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I am not sure this holds.

• jpatokal 14y ago
  It does: I transitioned from 457 to permanent residence (ENS 856) without paying ACS a cent.
  • ajtaylor 14y ago
    Congratulations! The ENS 856 has since been replaced, but luckily there is still the skills exemption for 457 workers.
• ajtaylor 14y ago
  Luckily, it still does though the visa has changed from 1 July 2012. It's now a ENS 186. The relevant portions [1] are below. This visa costs 3060 AUD along with 540 AUD for the employer nomination, but that covers the entire family. "Temporary Residence Transition stream If you apply for the Temporary Residence Transition stream, your skills do not need to be assessed because you have already worked for your nominating employer for two years in Australia. You must have at least vocational English. This stream is available only to people who hold a subclass 457 visa. People who hold other 400 series visas may qualify to apply for a permanent residence visa through the Direct Entry stream." [1] http://www.immi.gov.au/skills/skillselect/index/visas/subclass-186/ http://www.immi.gov.au/skills/skillselect/index/visas/subcla...