Australia is renowned for its friendly and flexible workplace environment. Most people who work in Australia can achieve a balance between their work and life. If you have an opportunity to come to Australia and work here, you will be able to experience these first hand!

Regardless of whether such an opportunity has presented itself or not, it is worthwhile to familiarize yourself with some work-related visas in Australia. In general, these visas can be categorized into 2 types:

• Short-term work visa
• Long-term work visa

In this article, we will give you a brief introduction to each type of these visas.

Short-term work visa

This visa is designed for two types of workers. The first type of workers is these who are young (18 – 30 years old) and want a working holiday in Australia. For such workers, Subclass 482 Temporary Skill Shortage Visa and Holiday Visa and Subclass 417 Working Holiday Visa allow their visa holders to do short-term work to support their holiday for up to 12 months in Australia.

The second type is the workers who have a specialised skill and need to do short-term work which is related to their skill in Australia. Subclass 400 Temporary Work Visa might be a good option for such type of workers. It provides its applicant with an up to 6 months stay period.

What are the Eligibility Criteria to Apply for a Short-Term Work Visa?

Since the eligibility criteria for 462 Work and Holiday Visa and 417 Working Holiday Visa are quite similar, we will discuss them together. To successfully apply for these two visas, you need to meet the requirements below:

• Your passport must be issued from countries
• You must be aged between 18 and 30
• You must prove that you have enough money to afford the cost of living in Australia
• Meet health and character requirements set by Australia Home Affairs Department

The Following Requirements are Particularly for 462 Work and Holiday Visa

• You need to meet the education requirement. This requirement may vary depending on the country of your passport. The detailed description of the requirements can be found here
• You need to have at least functional English (score of 4.5 in IELTS or equivalent)

As for Subclass 482 Temporary Skill Shortage Visa, you can be an eligible applicant if you have:

• A highly specialised skills which cannot be easily found in Australia labour market and your work will assist Australia business.
• Evidence such as qualification certificate and letter from current oversea employee to support your skill claim
• Evidence that you indeed have work to conduct in Australia
• Adequate financial support while you are in Australia
• Meet health and character requirement

Long-term work visa

Unlike short-term work visa can grant you less than a year stay period in Australia, long-term work visa generally can provide you with two years or more of time to live and work in Australia. Additionally, this type of visa also has a pathway leading to permanent residency. Because of these, a long-term work visa normally has a stricter application process than a short-term work visa.

There are various types of long-term work visa and each of them has a different requirement for its applicants. In the next section of this article, we will give you an overview of these three visas: Subclass 482 Temporary Skill Shortage Visa, Subclass 485 Temporary Graduate Visa and Subclass 489 Skilled Regional (Provisional) Visa.

An Overview of Different Types of Long-Term Work Visa

• Subclass 482 Temporary Skill Shortage Visa is designed for Australian employers to bring in skilled international workers whose occupation is in shortage of labour within Australia.

To apply for this visa, you need to be nominated by an Australian employer for your skill first. In addition, you must have already worked in a field that is relevant to your skill for more than 2 years and you can provide a positive skill assessment.

Once you are granted 482 Temporary Skill Shortage Visa, you will be able to come to Australia and work here for up to 4 years.

• Subclass 485 Temporary Graduate Visa is for international students who have already completed their study and wish to work in Australia.

To apply for this visa, you must hold a student visa and recently finished your study in Australia. Furthermore, your degree must be related to the skills that Australia needs, which can be found here

Once you are granted 485 Temporary Graduate Visa, you can stay and work for up to 18 months in Australia

• Subclass 489 Skilled Regional (Provisional) Visa is for skilled workers who want to live and work in Australia regional area.

Unlike other long-term work visas, this visa is invite-only meaning that you can only apply for it after you are invited to. To be invited to apply for this visa, you need to be nominated by an Australian state or territory government first. Then you need to have a suitable skill assessment and achieve a minimal 65 point in Australia point-tested system (a point calculator can be found here). Lastly, you need to submit an Expression of Interest (EOI) and wait for the invitation

Once you have a Subclass 491 Skilled Work Regional Visa, you will be able to study and work for up to 4 years in Australia.