If a business is approved as a business sponsor and nominates some overseas employees for temporary business visas, the business must agree to assume a number of sponsorship obligations. Note that there are no sponsorship obligations for Employer Nomination Scheme (ENS) or Regional Skilled Migration Scheme visas.

• Meeting the cost of return travel by the sponsored person
• Not employing people in breach of immigration laws
• Notifying DIMIA changes of circumstances affecting the sponsor’s ability to meet obligations, and any changes to information leading to approval as business sponsor
• Complying with DIMIA monitoring survey requirements
• Notifying DIMIA within 5 working days if the sponsored person ceases employment
• Complying with workplace relations laws
• Ensuring the sponsored person has any required licensing, registration or membership
• Paying the minimum gazetted salary to the sponsored employee
• Notifying DIMIA of changes in the location of employment (ie where the employee was granted a visa on the basis that they were filling a position in a regional area of Australia).
• Medical costs:
  • Pre 1 Nov 05 - all medical expenses not covered by insurance
  • Post 1 Nov 05 - treatment in public hospital
• Paying the sponsored employee’s superannuation
• Deducting tax from the employee’s salary
• Paying the Commonwealth all costs incurred due to sponsorship - in particular:
  • Location, detention, removal and processing of any protection visa lodged by the sponsored employee
  • The enforceable limit for location & detention is $10,000

Breach of these sponsorship obligations can result in some very serious sanctions - these include:

• Cancelling the business’ sponsorship approval
• Barring future applications for approval as a sponsor by the business
• Barring applications for nominations and/or visas under the existing sponsorship

These sanctions can be selectively applied to certain visa types, or as a blanket sanction for all temporary visas requiring sposnorship. If you require advice on the sponsorship obligations or consequences of breach of these obligations, please call us at +612-9230-0888.