Businesses can sponsor foreign workers in certain occupations to work in designated regional areas on a temporary basis through the Skilled Employer Sponsored Regional (SESR) Visa.

The SESR Subclass 494 is the “regional” TSS visa, with a broader access .

It allows an employer to sponsor a suitably skilled worker to undertake a role in a designated regional area which they are unable to appropriately fill with a suitably skilled Australian worker. 

See the “Eligibility” tab for further information about each stream and the relevant, varying eligibility criteria for each.

Typically, an employer/sponsor will instruct an individual to apply for a visa for their specific role, which fills a temporary skill shortage in Australia. The instances which an individual should apply for a SESR 494 visa are as follows:

• If an individual is nominated by an approved business sponsor to work in a designated regional area; or
• If an individual changes employers and is nominated to work in designated regional area; or
• A family member of the Subclass 494 visa applicant under the subsequent entrant category who wishes to accompany the primary visa applicant in a designated regional are. 

For a complete, updated list of occupations or advice as to whether your role falls within a relevant occupations list, speak with us today on (03) 9016 0484 or book a consultation online with our Melbourne immigration lawyers.

A TSS visa applicant is comprised of three stages, the sponsorship, the nomination and the visa.

Standard Business Sponsorship (SBS) – This is the permission required by any company before it can sponsor employees onto employer sponsored visas visas.  Foreign registered companies can apply for approval for an Overseas Business Sponsorship (OBS) in certain circumstances. Generally speaking, the business must demonstrate that it is lawfully and actively operating, provide financial documents, and meet specified training benchmarks. Upon approval, this permission can be granted for up to five years.

Nomination – This requires the business to ‘nominate’ a position within their company, nominate an occupation on a specified list of occupations, provide guaranteed earnings in line with the Temporary Skilled Migration Income Threshold (TSMIT), pay the nominee in line with Australian market rates, and provide evidence of Labour Market Testing, and certification from regional certifying body.

Visa – The visa applicant must demonstrate that they hold the necessary skills (qualifications/work experience), and satisfy identity, English, health and character requirements.

The business seeking to employ must:

• be actively and lawfully operating in Australia; or
• be actively and lawfully operating overseas (not in Australia), and be bringing the visa applicant to Australia either to establish a business operation, or to fulfil contractual obligations).

In addition there must not be any adverse information that is relevant to the business’ suitability as an approved sponsor.

The position to be filled must:

1. be a genuine, full time position that is likely to exist for at least 5 years;
2. be in the sponsor’s business (or that of an associated entity), and be subject to a written contract of employment (unless exempt);
3. have a salary that is (a) at least $73,150 per annum (excluding any non-monetary benefits) and (b) at least the annual market salary rate for the nominated position;
4. be subject to conditions of employment that are no worse than those that apply (or would apply) to Australians performing equivalent work in the same location and have this certified by a regional certifying body;
5. have been subject to Labour Market Testing (LMT). This requires the sponsor to provide evidence that it has advertised the position for 4 weeks in the last 4 months.
6. the occupation related to the position must be on the current Medium and Long-term Strategic Skills List (MLTSSL) or Regional Occupation List (ROL).

The visa applicant must:

1. have qualifications / work experience that matches the requirements of the nominated position
2. have at least 3 years of full-time, post-qualification experience in the nominated occupation
3. genuinely intend to work in the nominated position
4. meet any mandatory licensing, registration or professional membership requirements
5. have a skills assessment in the nominated occuption
6. have adequate arrangements for health insurance during their stay in Australia
7. meet health, English, and character requirements

SESR visas can be granted for up to 5 years.

Unless you have an existing visa with work authorisation, you must not commence work with your employer until your SESR visa is approved.

If you are in Australia and hold a substantive visa when we lodge your SESR visa
application, in most cases you will be granted a Bridging Visa A (BVA).

This BVA will allow you to remain in Australia during processing of your SESR visa.

Note that the BVA will not allow you to re-enter Australia if you depart during processing of your SESR visa. You will need to seek special permission to do so. Please notify us immediately if you have travel plans during the processing of your SESR visa as it can impact the application.

Yes, you generally can include your spouse/partner and children in your visa application.

They will also receive a SESR Visa, usually valid for the same duration as your visa.

There are specific requirements for children over the age of 18 to demonstrate dependency. Children 23 years or above cannot be included except in very limited circumstances.

Yes, your partner will have full work authorisation in Australia which means they can work for any employer.

Yes. However, different States/ Territories in Australia have different requirements and fees may be applicable. We strongly recommend that you explore this with the education provider directly.

Yes – SESR Subclass 494 visa holders have access to Medicare (see here).

Citizens of certain countries have access to Medicare under reciprocal arrangements with Australia.

Depending on your country of nationality, you may require health examinations to process your visa. Hannan Tew Immigration will advise you of
the relevant assessments once you have completed the information questionnaire.

You will need to demonstrate a “competent” level of English – see here.

You will need to provide police clearances for all countries in which you have resided for 12 months or more in the last 10 years. There are limited exemptions to this if your employer is an accredited business sponsor

If you do require an English assessment, you need to undertake one of the following:

1. IELTS overall band score of at least 6.0 with a score of at least 6 in each of the test components
2. OET score of at least ‘B’ in each of the four components
3. TOEFL iBT total sscore of at least at least 12 for listening, 13 for reading, 21 for writing, and 18 for speaking
4. PTE Academic overall test score of at least 50 in each of the test components
5. CAE overall test score of at least 169 in each of the test components

They are all considered equivalent, and the one most suitable for you is a matter of preference. To book the test, search for the respective test names on your preferred internet search engine followed by your location.

The Department have appointed particular panel doctors who are authorised to conduct health examinations for Australian visa purposes.

If the health examinations are not carried out by these individuals, they will need to be redone.

The Department also require specific police clearances.

Please wait for instructions from your HT advisor to ensure that you don’t unnecessarily incur any costs or loss of time.

Your SESR visa will be granted with the following conditions:

1. You must notify Immigration of a change to any of the following within 14 days of the change occurring: your residential address, email address, phone number, passport details, address of your employer, address of the location where you are employed
2. You must live, work, and study only in a part of Australia that was a “designated regional area” at the time your visa was granted
3. If requested in writing by the Minister, you must provide evidence of the following within 27 days: your residential address, the address of your employer, the address of each location where you are employed, the address of an educational institution attended
4. If requested in writing by the Minister, you must attend an interview
5. You must work only in the occupation nominated in your most recently approved SESR 494 visa granted, and for your sponsoring employer (or an associated entity)
6. You must not cease employment for more than 90 consecutive days

While you can hypothetically renew this indefinitely, most people would aim to apply for permanent residency via the Subclass 191 visa once they meet the visa duration / income requirement.

No – SESR 494 visa holders are eligible for Medicare.

It is a condition of SESR visas that the visa holder can only work for the employer that sponsors them. This means that a visa holder cannot change employers unless another Australian business lodges a new nomination to link their visa to them.

The new sponsor must apply to be approved as a Standard Business Sponsor if not already approved as one. Only once the sponsorship and nomination are approved, can the visa holder commence working for the new sponsor.

The visa holder can be employed for their new sponsor for the remaining time left on their visa.

SESR Subclass 494 visa holders can apply for the Subclass 191 visa (without their employer) if they:

1. have held their SESR 494 visa for at least three years
2. have had taxable income at or above the Temporary Skilled Migration Income Threshold (TSMIT) for at least 3 years while holding this visa (currently $73,150)
3. have complied with the conditions of their 494 visa and
4. satisfy health and character requirements