Temporary Work (Subclass 400) Visa

Temporary Work (Subclass 400) or Temporary Work (Short Stay Specialist) Class GA Subclass 400 visa: What you need to know before applying

Temporary Work (Subclass 400) visa is for overseas workers (can be professionals or managers or technicians or tradespeople) to work in Australia. However, the job must be short-term, non-ongoing, and highly specialised to assist an Australian company that cannot reasonably find similar skilled Australian workers.

There are 2 streams in the Temporary Work (Subclass 400) visa, that is:

1. Highly Specialised Work stream; and
2. Australia’s Interest stream.

To be eligible for the Highly Specialised Work stream, you must have highly specialised skills and/or knowledge and/or experience that can assist the Australian company, and your employer cannot reasonably find similarly skilled Australian worker or the skills set required can be found in Australia but is extremely limited so that it is not available to the company. Your employer must demonstrate that genuine efforts have been made to find similarly skilled Australian workers. Your occupation is usually aligned with occupations in the ANZSCO Major Groups 1 to 3.

The Temporary Work (Subclass 400) visa is also for people who are unable to satisfy the Highly Specialised Work stream and there are compelling circumstances affecting Australia’s interest, and the activity or event or work must directly relate to the compelling circumstances. Click here to find out more about other work visas (Subclass 186; Subclass 482)

Applicants applying for the Temporary Work (Subclass 400) visa do not need to be sponsored or nominated by an employer. However, they must not be in Australia when lodging the visa application or when the visa is granted.

Even though you do not need to be sponsored or nominated by your employer, but they must demonstrate that you are needed to be in Australia to work or participate in an event or engage in an activity.

If you are applying for the Temporary Work (Subclass 400) visa under the Highly Specialised Work stream, the work that you are supposed to do must not have adverse consequences for the employment, or training opportunities, of Australian citizen or permanent resident.

Your employer should provide document like:

1. statement outlining the size, work schedule, number of Australian workers employed and duration of the project or work;
2. assessment by the relevant peak industry body or evidence from a large reputable employment agency; or letter from the relevant union that the employment skills cannot be found in Australia.

If you are required to be licensed or registered, Temporary Work (Subclass 400) visa condition 8107 mandate that you are licensed or registered before you can start working in Australia.

Your personal attributes and/or employment history must be relevant to, and consistent with, the nature of your proposed work in Australia. You must also demonstrate a need for you to be in Australia to participate in the work or event or engage in the proposed activity.

The Department of Immigration may consider your current occupation and skill level, your previous study, whether you have sufficient English proficiency to do the proposed work, and the number of times you have undertaken the same or similar work or activity.

The Temporary Work (Subclass 400) visa is valid for 6 months, however, under the Department of Immigration (Department of Home Affairs) policy, it is usually valid for stay up to 3 months either as single or multiple entries. If you are granted multiple entries, each entry does not re-set the period of stay allowed.

You may include member of your family in a combined application, but they are not allowed to work.

When you apply for 1 stream, you are also applying for the other stream. What this mean is that, if you failed to satisfy 1 of the stream, the Department of Immigration will assess you for the other stream. However, you must satisfy either 1 of the 2 streams for the grant of a Temporary Work (Subclass 400) visa.

You must not have any expectation of staying beyond 6 months as the work required to be performed must not be ongoing even though you may apply for an extension if the work has not been completed on time due to unforeseen and uncontrollable delays to delivery of key equipment or bad weather conditions.

Your employer must pay you in accordance with relevant Australian workplace legislation.

While in Australia you must not be enrolled in a course of study that lead to the completion of a primary or secondary education or leads to the completion of any type of formal award or unconditional credits transfer to another course either in Australia or overseas (other than a language training). Training is only acceptable if it is incidental to your main purpose of stay and is provided by your employer.

Australian migration law is complex and difficult to understand, contact our immigration lawyer for a consultation (fee applies) to help you decide if your partner can apply for a Temporary Work (Subclass 400) visa (click here to find out how an immigration lawyer or registered migration agent can help you) or click here to learn more. You may also refer to our FAQs for answers regarding visa application or visa cancellation by clicking here.

This article is not intended to be or taken as migration legal advice. The author of this article disclaims any liability for any action or omission on the information provided or not provided in this article. You should always consult an immigration lawyer or a registered migration agent to form an informed opinion on your immigration matter.