The Regional Development Commissions have been approved to certify regional migration applications under the Regional Sponsored Migration Scheme (RSMS) and the Regional 457 (Temporary Business Visa).

Regional Development Commissions support migration via activities that include:

• Regional Sponsored Migration Scheme
• 457 Temporary Business Sponsorships
• Accessing the Skills Matching Database
• Providing details of job vacancies from employers willing to sponsor nominees from overseas (see 'Job Opportunities - Jobs in Regional Areas' on this site)

For further information on these and other regional intiatives please contact the region of your choice directly.

Regional Sponsored Migration Scheme

The Regional Sponsored Migration Scheme (RSMS) aims to assist the economic development of regional Australia by attracting skilled migrants. Under this scheme, employers may nominate people from overseas, or temporary residents in Australia, to fill permanent vacancies within regional areas of Australia.

Benefits of utilising RSMS include a two year commitment between the employer and employee to obtain permanent residency and streamlined processing by DIMIA ensuring quicker arrival in Western Australia.

RSMS also allows Regional Development Commissions (as Regional Certifying Bodies) to consider requests to certify exceptional appointments on the certain grounds. The Commission would need to determine if there were appropriate grounds to certify applications and this is considered on a case-by-case basis and certification is not guaranteed. These exceptions are:

• Age – over 45 years;
• Skills – for people not possessing formal qualifications and those in the ASCO code range 5 to 7; and
• English language skills.

Further information on RSMS can be obtained from

http://www.immi.gov.au/migration/employers/rsms.htm

Answers to the frequently asked questions are located at http://www.immi.gov.au/faq/migrate/migrate_employer/employer03.htm

Temporary Business (Long Stay) Visa 457

The Temporary Business Visa allows employers to nominate people from overseas to fill vacancies within their companies. Advantages of utilising this scheme include quicker processing times for this visa enabling nominees to commence work with the employer quickly.

In regional areas further exemptions to skill and salary thresholds may apply. An exemption would need to be sought from the appropriate Regional Development Commission that has coverage of the area in which the nominee will work. These exemptions include the occupations in the ASCO range 5 to 7 and on rare occasions below the salary gazettal rates.

The regional certification, if the visa is granted, is done on the basis of the nominee working in the region from which certification is obtained. If the nominee is found to be working and/or living outside of this location then the visa may be cancelled.

The following links will provide more detail

http://www.immi.gov.au/faq/work/work01.htm
http://www.immi.gov.au/allforms/visiting_business_long.htm