Roles
Bringing overseas heavy lift specialists in for a lift campaign
Heavy lift engineers, lift supervisors and specialist crane personnel brought in for an Australian lift campaign generally come in on a Subclass 400 for defined work. A visa lets someone work in Australia; it doesn’t license the work. Resource Visa advises Australian employers on the visa, and on sequencing it with the licensing.
Every engagement starts with an employer. We don’t take on individuals seeking a visa on their own. If you need help with your own visa, you can search the Register of Migration Agents at mara.gov.au.
The key question
The question that matters most: engineer, supervisor or operator?
Heavy lift expertise comes in three quite different forms, and they’re treated differently:
- Lift engineers plan and calculate engineered lifts.
- Lift supervisors run complex and tandem lifts on the day.
- Crane operators run the machine.
A visa lets someone work in Australia; it doesn’t license the work. In Western Australia, high risk work licences, including crane, dogging and rigging classes, are issued by the Department of Local Government, Industry Regulation and Safety. Licences are recognised across Australia, but overseas tickets don’t transfer: the worker needs an Australian assessment through a registered training organisation. That assessment runs on its own timeline, separate from the visa.
Work out which of the three your specialist is, and what they will do on site, before you engage them.
Structure
Often the better structure: overseas specialist plans, local operator lifts
Frequently the role can be set up so the overseas specialist plans and supervises the lifts while a locally licensed operator runs the machine. It often strengthens the visa case too, because lift engineering and supervision for a critical installation is a clearly documented specialism. Dogging and rigging are licence classes in their own right, so having a local crane operator doesn’t always settle the licensing question.
Who it’s for
Who this page is for
- Turnaround and shutdown contractors with complex lifts in and around live plant
- Mining and LNG operators with major component change-outs
- Heavy lift and cranage contractors bringing in overseas specialists for a campaign
The right visa
Which visa applies
For defined, specialised work, the Subclass 400 Temporary Work (Short Stay Specialist) visa generally applies, employer-backed, no sponsorship approval needed.
Normally up to three months in any 12-month period, counting every 400 stay with any employer. Up to six months only in exceptional circumstances, on strong evidence. A specialist who has already spent time in Australia on a 400 in the last 12 months may be granted only the balance, so offshore and FIFO rosters that add up to more than three months a year need a different visa. We establish the specialist’s full 400 history before anything is lodged.
For an ongoing role, the pathway is the Subclass 482 Skills in Demand visa.
The evidence
What makes a lift specialised enough
The lift itself
Mass, geometry, tandem configuration, working near live plant. Describe what makes the lifts non-routine.
The equipment
Where the expertise is tied to a particular crane type or a proprietary lifting system, name it.
The engineering
The lift study or lift plan is usually the evidence. Engineering for a critical module installation is documented and calculable.
What a slipped lift costs
Standby rates for the crane, the critical-path impact, any liquidated damages. Quantify them.
One point of control
The 400 is the specialist’s application. Run it from one desk.
Your company briefs us once. Your specialist deals with one desk and one document list. We build the business case with you and drive lodgement against your date.
Documents
What you’ll need to pull together
- The lift plans or lift study, and the campaign dates
- The specialist’s role (engineer, supervisor or operator) and their relevant lift history
- The cranes or lifting systems involved
- Your plan for licensing, where the role includes licensed work
- Who employs the specialist and who directs the work
Moving dates
Lift dates move with the construction program
Lift campaigns follow the construction program, and construction programs slip. Build some float into the mobilisation and keep the visa timing aligned with the realistic lift window, not the optimistic one. If the campaign runs longer than planned, talk to us early about whether the 400 still fits.
Common mistakes
Where heavy lift mobilisations go wrong
- Overseas tickets assumed to transfer. Licences are recognised across Australia, but overseas tickets don’t transfer: the worker needs an Australian assessment through a registered training organisation.
- Bringing in an operator when the expertise needed was engineering.
- Lift dates moving. No float is built into the plan.
- Site requirements are left late. Inductions and site-specific competencies take time after arrival.
How we help
How Resource Visa helps
For heavy lift work, we help you pin down which role you’re really bringing in, flag the licensing question on the first call, and build the business case around the engineering of the lifts. We handle the migration side.
The process
How a mobilisation runs
Same-business-day triage.
The work, the site, the dates, the fit, and an honest read on whether the 400 is the right instrument.
One document request.
A single consolidated list, not a drip-feed. The one variable nobody controls is how fast your documents reach us, which is why we ask for everything once.
Lodged within two business days of a complete file.
For crews, we agree the lodgement timetable at triage.
Business case assembled and evidenced, your review, then lodgement. That’s how fast we work. Decisions and processing times rest with the Department of Home Affairs.
Ongoing
Standing arrangements
For OEM service divisions and shutdown contractors that mobilise repeatedly: preferred-supplier arrangements, batch mobilisations against your shutdown calendar, one nominated contact, and each specialist’s 400 history checked before every lodgement.
Enquiries after 3pm AWST, on weekends or on WA public holidays are triaged the next business day.
When the Short Stay Specialist visa (subclass 400) is the wrong visa for heavy lift work
If the specialist is joining your crane fleet long term, the 400 isn’t the fit and we’ll say so. And we’ll raise the licensing timeline before you spend money on the visa.
FAQs
Frequently asked questions
Licences are recognised across Australia, but overseas tickets don’t transfer: the worker needs an Australian assessment through a registered training organisation.
For defined, specialised work, generally a Subclass 400 Temporary Work (Short Stay Specialist) visa.
Often that’s the better structure. The overseas specialist plans and supervises while a locally licensed operator runs the machine. Dogging and rigging are licence classes in their own right, so having a local crane operator doesn’t always settle the licensing question.
Mass, geometry, tandem configuration, working near live plant, or a proprietary lifting system. The lift study itself is usually the evidence.
Possibly. A visa lets someone work in Australia; it doesn’t license the work. In Western Australia, high risk work licences, including crane, dogging and rigging classes, are issued by the Department of Local Government, Industry Regulation and Safety. Licences are recognised across Australia, but overseas tickets don’t transfer: the worker needs an Australian assessment through a registered training organisation.
It depends on how far the dates move and how long the total campaign becomes. Tell us as soon as the program changes, so the plan can be adjusted before anyone travels.
Same-business-day triage. One document request. Lodged within two business days of a complete file. For crews, we agree the lodgement timetable at triage. That’s how fast we work. Decisions and processing times rest with the Department of Home Affairs. Enquiries after 3pm AWST, on weekends or on WA public holidays are triaged the next business day.
Reviewed by a Registered Migration Agent (MARN 1686595) · Last reviewed [date]
Keep reading
Related pages
Shutdowns & Turnarounds
Bringing overseas specialists in for a plant shutdown or turnaround. What the Subclass 400 covers, how far ahead to start, and what happens when the date moves.
Mobilisation timeline planner
Work backwards from your mobilisation date. What has to happen when, what runs in parallel, and what we can and can’t commit to.
Rotating Equipment & Turbine Specialists
Mobilising OEM turbine, compressor and rotating equipment specialists into Australian sites. What the OEM letter needs to say, and why it matters.
Why Resource Visa
Migration advice that understands what’s riding on the project.
A visa application is rarely just forms: behind it sits a shutdown window, a commissioning milestone or a contract deadline.
Resource Visa brings migration expertise together with corporate and commercial experience, so the application is approached in the context of the business requirement behind it.
Our focus is the company bringing the specialist into Australia, not high-volume individual migration.
We understand the environments behind the visa request: shutdowns, maintenance, commissioning and project mobilisation.
Bringing in heavy lift expertise from overseas?
Tell us the lifts, the cranes and the role. We’ll map the visa and the licensing question together.
Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm AWST