The Business Long Stay Visa (also called a "Work Permit" visa) is a TEMPORARY visa through which an Australian or overseas employer who would like to appoint you to fill a nominated skilled position in Australia can employ you for a period of up to four years. The visa will be granted for the length of your contract (up to a maximum of 4 years) and you may lose the visa if you are made redundant. Before the visa expires, you would need to either leave Australia or apply for another temporary visa.

In order for you to be eligible for a Subclass 457 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:

• have been granted Standard Business Sponsorship approval,This sponsorship approval allows employers to sponsor a specified number of temporary business entrants within a two year period or until the maximum number of temporary business entrants specified on the application has been reached.
• nominate the positions they want to fill,
• meet the training benchmark requirements,
• cooperate with DIAC’s monitoring requirements,
• meet costs and other obligations.

The POSITION the employer wants to offer you must:

• be full-time,
• be included in the current "Consolidated Sponsored Occupations List (CSOL)"
• meet the minimum skills level for the nominated occupation,
• meet the minimum English language level, which is IELTS 5.0 in all four components (unless exempted)
• meet the minimum salary level for the nominated occupation (which is currently set at A$51,400 or higher as per the current Market Salary rates and A$180,000 for exempted appointments such as Managers and Doctors).

Furthermore, YOU as the APPLICANT must:

• have skills, qualifications, experience and an employment backgroundA formal skills assessment is required for some trade occupations and a skills assessment may sometimes be required to confirm that you have the skills you claim to have. which match those required for the position
• prove that you will be paid at least the minimum salary level that applies to your nominated occupation
• demonstrate that you have English language proficiency equivalent to an International English Language Testing System (IELTS) test score of at least 5 in each of the four test components of speaking, reading, writing and listening
• be eligible for any relevant licences or registration required for the nominated position
• you and any dependent family members must meet mandatory health and character requirements.