Skilled migration program

Visas for GPs initiative

The Visas for GPs initiative manage growth in Australia's medical workforce. It will regulate the number of doctors entering the primary healthcare sector through the skilled migration program.

All employers (including hospital employers) need to get either a:

Health Workforce Certificate (HWC), or
Health Workforce Exemption Certificate (HWEC), from a Rural Workforce Agency (RWA).

This applies if you are nominating a position for a doctor who needs a visa to work in one of the following three occupations:

General Practitioner (ANZSCO 253111)
Resident Medical Officer (ANZSCO 253112)
Medical Practitioners not elsewhere classified (ANZSCO 253999).

These certificates are letters issued by a RWA, confirming the genuine need to fill a primary healthcare position in Australia by an overseas doctor. Employers need to attach the applicable certificate to their nomination application as specified in the table below:

Employer Sponsored visas	Primary care positions	Hospital based positions
Temporary Skill Shortage (TSS) (subclass 482)	HWC	HWEC
Skilled Employer Sponsored Regional (Provisional) (SESR) (subclass 494)	HWC	HWEC
Employer Nomination Scheme (ENS) (subclass 186)	HWC	HWC
Regional Sponsored Migration Scheme (RSMS) (subclass 187)	HWC	HWC

HWECs can be used to nominate all overseas doctors for temporary and provisional employer sponsored visas in the three occupations above. HWECs are valid for 12 months and hospital employers are able to use the same HWEC repeatedly. HWCs continue to be single use only.

Employers need to attach a Health Workforce Certificate to their nomination application for any of the following employer sponsored visas:

Temporary Skill Shortage (subclass 482) visa
Employer Nomination Scheme (subclass 186) visa
Regional Sponsored Migration Scheme (subclass 187) visa.

Changes to the nomination forms

Follow these steps:

When one of the three occupations is selected on any of the TSS or SESR nomination forms you will see a new question asking whether the position is based in a hospital.

Question asking whether the position is based in a hospital

Once you have answered this question and clicked Next you will see the Caveat on occupation page.
When you click Add the following pop-up box will appear:

The following list of reasons is available:
- Business turnover more than specified minimum
- Salary more than specified minimum
- Employee numbers more than specified minimum
- Position is not in an excluded location
- Position does not involve low-skilled tasks
- International trade obligation applies
- Position has been endorsed/certified by relevant body
- Other
Select Position has been endorsed/certified by relevant body from the list of reasons.
You will then be taken back to the original screen and you will see your reason in the table.
You can edit or delete this reason if you selected the wrong one.

Attaching the relevant certificate

Follow these steps:

When you reach the end of the form you will be prompted to attach the relevant certificate to your application before you submit it.
If you click on Endorsement/Certification, the section will expand and allow you to upload the relevant certificate.
If you are submitting a TSS or SESRnomination and you indicated the position is based in a hospital, you will need to attach a Health Workforce Exemption Certificate.
When you complete this section, put the occupation and the name of the hospital in the description. In the example below we have used the RMO occupation and Toowoomba Hospital.
Name the file ‘Health Workforce Exemption Certificate – <occupation> - <hospital name>’.
Click Choose files to find the relevant file on your PC and then click Attach.

If you are submitting a TSS or SESR nomination and you indicated the position is not based in a hospital, you will need to attach a Health Workforce Certificate.
When you complete this section, put the name of the hospital in the description. In the example below we have used Janet Smith. Then name the file ‘Health Workforce Certificate - <nominee name>'.
If you are completing an ENS or RSMS nomination, select ‘Health workforce certificate’ as the Document type:
When you complete this section, put your nominee’s name in the description. In the example below we have used Emily Bloggs. Then name the file ‘Health Workforce Certificate – <nominee name>’.
Click Choose Files to find the relevant file on your PC and then click Attach.

Regardless of what sort of nomination you are completing, once you have clicked Attach you will see that the document has been attached and the indicator has changed to 1 Received:

If you notice you have made a mistake and attached the wrong document click the rubbish bin icon in the Action column. This will delete the attached document, then click Choose Files to attach the correct document.
If you try to progress to the next page without attaching the relevant HWC or HWEC you will see the following message:

You will not be able to progress until you have attached the relevant HWC or HWEC.