For many of our students, the big objective – once they have fully fallen in love with Australia – is to find a sponsor. The 457 visa – works so well for the employee, the employer and for the Australian economy as a whole.
Under this ‘Sponsorship’ a company takes on the responsibility of the foreign employee, and they work in Australia with full work rights, earning at least the Australian market rates for the job. Every day at Go Study, we have students asking us: how do I find a sponsor? The answer is not easy, but the following tips may be helpful:
- Be good at whatever it is that you do. If you are very good at something, you are more likely to be offered a sponsor visa.
- Get inside the company (on any kind of contract, even unpaid) to show how good you are.
- Ensure that the company has sponsored staff before. If not, make sure that the employer understands the obligations of being a sponsor.
- Unless you have a lot of experience in your field, don’t ask at the interview…wait until you have proved your worth.
- Have a very good level of English. The better your English, the more the opportunities.
- Consider accepting a lower salary than you might expect…as a way to negotiate the sponsorship.
- If it helps convince the employer, you might want to offer to pay the legal and other costs of the sponsor visa.
- Give it time…the longer you are in Australia, the more chance you have. Sponsorships usually don’t happen overnight.
