The subclass 402 training and professional visa is designed to allow foreign nationals to visit Australia and develop skills in their area of expertise.
Unlike a student visa or a work visa, this visa allows foreign employees to undertake practical on the job training or participate in an academic or professional development project.
This visa should also be of interest to human resource managers looking to dispatch staff overseas to undertake practical and professional training which provides a number of advantages over pure academic study in terms of applicability of the skills gained directly back into the work environment.
Visa Streams
This visa has three streams:
- Occupational Trainee stream: this is for people wishing to undertake structured workplace-based training aimed at enhancing their skills in their current occupation, area of tertiary study, or field of expertise.
- Professional Development stream: this stream is for managers, professionals or government officials invited to participate in a professional development training program within Australia. The program usually lasts up to 18 months and must have been arranged via the applicant's employer outside Australia.
- Research stream: this stream is appropriate for professional academics wishing to partake in an Australian research project at an Australian tertiary or research institution.
This visa requires applicants to have a sponsoring organisation willing to host and or train the applicant during their time in Australia. Usually this will be an Australian company or government department.
Commonly, the employee's foreign employer will take responsibility for the applicants living costs while the applicant trains at the Australian organisation.
How we can help
How we can help
We can assist organisations with the Australian Training and Professional Development Visa Subclass 402 in a number of ways:
1. Assessing the appropriate stream for the application
2. Researching and contacting suitable sponsors for company/foreign government backed applicants
3. Acting as a liaison between foreign companies and Australian companies
4. Assisting in the creation of Immigration compliant training plans
5. Assisting both the applicant and Australian organization in processing the relevant Immigration paper work.
Basic Process & Requirements 187 RSMS
Step 1 - Certification
Companies wishing to sponsor workers to Australia through the RSMS program must first seek certification from the relevant Regional Certifying Body (RCB). RCB's are often Chambers of Commerce but also may be the state government depending on the area in question. Each state will have their own requirements in regards to certification approval but will generally look into the financial capacity of the company and whether there is a real need for the employee.
Step 2 - Nomination
Once the certification is approved, the business must then submit a nomination to the Department of Immigration. Basic requirements for approval include:
1. Business must be actively and legally operating
2. Business must have the financial capacity to pay any employees its sponsors
3. Business must be able to demonstrate that it is committed to training Australian workers
4. Business must be of good standing
5. Salary offered must be within market and legislative limits
6. The skills to be performed are in line with the occupation being nominated
7. Employee will be employed on fair terms in accordance with Australian labour laws
8. The company has a genuine need for the employee
Step 3 - Visa application
To apply for a visa, an applicant must satisfy the following requirements
- Unless the employee has worked in Australia for the employer for a period of two years, the employee must:
- Provide a positive skills assessment where required
or
- Provide evidence of having the skills and work experience accepted by the Department
* Most trade occupations will require a skill assessment to be provided.
- Must show an IELTS score of 6 (only IELTS 5 is required for employees with 2 years work experience with the employer.
* Exemptions to IELTS testing are available for certain nationals from English speaking countries.
- Be of good character and in good health
How we help
Prior to application
- Discuss of Australian migration strategies
- Assistance with recruitment of employees to Australia
- Advice in regards to employee selection
- Review and advice on Australian contractual agreements
- Salary survey research and reports
- Business plan to support sponsorship application
- Creation of training plans to satisfy training commitment requirement
- Labour market testing assistance
- Assistance with obtaining visa compliant insurance
- Processing of all visa documentation
After applying
- Sponsorship obligation monitoring and audits
- Review, audit and creation of employee training plans
- Employee obligation and entitlement tracking
- Assisting with employee relocation & departure briefings
- Advice on compliance of human resource systems with Australian immigration requirements