytime.