Australian work visa options for people over 45

Skilled migration to Australia has a strict age requirement. You must be under the age of 45 to apply for a visa. However – there are Australian work visa options for people over 45! You could:

• apply for a Temporary Skill Shortage Visa (Subclass 482), or
• explore age exemptions options under the Designated Area Migration Agreements.

Let’s look at each option in detail:

1. Applying for a Temporary Skill Shortage (TSS) Visa (Subclass 482)

The Temporary Skill Shortage (TSS) Visa (Subclass 482) allows employers to sponsor overseas workers to live and work in Australia on a temporary basis. It allows visa holders to stay in Australia for up to two or four years, depending on the nature of the skilled position.

The TSS Visa has three streams:

Depending on your eligibility, you could apply for a TSS Visa under one of three streams:

1. Short-term stream: This stream enables employers to hire skilled workers from overseas for roles where they can’t find suitably skilled Australians to fill positions.
2. Medium-term stream: Like the short-term stream, the medium-term stream allows employers to hire skilled workers from overseas for roles where they can’t find suitably skilled Australians to fill positions.
3. Labour agreement stream: This stream is for skilled workers nominated by employers with a Labour Agreement. Labour agreements are developed between the Australian government and employers.

Requirements:

• Short-term stream: You must be nominated to work in an occupation on the list of eligible short-term skilled occupations.
• Medium-term stream: You must be nominated to work in an occupation on either the Medium and Long-term Strategic Skills List (MLTSSL) or the Regional Occupation List (ROL).
• Labour agreement stream: You must be nominated to work in a specified occupation under the terms of a Labour Agreement.

You must also:

• Have at least two years of relevant work experience in your nominated occupation or a related field
• Have a relevant skills assessment if it’s required for your occupation
• Work only for your sponsor or associated entity unless you are exempt under the Short-Term or Medium-Term Stream
• Meet minimum standards of English language proficiency unless you are exempt.

How long you can stay:

• Short-term stream: You can work in Australia for up to two years, or for up to four years if an International Trade Obligation (ITO) applies. Hong Kong passport holders may stay up to five years.
• Medium-term stream: You can work in Australia for up to four years. Hong Kong passport holders may stay up to five years.
• Labour agreement stream: You can work in Australia for up to a maximum of four years, depending on the terms of the labour agreement. Hong Kong passport holders may stay up to five years.

Taking your family with you:

You can include family members in your TSS visa application. The family members you can add will depend on whether you currently hold a TSS visa or Subclass 457 visa.

If you’ve never held a TSS visa or a Subclass 457 visa, you can include the members of your family unit, which are:

• Your spouse or de facto partner
• Your child, or your partner’s child, who is not engaged, married or in a de facto relationship and is:
  • Under the age of 18 or
  • Between the ages of 18 and 23 and dependent on you or your partner
  • 23 years old or older and dependent on you or your partner due to a partial or total physical or mental disability
• The dependent child of the child above

Extending your stay:

To extend your stay in Australia after the expiry date of your visa to continue working for your existing employer, your employer must submit a new nomination, and you must apply for a new visa.

Applying for permanent residence:

• Short-term stream: Your employer may be able to sponsor you for permanent residence through the Employer Nomination Scheme (Subclass 186) or the Regional Sponsored Migration Scheme (Subclass 187).
• Medium-term stream: Your employer may be able to sponsor you for permanent residence through the Employer Nomination Scheme (Subclass 186) or the Regional Sponsored Migration Scheme (Subclass 187).
• Labour agreement stream: Your employer may be able to sponsor you for permanent residence through the Employer Nomination Scheme (Subclass 186).

The application process:

The application process for the TSS visa generally has four steps:

1. Before you apply: Ensure you have or will get nomination from your prospective employer, and arrange elements of the visa application such as a skills assessment and an English language test.
2. Gathering your documents: Documents you may have to provide could include documents for your identity, character, skills, work experience, health and English language skills.
3. Applying for your visa: You submit your visa application.
4. Getting the visa outcome: You get the outcome of your visa application.

2. Explore age exemptions options under the Designated Area Migration Agreements (DAMA)

Australia has several Designated Area Migration Agreements (DAMA) in place.

These agreements are a type of Labour Agreement negotiated between the Department of Home Affairs and employers or industrial associations instead. Their purpose is to enable employers to sponsor skilled and semi-skilled overseas workers for positions they’re unable to fill with local workers and in response to identified market shortages.

The advantage of DAMAs is that these agreements have lower entry requirements than standard migration programmes, including concessions to age criteria.

The age limit for visa and PR applicants is raised from 45 to 55 for occupations with Skill Level 1 to 4, and up to 50 years old for Skill Level 5 occupations.

12 Existing DAMAs:

There are 12 DAMAs in place at the moment in Australia:

1. Orana, New South Wales
2. Goulburn Valley, Victoria
3. Great South Coast, Victoria
4. Pilbara, Western Australia
5. South West, Western Australia
6. The Goldfields, Western Australia
7. East Kimberley, Western Australia
8. Far North Queensland, Queensland
9. Townsville, Queensland
10. The Northern Territory DAMA, Northern Territory
11. Adelaide, South Australia
12. South Australia Regional, South Australia

Your visa options:

Under DAMA, you have one of two Australian work visa options:

• Temporary Skill Shortage Visa (Subclass 482)
• Skilled Work Regional (Provisional) Visa (Subclass 491)

Requirements:

Your employer must have a labour agreement with the Australian government in effect. The basic requirements for each visa are as follows:

• Temporary Skill Shortage Visa:
  • You’re nominated for a skilled position by an approved sponsor.
  • You have the right skills to do the job.
  • You meet the relevant English language requirements.
• Skilled Work Regional (Provisional) Visa (Subclass 491):
  • You’re nominated in an occupation that’s on the relevant DAMA skilled occupation list.
  • You have a formal offer of employment from your employer, and your salary meets the Temporary Skilled Migration Income Threshold (TSMIT) unless there is a concession in place.
  • You have the qualifications and experience necessary to work in your nominated occupation.
  • You meet the English language requirements unless there is a concession in place.

How long you can stay:

• Temporary Skill Shortage Visa: You can live and work in Australia for up to four years when applying under the labour agreement stream.
• Skilled Work Regional (Provisional) Visa (Subclass 491): You can live and work in Australia for up to five years.

Taking your family with you:

• Temporary Skill Shortage Visa: You can include family members in your visa application. The family members you can add will depend on whether you currently hold a TSS visa or subclass 457 visa. If you’ve never held a TSS visa or a Subclass 457 visa, you can include the members of your family unit.
• Skilled Work Regional (Provisional) Visa (Subclass 491): You can include members of your family unit in your application.

Extending your stay:

• Temporary Skill Shortage Visa: Your employer must submit a new nomination, and you must apply for a new visa to extend your stay in Australia.
• Skilled Work Regional (Provisional) Visa (Subclass 491): You cannot extend your Subclass 491 Visa.

Applying for permanent residence:

• Temporary Skill Shortage Visa: Your employer may be able to sponsor you for permanent residence through the Employer Nomination Scheme (Subclass 186).
• Skilled Work Regional (Provisional) Visa (Subclass 491): You have a pathway to permanent residence through the Permanent Residence (Skilled Work Regional) Visa (Subclass 191)

How to apply:

The application processes for the TSS Visa and the Subclass 491 Visa generally have four steps:

1. Before you apply: Ensure you have or will get nomination from your prospective employer, and arrange elements of the visa application such as a skills assessment if you’re applying for a Subclass 482 Visa OR submit your Expression of Interest if you’re applying for a Subclass 491 Visa.
2. Gathering your documents: Documents you may have to provide could include documents for your identity, character, skills, work experience, health and English language skills.
3. Applying for your visa: You submit your visa application.
4. Getting the visa outcome: You get the outcome of your visa application.

Summarising your Australian work visa options when you’re over 45

Too old for skilled migration? There are Australian work visa options for people over 45 that enable you to live and work Down Under.

You could apply for a Temporary Skill Shortage Visa (Subclass 482) or explore age exemptions under a Designated Area Migration Agreement (DAMA).

Under the TSS Visa, there are three visa streams, and under one of Australia’s 12 DAMAs, you can apply for either a Temporary Skill Shortage Visa or a Skilled Work Regional (Provisional) Visa (Subclass 491).
Depending on your visa, you could live and work in Australia for up to two, four or five years.

Your stay doesn’t have to be temporary. The Subclass 491 Visa offers a pathway to permanent residence, and your employer may be able to sponsor you for permanent residence when you hold a TSS Visa.

Book your consultation call today to see if you qualify for any of these work visas.