Standard Business Sponsors Obligations

Sponsorship obligations only apply to temporary visas that have a former employer sponsorship requirement.

Below you will find information on:

• Sponsorship Obligations (482/494);
• Compliance Monitoring; and
• Sanctions

Sponsorship Obligations (482/494)

Cooperation with Inspectors

Employers are required to cooperate with Workplace Inspectors. The following would be considered a breach of this obligation:

• Concealing the location of persons and documents
• Obstructing inspector or preventing a person from assisting
• Assaulting, intimidating or threatening inspectors

Commences: date of approval of sponsorship

Ceases: 5 years from ceasing to be a sponsor

Equivalent Terms and Conditions of Employment

Conditions for 482/494 visa holders must be “no less favourable” than conditions for Australian permanent residents and citizens

Employees must either be paid at least $250,000 or the annual market salary rate determined by conditions which would apply to Australian citizens or permanent residents.

Commences: date of approval of 482/494, or nomination if already the holder of a 482/494

Ceases: Cessation of employment or grant of further visa

Travel Costs

The employer must pay the cost of return travel for 482/494 visa holders if properly requested.

The request must be properly made – in particular it must:

• Be made by the Department of Home Affairs, the primary 482/494 (ie the sponsored employee) or by a secondary 482/494 holder (ie members of the employee’s family unit)
• Specify the persons covered
• Specify the country of passport they wish to travel to
• Be made whilst person holds a 482/494 visa

The employer’s obligation is to pay “Reasonable and necessary” costs only. Such costs would usually involve:

• Travel costs for both primary and secondary visa holders
• Travel to the point of departure from Australia
• Cost of return to the country of passport via economy class air travel

The costs must be paid within 30 days of request

Commences: date of approval of 482/494, or nomination if already the holder of a 482/494

Ceases: grant of further visa, grant of nomination for new employer or permanent departure

Costs to Commonwealth – Location and Removal

This obligation would cover the cost of detection and removal incurred by the Commonwealth if the 482/494 visa holder overstays their visa. It only covers costs incurred between when the person becomes illegal and when they leave Australia. If return costs have already been paid by the employer, then only the difference between this and the actual cost is payable. A maximum limit of $10,000 is applicable for this obligation.

Commences: date person becomes illegal

Ceases: 5 years from date person leaves Australia

Maintenance of records

The employer is obliged to keep certain records, including:

• Request for payment of return travel costs and when received
• Details of payment of return travel costs – date, who for, amount
• Details of notification to the Department of Home Affairs – when and how transmitted
• Tasks undertaken by 482/494 holder and location

Commences: date of approval of sponsorship

Ceases: 2 years after ceasing to be a sponsor and there are no primary or secondary 482/494 holders

Provide information to Department of Home Affairs

The employer must notify the Department of Home Affairs of certain events via registered post or electronic mail to specified address which depends where the sponsorship application was processed by the Department of Home Affairs.

Notification must be made within 28 days, and examples of notifiable events include:

• Cessation or expected cessation of employment
• Change to training which may affect approval as a business sponsor
• Changes to the legal structure of the employer
• Payment of return travel for a 482/494 visa holder
• Insolvency/bankruptcy/administration

Commences: date of approval of sponsorship

Ceases: 2 years after ceasing to be a sponsor and there are no primary or secondary 482/494 holders

Cost of Sponsorship Approval and Recruitment

It is unlawful for individuals to pay an employer to sponsor them for a visa. This would include situations where the individual directly pays the employer, or a deduction is made from their salary, or the individuals provides any other benefit to the employer. It will result in visa refusal, visa cancellation, fines and even imprisonment

The employer must not seek to recover or have another person pay for the cost of:

• Obtaining sponsorship approval
• Recruitment of the primary sponsored person

Commences: date of approval of 482/494 , or nomination if already the holder of a 482/494

Must not Engage in Discriminatory Recruitment Practices 

Commences: date of approval of sponsorship

Ceases: When the business ceases to be a Standard Business Sponsor.

Ensure that the primary sponsored person work or participates in the nominated occupation

The primary sponsored person’s duties must must correlate with the duties listed under the relevant occupation code for the nominated occupation under the Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations (ANZSCO).

A new nomination must be approved if a primary sponsored person intends to work in a different occupation from that approved at nomination.

Some work outside of the nominated occupation may be considered to be acceptable if the duties are closely related to those of the nominated occupation. However, the significant majority of work must be in the nominated occupation.

Commences: date of approval of visa. If the person already holds a visa, then the date the nomination is approved.

Ceases: When employment ceases

Compliance Monitoring

The Department of Home Affairs monitors sponsor compliance with the obligations during the sponsorship period and up to five years after the sponsorship period ends. The Department may also monitor sponsored employees to ensure they comply with their visa conditions.

Monitoring may be conducted by Immigration Inspectors, Fair Work Inspectors or Fair Work Building Industry Inspectors who have investigative powers granted under the Migration Act 1958 (Cth).

Monitoring requests may take several forms including written, site visas and information sharing with other government departments and authorities.

Sanctions

Sanctions can be imposed on the sponsor if there is evidence that:

• a sponsor has not met their obligations
• a sponsor provided false or misleading information to the Department or the Administrative Appeals Tribunal
• a sponsor no longer meets the criteria for approval as a sponsor or for sponsorship renewal
• a sponsor has been found by a court or competent authority to have contravened a Commonwealth, state or territory law or
• a sponsored visa holder breaks a law relating to the licensing, registration or membership needed to work in the nominated position.

One or more of the following actions can be taken against the sponsor, depending the scale and severity of the breach(es):

• impose an ‘enforceable undertaking’ requiring the signatory to promise, in writing, to undertake specific actions to rectify failures that led to the breach(es) and that non-compliance will not happen again
• publish information, including personal information, identifying the sponsor who has not complied with the sponsorship obligations, including past breaches, and any action taken against the sponsor
• impose bars preventing further visa sponsorships for a specific period of time
• refuse sponsorship applications
• cancel all of the sponsor’s existing sponsorship approvals
• issue an infringement notice of up to AUD12,600 for a body corporate and AUD2,520 for an individual for each failure
• apply to a court for a civil penalty order of up to AUD63,000 for a corporation and AUD12,600 for an individual for each failure.