The Australian borders have been “closed” since March 2020, however it has always been a possibility to obtain and travel to Australia on a work visa in certain circumstances.
There are a number of different visas which permit work in Australia. All of the temporary work visas require a travel exemption in addition to the work visa to enter Australia at this time of travel restrictions.
The majority of the work visa applications lodged are not being processed unless a travel exemption has first been granted.
To obtain a travel exemption, the applicant will need to satisfy one of the travel exemption categories.
One of the travel exemption categories that are being utilised for people wanting to enter Australia to work is the critical skills travel exemption category.
A reasonable question many people enquire about is regarding if their occupation is on the critical skills list.
There is no critical skills list of occupations.
There is a Priority Migration Skilled Occupation List (PMSOL) which is a list of currently 44 occupations (ANZSCO code):
- Chief Executive or Managing Director (111111)
- Construction Project Manager (133111)
- Accountant (General) (221111)
- Management Accountant (221112)
- Taxation Accountant (221113)
- External Auditor (221213)
- Internal Auditor (221214)
- Surveyor (232212)
- Cartographer (232213)
- Other Spatial Scientist (232214)
- Civil Engineer (233211)
- Geotechnical Engineer (233212)
- Structural Engineer (233214)
- Transport Engineer (233215)
- Electrical Engineer (233311)
- Mechanical Engineer (233512)
- Mining Engineer (excluding Petroleum) (233611)
- Petroleum Engineer (233612)
- Medical Laboratory Scientist (234611)
- Veterinarian (234711)
- Hospital Pharmacist (251511)*
- Industrial Pharmacist (251512)*
- Retail Pharmacist (251513)*
- Orthotist or Prosthetist (251912)
- General Practitioner (253111)
- Resident Medical Officer (253112)
- Psychiatrist (253411)
- Medical Practitioners nec (253999)
- Midwife (254111)
- Registered Nurse (Aged Care) (254412)
- Registered Nurse (Critical Care and Emergency) (254415)
- Registered Nurse (Medical) (254418)
- Registered Nurse (Mental Health) (254422)
- Registered Nurse (Perioperative) (254423)
- Registered Nurses nec (254499)
- Multimedia Specialist (261211)
- Analyst Programmer (261311)
- Developer Programmer (261312)
- Software Engineer (261313)
- Software and Applications Programmers nec (261399)
- ICT Security Specialist (262112)
- Social Worker (272511)
- Maintenance Planner (312911)
- Chef (351311)
The PMSOL is relevant to work sponsored visas such as the 482 and 494.
The PMSOL is not an exhaustive list of critical skilled occupations. The PMSOL is a part of critical skills. Critical skills is much bigger than the PMSOL. Therefore, when a client asks “Is my occupation on the critical skills list”, my answer is “There is no exhaustive critical skills list”.
We have assisted many businesses in Australia bring from overseas the employees that they want during these times of travel restrictions to work for them in Australia with their occupations having not been on the PMSOL. Examples of occupations which we have seen grants for that are not on the PMSOL list includes from interior designer to beer manufacturer.
To obtain a critical skills travel exemption application, the applicant will need to set out their case for how their occupation (or their industry) is critical skills and why they need to be in Australia at this time of travel restrictions. Each travel exemption application is tailored to the circumstances and requires the support of a business in Australia.
Work visas which we have seen granted along with travel exemptions have included subclass 400 Temporary Work (Short Stay Specialist) visas, subclass 482 Temporary Skill Shortage visas, Work and Holiday subclass 417 visas and the Working Holiday 462 visas.
Written by Adam Byrnes
Principal Immigration Lawyer
a week ago
