***This visa program ceased to exist at 11:59pm AEST on 15 November 2019***
The new provisional subclass 494 visa came into effect on midnight of 16 November 2016. RSMS employer nominations lodged with the Department of Home Affairs on or prior to 15 November will need RCB (Regional Certifying Body) Assessment.
Information about the new visas can be found on the Department of Home Affairs website by clicking HERE.
RDA Northern Rivers will accept RSMS 187 Visa applications that have been lodged with the Department of Home Affairs before the deadline. Applications may take up to 90 days to process.
The Australian Government’s Department of Home Affairs advised that two new visas will be introduced from November this year. RDA Northern Rivers will continue to act as a regional certifying body for these new visas. The introduction of the two new regional visas will not impact people who already hold existing visas. Applications lodged prior to November 2019 will continue to be processed as normal. Read more…
Regional Development Australia–Northern Rivers is the Regional Certifying Body (RCB) for the Northern Rivers from Tweed Heads in the north to Grafton in the south, including postcodes 2460- 2490. Applicants outside the region should contact the RCB nearest to them, click HERE for a full list.
As of 1 January 2016 we will be implementing the following changes to the assessment process
- The application processing fee will be $660 (inc GST)
- Priority processing is no longer available.
- All positions must be registered with a job placement agency along with the existing advertising requirements
If we advise that your application is unsuccessful, it may still be submitted to the Department of Home Affairs (the Department) which will then assess it independently of our advice. At the time of assessment by the Department, applicants will be given the opportunity to provide extra evidence in support of their application.
Please note the 1404 form was updated in July 2018. All applications must use the new 1404 form which can be downloaded from the Forms section below.
Applications must be addressed to The Certifying Officer and emailed to rda@rdanorthernrivers.org.au or mailed to PO Box 147 Lismore 2480. The Temporary Residence Transition stream is for subclass 457 visa holders who have worked with an Australian employer for at least the last 2 years in the nominated occupation and their employer wants to offer them a permanent position in the same occupation. The Direct Entry stream is for applicants who are untested in the Australian labour market and have not held a subclass 457 visa for at least 2 years or who are applying from outside of Australia. A nomination made under the RSMS Direct Entry stream cannot be approved by DIBP unless the relevant RCB has provided their advice in regard to the application. The RCB will provide the employer with their advice. The employer will need to submit the advice to the Department by attaching the form, using the e-lodgement facility, to the corresponding nomination application. An RCB assessment should not be dated more than 3 months prior to lodgement of the nomination as you may be requested to obtain a fresh RCB assessment. IMPORTANT The department will also assess the nomination. Employers should not assume that the Department will approve a nomination just because positive advice has been provided by an RCB. NEXT STEPS: AND * Eligible positions include those in major Groups 1-3 in the Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations (ANZSCO) coding system, i.e. Group 1: Managers, Group 2: Professionals and Group 3: Technicians and Trade workers. Skill level 3 (Group 3) may be equivalent to an AQF Certificate 4 of AQF Certificate 3 plus 2 years on the job training. A link to the coding system, qualification requirements and position descriptions on the Australian Bureau of Statistics website is provided below. ** Exemptions for age, English requirements and qualifications may be available for applicants who are: nominated in an occupation where formal academic training is uncommon such as Ministers of Religion in an occupation where they would be paid executive-level salaries employed by Australian universities or scientific research agencies such as the CSIRO or ANSTO for research, academic or other specialist work academics employed by a university in Australia. Applicants who do not meet RSMS requirements for Direct Entry may wish to consider applying for a 457 visa. After working full time for a period of 2 years in the nominated position on a 457 visa the nominee may then apply for employment under the “Temporary Residence Transition Stream” with reduced requirements including a reduced IELTS of 5 and skill level. Please contact DIBP (tel: 131 811) to determine your eligibility for this visa type. Assessment criteria and supporting documentation RCBs assess applications against the following criteria. Where a business is seeking RCB certification to support their nomination under the RSMS visa program, the following information MUST be submitted to the RCB: Criterion 1. There is a genuine need for the position within the regular business activity of the nominator. Required supporting documentation: Additional supporting documentation may include: If the nominating business is new or is diversifying its activities, you should also include: Criterion 2. The terms and conditions offered are no less favourable than the terms and conditions that would be provided to an Australian citizen or Australian permanent resident performing equivalent work in the same workplace at the same location. The onus is on the nominator to provide sufficient information to demonstrate this requirement. The salary to be paid is the market rate not the award rate. Supporting documentation may include: Where there is no equivalent Australian employee: Criterion 3. That the position cannot be filled locally. All advertising must occur within six months of application submission to us. Supporting documentation must include evidence of: Important information regarding using JobActive “Application Tracker”For JobActive advertising, employers should first register online. Next, select the Create a job button and follow the online prompts. Please make sure you use the default listing option for this service (online application lodgement) as this will allow the “Application Tracker” function to be available (ie do not ask for the applications to be sent to a private email or postal address). At the end of the 3 week advertising period, click on the link “application tracker” and include this print out with your submission to us, as we require a print out of the number of applications received as well as how many times the listing has been viewed. If you do not use the default setting which allows people to apply online, you will be asked to re-do the full 3 weeks advertising as per these instructions. Please fill out the Advertising reporting form and include all responses to advertising, qualifications, experience and reasons considered unsuitable for the position. Evidence of responses to the advertising is required. This should include a list of applicants who responded (without any personal identification information i.e. ‘Applicant 1′, ‘Applicant 2′, etc.) listing the relevant experience and qualifications of each and including notes as to why they were deemed unsuitable for the position. The position The skills and criteria that are considered by RDA-NR when determining if a local employee could fill a vacancy are aligned with the those prescribed by the Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations (ANZSCO). Skills or experience beyond those outlined will not be considered necessary to the position. Example 1: language skills would only be considered for a position such as Interpreter; ANZSCO 2724-12. Example 2: Selection criteria for Cook must be in accordance with ANZSCO 2514-11 Task description and skill level (qualifications and experience) If there are applicants for a position to work in a kitchen that caters for a particular cuisine, it is not considered reasonable for an employer to exclude applicants that have the ANZSCO required skills and qualifications just because they do not possess a quality that the employer considers necessary for the position Employers do have the right to employ whomever they want within their business. However, if a business wishes to employ someone through the 187 visa scheme, they must adhere to the requirements of this visa. The 187 visa is designed to provide skilled workers for a vacancy that an employer is unable to fill locally. Regional bodies, such as RDA-NR are required to provide advice to the Department regarding the availability of local workers for positions under ANZSCO. RDA-NR will therefore determine the availability of local skills based on ANZSCO, considering the required qualifications and experienced as it is stated within the ANZSCO directory. The list of ANZSCO positions and position descriptions, including skills and experience required as well as tasks to be performed can be found on the Australian Bureau of Statistics website. We do not reconsider applications once a decision has been made, as the decision is based on rigorous research and advice. As the Regional Certifying Body, RDA NR will merely provide a ‘statement of advice’ to the Department as to whether the Minister could be satisfied that the nomination meets the criteria. DIBP will make an independent assessment of your application, whilst considering our advice. In the case of a negative assessment by RDA-NR, you may provide more information to DIBP, in writing, at any time until a decision is made on the application. If you want to correct information you provided, use Form 1023. The processing fee is $660.00 (inc GST). Payment can be made via direct deposit into the RDA Northern Rivers bank account: BSB: 728 728 Account no: 22314292 Ref: Nominee or business name Applications will not be processed until payment has been received. Processing takes a maximum of three months. We aim to process applications within 4-6 weeks, depending on current demand but this cannot be guaranteed. What if my nomination doesn’t meet the requirements? If we don’t assess your application as meeting the criteria we will inform you, however no details will be provided. The Department will reach their own decision based on our advice and the applicant will have the opportunity to provide the Department with additional documentation and have the ‘right to review’. Please visit the Department’s Skilled Migration Visa Information webpage to find out current processing timesWhat is the Regional Sponsored Migration Scheme (RSMS)?
The RSMS has three streams
1. Temporary Residence Transition stream
2. Direct Entry stream
Assessment for Direct Entry stream
Nominations are assessed against the following criteria:
In addition, the applicant for the nominated position must**:
Assessment criteria for the RCB and supporting documentation
The Application Process
Processing Fees
Forms