Tech giants such as Google and Accenture regularly move their talent around the world. They do so successfully because having the best people in the right locations is critical to their business. They understand that having a strong, compliant immigration program is fundamental to their success.
Talent mobility is more than a transactional process – it is a strategy for growing your workforce that can enhance your whole business. Find out how one of our clients, an Indian technology services company, transformed their operations with a compliant visa approach.
Facing a government audit
Talent mobility is more than a transactional process, it is a strategy for growing your workforce that can enhance your whole business.
A business headquartered in India works with major financial institutions in Australia that provide technology and consulting solutions. As a service business, the company brings a lot of specialist tech workers to Australia.
Over time, its staff visa applications started to get refused by the Department of Home Affairs. Further, because numerous visas were being refused, the company was flagged by the Department and audited for its immigration practices.
The Department flags certain circumstances for further exploration. This may be if it finds that an Australian company is employing a large number of staff who are foreign nationals. Or if the business has received a high number of visa nomination refusals.
As part of the government audit, the firm’s business partners were asked about their recruitment practices, contracts and remunerations. This risked damaging the firm’s relationships with business partners and may have created concern about relocating to Australia among staff.
A review of the firm’s immigration program by The Migration Agency found that it was not properly structured and employees were being sponsored incorrectly. Individual visa applications were being made for employees, rather than thinking about migration as a holistic business strategy.
The firm’s core business hinges on the expertise of its talent and relationships with Australian financial institutions – reputation and customer service are paramount. The inability to bring Indian experts to Australia smoothly presented an issue, as their technical product knowledge was urgently required.
Our solution: Structure and compliance
The various sponsorship obligations with which they are required to comply were analysed. This included record keeping and ensuring employees were only performing their permitted roles.
The TMA team helped the firm strategise and provide documentation and submissions for the investigation. Recommended improvements to the business’s HR and operational practices and procedures were also provided.
This level of immigration activity can be complex to manage. It requires expert knowledge on how to structure an immigration program correctly. Going back to first principles, guidance was provided on how to best structure visa sponsorships for each role in the business and the most appropriate visa type for the different positions. Processes were also created to standardise their approach and ensure compliance with sponsorship obligations.
With an immigration program set up strategically, it instils confidence in both their clients and staff. This new foundation has allowed our client to sustainably grow their business in Australia.
