Nomination applications associated with the TSS visa are subject to the requirement of providing evidence of labour market testing (LMT) unless international trade obligations or specified exemptions apply.

This needs to have been undertaken within the four-month period immediately prior to lodging the nomination application.

If an Australian citizen or permanent resident worker has been made redundant or retrenched from the nominated occupation within four months before lodging the nomination application, the advertising must have been completed from the date the redundancy or retrenchment occurred.

Occupations being sponsored on the Short-term stream will require IELTS of at least 4.5 in each test component or equivalent in PTE, TOEFL etc.

However, the Medium-term stream requires competent English (IELTS at least 5.0 in each test component or equivalent in PTE TOEFL, etc).

English language exemptions will apply to people that fall into one of the following categories:

• you are a passport holder from Canada, New Zealand, the Republic of Ireland, the United Kingdom or the United States of America
• you have completed at least five years of full-time study in a secondary or higher education institution where instruction was conducted in English*.
  Note: a higher education institution includes Vocational Education and Training (VET) courses for the purposes of this visa subclass
• you are nominated for an occupation which will be performed at a diplomatic or consular mission of another country or an Office of the Authorities of Taiwan located in Australia
• the person is an employee of an overseas business who is coming to Australia to work for that company, or their associated entity, and the position has guaranteed annual earnings of at least AUD96,400
• your occupation requires you to hold a licence, registration or membership and:
  • to be granted the licence, registration or membership you must demonstrate a level of English language proficiency that is equivalent to or better than the level described on the previous page (test/scores), and
  • you have been granted the licence, registration or membership.

All applicants for the TSS visa are required to provide evidence that they have at least two years of work experience in the nominated occupation or a related field.

The Department will take a flexible approach for specific industries that experience can be counted based on being part of a master’s degree and/or PhD for relevant occupations, or industry/clinical placements, internships or apprenticeships.

Placements, Internships and Apprenticeship experience can only be counted if it is either:

• As part of a CRICOS registered course of study where it is relevant to the nominated occupation
• Not part of a CRICOS registered course of study but it is undertaken at the skill level of the relevant occupation.

The sponsoring employer will need to provide evidence that they have experienced difficulty in recruiting the nominated position in the local labour market. Exemptions to this apply if an international trade obligation applies.

Occupations that are listed on the Short-term stream will be required to provide evidence of an English ability of at least IELTS 4.5 in each test component or its equivalent and occupations that are listed on the Medium-term stream will require at least IELTS 5.0 in each test component or its equivalent.