Designated Area Migration Agreements (DAMAs) are a formal arrangement between the Commonwealth of Australia and a designated area representative (DAR) of a State or Territory Government or Regional Body.
DARs work closely with employers in their area to understand their unique labour needs. They also endorse individual requests from businesses seeking access to DAMA arrangements, prior to the business lodging a DAMA Labour Agreement request with the Department of Home Affairs.
The DAMA allows employers to bring in skilled workers under the labour agreement stream of the Temporary Skill Shortage subclass 482 visa that provides a pathway to permanent residency.
Existing DAMAs
There are currently 12 DAMAs in place (listed below).
- Queensland:
Far North Queensland
Townsville - Victoria:
Goulburn Valley
Great South Coast - Northern Territory:
Northern Territory - South Australia:
Adelaide City Technology and Innovation Advancement
South Australia Regional - New South Wales:
Orana - Western Australia:
- East Kimberley.
- Pilbara
- South West Shire of Dardanup
- The Goldfields,
Individuals cannot directly access a DAMA. They must be sponsored:
- by an employer operating in a designated region, and
- for an occupation that is specified in the head agreement
DAMA’s, are usually able to access a broader range of overseas workers than is available through the standard skilled visa programs and to be approved there must be demonstrated efforts to recruit Australians first.
Navigating the DAMA migration process is very complicated, but the good news is, we are immigration specialists with Migration Professionals that have over 40 year of experience (both in the United Kingdom an in Australia) so you will be taken very good care of. After-all, migration is all we do.
Please complete this ‘FREE – NO OBLIGATION GENERAL ENQUIRY’ form which will help us to assess your basic eligibility to apply for a DAMA visa. We will reply to your enquiry within 1-2 business days.