Significant changes were introduced on 1 July 2014 regarding immigration policy for start-up businesses under the permanent employer sponsored visa regime. Start-up businesses for permanent employer sponsored visas (namely, the Employer Nomination Scheme (subclass 186) and Regional Sponsored Migration Scheme (subclass 187) visa), are defined under the migration regulations as entities operating for less than a 12 month period.
Under the previous policy, should a start-up business wish to nominate an overseas worker for a permanent employer sponsored visa, the business was required to demonstrate that it had been actively operating for a period of at least 6 months before lodging a nomination application. However, as of 1 July 2014, in order to qualify as a nominator and sponsor an overseas worker for a permanent visa, there is no longer a requirement for a business to have been operating for a six month period. Rather, a start-up business must provide business activity statements for each complete quarter from the time of commencement of operations up until the time the nomination is lodged.
It is noted that if a business which has operated for a long period of time changes ownership or structure resulting in a new ABN and ACN being registered, this business is considered under policy to be a start-up business and must meet the requirements for a start-up business in order to successfully nominate an overseas worker for permanent residency.
This important policy change introduced on 1 July 2014 in relation to start-up businesses provides greater flexibility for newly established companies to nominated overseas workers for subclass 186 and 187 visas before they have been operating for a six month period.
Please contact us for further information on start-up companies sponsoring overseas workers on permanent employer sponsored visas.
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