Employers need to be endorsed by Townsville Enterprise to access the TNQ DAMA. The request can be made for a single occupation/position or multiple occupations/positions. As part of the endorsement, Townsville Enterprise is able to ‘value add’ with local knowledge that may assist the Department of Home Affairs in assessing steps 2-4. An endorsement fee applies, see the endorsement fee below.
Step by Step Process
Step 1 – Seek endorsement for one or more occupations/positions
Step 2 – Request a Labour Agreement (valid for 5 years)
Once endorsed, the employer is then able to submit an online request for a TNQ DAMA Labour Agreement with the Department of Home Affairs. The Labour Agreement will stipulate the number of approved occupations and positions, as well as the TNQ DAMA concessions to standard skilled migration criteria. The Labour Agreement is valid for five years and can be varies at any time, such as to have further occupations or positions added. There are no government fees to request a Labour Agreement. When endorsing an employer, Townsville Enterprise provides the employer or their agent an instruction guide on how to submit a TNQ DAMA Labour Agreement request.
Note that steps 1 and 2 above are about the business need for the occupation/s and position/s being sought. Prospective overseas worker/s may or may not have been identified at these steps. This allows for forward planning. The following two steps are about the individual overseas worker/s.
Step 3 – Nominate individual overseas worker/s
Employers can then nominate the overseas worker or workers up to the limits specified in their Labour Agreement, in the approved occupations, applying the TNQ DAMA concession to standard skilled migration criteria for the TSS visa or the SESR visa (under the Labour Agreement Stream). The overseas worker’s immediate family may be included in the nomination. The nomination incurs the standard government charges (see TSS 482 or SESR 494 for the two option available)
Step 4 – Overseas worker/s apply for visa
Once a nomination is approved, the overseas worker can apply for their visa. The temporary visa is valid for four or five years. Once the overseas worker has been with the employer in TNQ for at least three years*, they may access a permanent visa under the TNQ DAMA (Skills Levels 1-4 occupations). For details, see ENS 186 or 191.
*In limited circumstances, time spent in TNQ on previous visas in the same occupations may be taken into account.
The following diagram summarises the above four steps and the parties responsible for each.
