Are you thinking about how to attract foreign workers at your restaurant?
Since COVID-19 pandemic, border closures and flight disruptions has hugely contributed to the shortage of skilled restaurant staff in Australia. One of the solutions is to offer a sponsorship visa to valuable restaurant staff.
Summary of sponsorship visas available
- Training visa (subclass 407)
- Temporary Skills Shortage visa (subclass 482)
- Employer Nomination Scheme visa (subclass 186)
- Skilled Employer Sponsored Regional (Provisional) visa (subclass 494)
Not all occupations/positions can be sponsored. Generally, a restaurant are limited to sponsoring skilled positions such as Chef, Cook and Restaurant Manager.
However, there is special program called the Labour Agreement which offers additional sponsorship benefits which can help attract valuable workers.
Those benefits include but are not limited to:
- ability to sponsor trade waiters;
- offering pathway to permanent residency to cook and restaurant managers who are not eligible for permanent residency under the standard pathway;
- a 4 year work visa is available;
- slightly reduced English language competency.
The labour agreement pathway is available for the subclass 482, subclass 186 and subclass 494 visa.
For a better comparison, we prepared a summary table for the different characteristics of the standard pathway and the labour agreement pathway of sponsorship visas.
Standard Pathway vs Labour Agreement Pathway
| Key Characteristic | Standard Pathway | Labour Agreement Pathway |
| Occupations that can be sponsored |
|
|
| Visa Length | Other than Chef, all others are only available for up to 2 years. Chef is available for up to 4 years. | All available for up to 4 years. |
Eligible for PR? | Chef Only | All occupations eligible for PR |
| English Language Requirement | Chef
Cook, Restaurant Manager
| All occupations
|
Age (for subclass 186 and 494 only) | Must be under 45 | Must be under 55 |
The labour agreement is a special agreement between your restaurant and The Australian Government. Previously, only fine dining establishments were eligible to access the labour agreement. Changes were made recently to provide access for ‘premium dining’ establishments.
Such changes are expected to ease the shortages experiences across Australia in the hospitality industry.
Click here to book in a consultation with one of our lawyers today to find out more and see if your restaurant is eligible to sponsor visas. We can also help you tailor a plan that suits your hiring needs: BOOK A CONSULTATION
Need to consult with us? Book an appointment today.
Our team will give you expert advice that has been specifically tailored to your case.
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How we will help
Free Assessment
Please call us or fill in the questionnaire here for a free initial assessment. After a simple communication, we will understand your concerns and visa requirements in detail, and then provide a timely and comprehensive professional consultation with tailor-made plans.
Consultation
Our consultations are typically 45-60 minutes long, which allows us to provide you with a detailed strategy to address the needs and concerns you raised with us during the initial call.
Our fee is $400 + GST for the full session. You can book in a consultation by calling us, emailing us or filling in the Contact Us form.
Developing and Managing a Strategy
During our consultation session, we will go through in more detail your background and circumstances to ensure that we can provide a tailored solution to your problems and making sure that you meet all the legal requirements. If we notice any potential issues, we will also immediately formulate a solution.
We’ll also balance time required, cost and difficulty and allow you choose the most appropriate strategy. We will then attend to all visa application matters on your behalf.