457 visa

The 457 visa (Temporary Work (Skilled) visa) was a former Australian visa that allowed skilled workers to work in Australia for up to four years. It was a temporary visa that enabled employers to sponsor overseas workers for nominated occupations if they could not find an appropriately skilled Australian citizen or permanent resident to fill the position.

The visa program was designed to address skills shortages in the Australian labor market. To be eligible, applicants generally needed to be sponsored by an approved Australian business, meet certain skill requirements (including qualifications and experience), and have a good English language proficiency. The sponsoring business also had to meet certain obligations, including ensuring that the overseas worker was paid market rates and provided with appropriate working conditions.

The 457 visa program was replaced by the Temporary Skill Shortage (TSS) visa (subclass 482) in March 2018. The TSS visa program is intended to be more targeted at genuine skill shortages and places a greater emphasis on employer training of Australian workers. While the 457 visa is no longer available for new applications, existing 457 visa holders may have been eligible to apply for permanent residency under certain conditions that existed before the changes to the skilled migration program.