possible to set up a company in Oz and grant yourself a 457 visa?

[adamsimsy]

Unfortunately I've just turned 31 and unable to apply for a 417 visa. I wish i applied for a working visa when i was there 5 months ago!

Hoping to work and live in Melbourne for 3-12 months as a IT contractor. There are lots of opportunities with the software i have nearly 10 years of being an architect with.

Unfortunately I'm not going to get a 457 for a contract position. So i was wondering if i could setup my own company in Oz and then sponsor myself for a 457 visa?

I can't see any rules on non Australian citizens not being able to register a company. I've also read the guidelines on how companies register to sponsor foreigners for a 457 visa and can't see any terms there that might block this.

Is this a possible opportunity (loop hole) or have i missed something obvious?

If not then i may go for a 189 Skilled Independent visa (subclass 189) document checklist.

There are some Umbrella companies that issue 457s but they seem a bit dodgy.

Cheers.

[northernladuk]

Don't you think they've thought of that. You can't set up a company here and sponsor yourself here so you'd expect it to be the same over there. You can't see why they can't block it.

A business can sponsor someone for this*visa*if they cannot find an Australian citizen or permanent resident to do the skilled work.*

Does that not block it?

That said if you go on the immigration forums they've probably made up some work around

[DieScum]

Never heard of that approach, worth having a dig into but I suspect it won't work as otherwise you'd get floods of people from all over. As you say you can do it through an umbrella - Umbrella Companies who sponsor Contractors to work in Australia | Contractor Taxation never done it but I think the only dodgy part is their cut.

[moneymoney]

Don't you think they've thought of that. You can't set up a company here and sponsor yourself here so you'd expect it to be the same over there. You can't see why they can't block it.



Does that not block it?

That said if you go on the immigration forums they've probably made up some work around

technically that blocks it yes, but for 99% of people who get visa's to work in a foreign country, you basically ignore that and exaggerate something niche/different on the CV to get past it and it works.

I've worked in various teams that have done this in order to facilitate people moving to the UK or to the US and they have never really had an issue.

I would expect there is some other reason why you can't setup a company in a foreign country and grant yourself a visa though, seems unrealistic to think they haven't closed that loophole

[northernladuk]

Never heard of that approach, worth having a dig into but I suspect it won't work as otherwise you'd get floods of people from all over. As you say you can do it through an umbrella - Umbrella Companies who sponsor Contractors to work in Australia | Contractor Taxation never done it but I think the only dodgy part is their cut.

I'd be very wary about this. You can google Umbrella's that apparently support visa sponsorships to the UK as well but AFIAK they are breaking the law. There will always be someone trying to get around a rule so I'd be doing a hell of a lot of research if I find one.

[stek]

You'd need to apply for a sponsor licence and for that you'd need some trading history, accounts etc.