Although English isn’t a requirement for most temporary visa categories, it’s mandatory for many residence visa categories.
This includes the recently reopened Skilled Migrant Category, as well as the newly available Green List Straight to Residence, Work to Residence, Care Workforce and High Income Threshold categories.
Most of your employees who aren’t from English-speaking countries will need to take an English language test if they’re planning to apply for residence.
Accepted tests include IELTS, TOEFL, PTE, B2 First, and OET. People are tested on their reading, writing, listening and speaking. The sooner they pass, the sooner they can put more focus and energy
into their job. Contact us if you would like clarity around this and take a look below at our suggestions on how to support your staff through this.
Tips to help your employees learn English:
- Speaking English at work – Team members from the same country are likely to speak their own language with each other. Encouraging employees to speak English at work can help build confidence.
- Team structure – Review team structures and put people from different cultures together so they have a chance to speak and practice English.
- Connecting – Regularly checking on your employees’ progress towards residency shows that you care, which can increase their motivation to learn.
- Read, watch, listen – Discussing movies, TV shows, books, and audiobooks you enjoy is a good way to encourage passive learning. Your team could chat about favourites during breaks.
- Running English language lessons – To avoid people having to choose a study visa, we can help set you up with teachers who run English lessons in the workplace.
Aside from the visa requirement, speaking English well will also help your people settle into society faster and feel more confident, which will have a positive impact on their performance at work.
As always, our team are here to help you and your business.
Please get in touch if you’d like help with English language requirements or setting up English language lessons at your workplace.