Designated Migration Agreement DAMA

What is DAMA & How Does It Work?

A Designated Area Migration Agreement or DAMA is designed to address labour shortages and help in the development of the different regions of Australia. It helps businesses in various regions by helping them tap overseas talent and help their enterprises grow and lead to regional economic development in Brisbane, Australia. DAMA can only be accessed by an organisation and not by an individual, which will allow employers to employ individuals from overseas for their company under specific visa categories.

What is the Designated Area Migration Agreement (DAMA)?

The Designated Area Migration Agreement (DAMA) is an agreement between the government of Australia and the regional, state, or territory authority. This is designed to fill in the labour shortage by allowing skilled and semi-skilled foreign workers to come in to fill in the skill gap. There is a list of occupations in every territory, for which a business may hire foreign workers after getting the required approval done by the territorial authorities.

Currently, there are 7 Designated Area Migration Agreements in place. These are for:

The Orana region: This has 73 occupations listed with permanent pathway concessions.

The Northern Territory: This has 117 occupations listed with salary concessions for a few occupations.

The Far North Queensland: This has 73 occupations listed with permanent pathway concessions for a few occupations.

The Adelaide City Technology and Innovation Advancement (Metro): This has 64 occupations listed with salary concessions for a few occupations.

The South Australian Regional Workforce (Regional): This has 139 occupations listed with salary concessions for a few occupations.

The Victoria’s Great South Coast: This has 27 occupations listed with salary concessions for a few occupations.

The Goldfields: This has 125 occupations listed with salary concessions for a few occupations.

Whom Does DAMA Apply To?

The individual worker cannot directly be a part of the DAMA labour agreement – it has to be applied based on the sponsorship provided by a business in the regional territory. DAMA allows a migrant worker to come and work in a regional territory if their occupation falls under the approved DAMA occupation list. This occupation list is much broader than the skilled worker occupation list and offers a better chance for an applicant to obtain an Australian visa.

What is the DAMA occupation list?

DAMA list has the details of the occupations covered under the territory or region. It is an exhaustive list and accounts for labour shortage or skill shortage in a particular region that can hamper the working of businesses in that region. Based on the listed occupations, there are concessions offered, including PR eligibility, that can attract migrant workers and retain good talent. The advantage of DAMA is that it offers the DAMA designated employers in territories a greater chance to obtain a visa for skilled and semi-skilled workers in occupations not covered in the standard visa programs. All the DAMA lists are uploaded on Anzscosearch and can be searched with an ANZSCO code.

DAMA Visa Process &DAMA Visa Requirements

DAMA is an employee-sponsored visa programme that is designed to fulfil the labour shortage for designated occupations. The employer or sponsoring business needs to approach their area’s DAR or Designated Area Representative with their requirement for workers. This allows them to access the DAMA and get details of listed occupations and concessions.

Based on their requirement of workers, they need to apply to DAR for endorsement as the necessary first step. Their application is carefully scrutinised by the DAR, and if approved, it issues a letter of endorsement and notifies the department.

Once it receives the letter of endorsement from the DAR, the business enters into a DAMA labour contract with the department. The department evaluates the DAMA application and approves it.

Once the approval is received, the business can nominate foreign employees under the program. The employee can now file for a specific work visa under the labour agreement stream.

How DAMA Affects Foreign Workers

The advantage of the DAMA framework for foreign workers in Australia is that it offers the workers relaxation or concessions in the terms & conditions that are not available in a standard skilled worker visa.

There is a great demand for both skilled and semi-skilled workers in the regional territories and this opens a window of opportunity for foreign workers to find work matching their skills and paves the way to apply for a permanent residency in Australia after a few years. They also have access to Medicare and quality education for children. However, according to the DAMA labour agreement, they have to restrain their work within the regional territory, which are still developing compared to the main Australian cities.

Why choose us for DAMA visa in Brisbane, Australia?

Here are a few of the reasons why our clients from around the world trust IVS: ● Experienced visa professionals ● Honest and affordable services ● Guaranteed results ● Multi-lingual ● Certified & licensed international visa solution is the leading visa consultancy in Australia. Our migration agents in Brisbane are experts who are well-versed with all rules, regulations, and requirements of DAMA. Speak to our multilingual PR & immigration agents in Brisbane on 0450 460 006 and they can guide you through the entire process of applying for a DAMA visa for Australia. We offer world-class DAMA visa & PR services at affordable prices with guaranteed results.

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