Employer Nomination Scheme (Subclass 121/856)
WHO IS THIS VISA FOR?
EMPLOYER REQUIREMENTS
NOMINATED POSITIONS
MINIMUM SALARY
EMPLOYEE ELIGIBILITY
EXEMPTIONS
HEALTH & CHARACTER REQUIREMENTS
Who is this visa for?
This visa is for Australian employers who want to sponsor highly skilled workers for a permanent visa to work in Australia.
The employees can be either:
Highly skilled workers from overseas
Highly skilled temporary residents currently in Australia.
What does this visa let me do?
This visa allows you and any dependent family members included in your visa application to live as permanent residents in Australia.
Australian permanent residents can:
√ Live and work in Australia on a permanent basis
√ Study in Australia at school or university
√ Receive subsidised healthcare through Medicare and the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS)
√ Access certain social security payments (subject to waiting periods)
√ Be eligible for Australian citizenship (subject to the residency eligibility criteria)
√ Sponsor people for permanent residence.
Employer requirements:
To participate in the Employer Nomination Scheme, the employer must:
 Be actively and lawfully operating a business in Australia
Have a genuine need for a paid employee to fill a position in their business
Follow all relevant Australian laws and have a satisfactory record of meeting immigration laws (if applicable)
Have a current training strategy for existing Australian employees, or if a newly established
business, have a training plan for future training of Australian employees
Provide the employee with an offer of permanent employment.
The nominated position must meet thefollowing requirements:
Be full-time, ongoing and available for at least 3 years
Provide working conditions that are no less favorable than provided for under the relevant Australian legislation and awards
Be a highly skilled occupation that is on the Employer Nomination Scheme Occupation List (ENSOL)
Meet the minimum salary level for ENS.
List of position which can be nominated under ENS.
Minimum salary level
There are minimum salary levels which must be met. The minimum salary is AUD$65 020 for the
following ANZSCO occupations:
262111 Database Administrator
262113 Systems Administrator
261112 Systems Analyst
263111 Computer Network and Systems Engineer
261111 ICT Business Analyst
263113 Network Analyst
261313 Software Engineer
261311 Analyst Programmer
261312 Developer Programmer
261311 Analyst Programmer
261311 Analyst Programmer
262112 ICT Security Specialist
261399 Software and Applications Programmers (not elsewhere classified)
261314 Software Tester.
AUD$47,480 for all other gazetted occupations.
The minimum salary levels are for gross annual salary and must not include:
 Accommodation or rental assistance, board, upkeep, meals or entertainment Incentives, bonuses or commissions.
Shares or bonus shares
Travel, holidays, health care/insurance
Vehicles or vehicle allowances
Communications packages
Living-Away-from-Home-Allowance
Superannuation contributions (either voluntary employee or compulsory employer contributions)
Any other non-salary benefits not included in the above, with the exception of Medicare rebates.
Employers can offer any of these benefits to employees provided they are above and beyond the minimum salary.
Note: The minimum salary level is subject to change.
Employee Eligibility requirements:
To be eligible for permanent residency under this visa, the employee must meet one of the following requirements:
Have worked full-time in Australia in the nominated occupation on a Subclass 418, 421, 422, 428, 444, 457 or 461 temporary residence visa for the last two years prior to the visa application being made (including at least the last 12 months with the nominating employer)
Have been nominated to fill a highly paid senior executive position with a salary of more than $165,000 per annum (excluding superannuation or allowances)
Have had their skills assessed as suitable by the relevant skills assessing authority and, unless exceptional circumstances apply, have at least three years full-time work experience in the occupation immediately before the visa application is lodged.
The employee must also:
 Have an employer who is willing to sponsor them for permanent residency
Demonstrate that they have the appropriate skills, qualifications and/or experience to fill the position
Meet any mandatory licensing, registration or professional membership requirements which allows the employee to work unsupervised and without further training
Be under 45 years of age
Have Vocational English language ability
Provide a letter of appointment or a contract signed by both the employer and employee.
Some of the methods of demonstrating vocational English language ability include:
 Evidence of an International English Language Testing System (IELTS) score of at least 5 for each of the four test components (speaking, reading, listening and writing). The IELTS test must have been undertaken within 12 months of the day of lodging an application.
Evidence of an Occupational English Test score which is at least equivalent to IELTS 5 and the test was relevant to the nominated occupation.
The nominee’s first language was English and they have a current passport from the United Kingdom, United States, Canada, New Zealand or the Republic of Ireland.
Exemption from eligibility requirements : Under some circumstances, visa applicants may seek exemption from skill, language or age eligibility requirements.
Exceptional circumstances for age might be considered in the following cases.
45 to less than 50 years old; or
50 to less than 55 years old, and if the nominated occupation has minimum skill requirement of a diploma or higher qualification; or
55 to less than 60 years old, and if the nominated occupation has a minimum skill requirement of a degree or higher qualification.
The delegate must also be satisfied that the:
√ position is essential to the operation of the business
√ position requires a person with skills and experience acquired over many years and
employer demonstrates that the position is so unusual or highly specialised that it was not possible to find, in Australia and overseas, a suitably qualified person who was younger than the applicant.
Note: Exceptional circumstances are generally not considered for applicants who are 60 years or older.
Skill exemptions
Exceptional circumstances for the skill requirement might be considered in the following case:
Does not have 3 years post-qualification work experience: The position is so unusual or highly specialised that it is unlikely a suitable person with at least 3 years of post-qualification work experience could be found in Australia or overseas.
Vocational English exemptions
Exceptional circumstances for Vocational English might be considered in the following cases.
Employee does not have vocational English
Vocational English is not essential to perform the full range of required duties for the position
The transfer of skills to other Australian employees can still take place (regardless of whether the applicant will be working with staff from the same or similar cultural background)
Can comply with, and understand, Occupational Health and Safety (OH&S) requirements, deal with work emergencies or communicate with emergency workers
Can understand and deal with issues relating to their employment and workplace rights
The employer has been unable to recruit, in Australia or overseas, a suitably qualified person who does have vocational English
The applicant has worked full-time in the nominated position as a holder of a visa which allows them to work and has made a consistent effort to improve their English language ability through formal training or study.
Submission on exceptional circumstances
If the applicant is seeking an exemption from the age, skill and language requirements, the employer must write a submission outlining the exceptional circumstances that apply in the case.
The submission must demonstrate:
√ The special skills required by the employee to fill the position
√ The difficulties that the employer experienced finding an employee who does meet the skill, age or English language requirements
√ Details of time the employee has spent working in the occupation in Australia
√ Details of time the employee has spent working for the nominating employer.
The employer should give the submission to the employee to attach to their visa application. All requests for exceptional appointments will be assessed and decided at the visa application stage.
Nominating employers may assist their employees in demonstrating exceptional circumstances on skill, age or English by completing the relevant parts of the nomination form.
Health and character requirements
The employee and all dependent family members must meet the health and character requirements.
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