A Permanent residency pathway for Sc 482 visa holders
As of 01 July 2022 holders of subclass 482 visa granted under ‘Short term’ stream as well as subclass 457 visa holders who had applied for a subclass 457 visa after 18 April 2017, and are currently working in Australia may be eligible to apply for permanent residence under the Temporary Residence Transition stream of the Employer Nomination Scheme visa program (subclass 186).
How to qualify
To qualify, applicants must have been in Australia for at least 12 months between 01 February 2020 and 14 December 2021; and demonstrate that they have worked full-time in their nominated occupation for their employer for at least three of the last four years as a subclass 457 and/or subclass 482 visa holder; and be employed by a business that is actively and lawfully operating at the time of application; and be under the age of 45 or fall under the age exemption criteria.
A Permanent residency pathway for Sc 457 visa holders
The Australian government has also announced the extension of the grandfathering arrangements in place for legacy subclass 457 visa holders whose visa was approved prior to April 18, 2017 or who have applied for a subclass 457 visa prior to this date which was subsequently granted. Such visa holders can now apply for permanent residency if they have been employed in the nominated position with the same employer for at least two years. Periods of unpaid leave will not count towards the two-year requirement unless the COVID-19 unpaid leave period or COVID-19 reduced work period applies.
It is still unclear whether legacy subclass 457 visa holders can be exempt from being ‘under 50 years of age’ criterion when applying for residence, however further updates will be provided once relevant legislation has been amended based on this recent change.
