Australia - Permanent residence applications and labour market testing (LMT) update
September 2020 - the Australian Government has recently released new guidelines for case officers assessing applications for employer sponsored permanent residence under the visa subclass 186 and 187.
It is the consensus that although LMT is not currently required in law to be undertaken for these visa nominations, it is now a policy expectation by the Department and there is a great risk applications will be refused if the following information is not adhered to.
What sponsors need to do now?
For all 186 and 187 applications lodged after 30 September 2020, sponsors should:
- advertise the position on Jobactive – see www.jobactive.gov.au before lodging PR applications in order to prove that there is a genuine need for the position. This ad will need to be online for 28 days.
- the Department will be further scrutinising nominations in relation to Australian workers employed by the business in similar occupations, including:
- retrenchments in the previous 12 months
- reduction of hours worked during the previous 12 months
- reduction in pay and conditions within the previous 12 months
- employment of a temporary visa holder on conditions less favourable than Australians
- recruitment of temporary visa holders beyond the ordinary scope of the business.
We therefore suggest that a strong and robust detailed submission is prepared by sponsors addressing these points.
As there is currently no legislation detailing this information, we are currently reviewing cases individually and we will be in contact with sponsors to discuss these details in person.
