Australia Skilled Visa (subclass 457)

The Temporary Work (Skilled) visa (subclass 457) allows skilled workers to come to Australia and work for an approved business for up to four years. You must be sponsored by an approved business. A business can sponsor someone for this visa if they cannot find an Australian citizen or permanent resident to do the skilled work.

You can be in or outside Australia when you lodge your application.

This visa allows you to:

  • work in Australia for up to four years
  • bring your family to work or study in Australia
  • travel in and out of Australia as often as you want.

As an approved sponsor, there is no limit to the number of eligible skilled positions you can nominate. Nomination is the process of identifying a position to be filled by a skilled worker from outside Australia in an approved business. Nomination is required for both standard business sponsors and parties to a labour agreement.

 

Canada - Temporary Foreigner Worker Program (TFWP)

The Temporary Foreign Worker Program or TFWP is a program of the Government of Canada to allow employers in Canada to hire foreign nationals. When the program started in 1973, most of the workers brought in were high-skill workers such as specialist doctors. In 2002 a "low-skilled workers" category was added; this category now makes up most of the temporary foreign workforce. In 2006, the program was expanded and fast-tracking introduced for some locations. It was revised again in 2013, raising wages, charging employer fees, and removing the accelerated applications.

The total number of TFW more than doubled between 1993 and 2013, to 338,189 workers. Between 2006 and 2016, more than 550,000 workers (referred to under the program as Temporary Foreign Workers or TFWs) were brought into Canada under the program. Some temporary foreign workers have said they can be treated worse than Canadian co-workers, because of the way in which the Canadian residence of a temporary foreign worker is tied to an employer. Apart from their temporary status, temporary foreign workers have the same employment rights as Canadian workers, and can phone a free 1-800 number for help.