The Employer Nomination Scheme (ENS) allows Australian employers to fill highly skilled positions in Australia with someone who is currently living overseas or someone who is temporarily resident in Australia - on one condition: the employer must have been unable to fill the vacancy from within the Australian labour market or through their own training programs.

Because this visa is a PERMANENT one, you will not lose the visa if you are made redundant, as long as you can prove that you have done your best to keep the job.

In order for you to be eligible for the PERMANENT Employer Nomination Scheme Visa a range of conditions must be met, related to your employer, the position you are being offered as well as you yourself as the visa applicant:

The EMPLOYER who wants to recruit you must:

• provide evidence that they have a genuine employer/employee relationship with you;
• be actively and lawfully operating in Australia;
• have a need for a paid employee;
• have a satisfactory record of training Australians; and
• be an employer of good standing;

The POSITION the employer wants to offer you must:

• correspond to a skilled occupation that appears on the current CSOL, the Consolidated Sponsored Occupations List - the list of occupations gazetted for Employer Sponsored visas
• be full-time and available for a minimum of 2 years;
• meet the minimum salary level for the nominated occupation (which currently is set at A$51,400 or higher as per current Market Salary Rates and A$180,000 for exempted appointments such as Managers or Doctors; and
• comply with all relevant Australian standards and workplace legislation for wages and working conditions.

Furthermore, YOU as the APPLICANT must:

• be under 45 years and have at least Vocational English skills (IELTS 5) (unless the position is an exceptional appointment) AND
• be eligible to hold any license, registration or professional membership that is necessary for you to work in the position in Australia AND
• lodge the Visa application within 6 months of the date of approval of the nomination at the same DIAC Business Centre as the corresponding nomination (even if you are outside Australia)
• In addition you must meet ONE of the following:
  • you must have worked full-time in Australia in the occupation for which you are being nominated, while holding a specified visa (eg a 457 visa) for at least 2 years immediately prior to applying for the visa (including at least the last 12 months with the nominating employer); OR
  • you must have qualifications assessed as equivalent to the Australian standard and have 3 years post-qualification experience in the occupation (unless the position is an exceptional appointment): OR
  • you must be offered a managerial position which attracts a base salary of at least the amount of salary specified in a Gazette Notice (currently A$180,000).
• finally, you and any dependent family members must meet mandatory health and character requirements.