482 Workers & 494 Workers - Travelling South Migration Services

Standard Business Sponsor

An approved Standard Business Sponsor is able to sponsor foreign workers under:

Skills in Demand (Subclass 482) visa (SID visa) from 7 December 2024
Temporary Skill Shortage (Subclass 482) visa (TSS visa) from 18 March 2018 to
6 December 2024 (now closed)
Skilled Employer Sponsored Regional (Subclass 494) visa (SESR visa) from
16 November 2019

In the context of the SID visa and the SESR visa the relevant class of sponsor is the Standard Business Sponsor (SBS):

There are two types of SBS – an Australian Business Sponsor (ABS) and an Overseas Business Sponsor (OBS). This is because businesses need to meet different criteria to become an SBS, depending on whether they are operating a business inside or outside Australia.
A person who is a party to a work agreement is defined as an ‘approved work sponsor’ and is not required to separately apply for approval as a sponsor for the purposes of nominating overseas workers under the terms of the work agreement.

The sponsorship obligation requiring the sponsored primary visa holder to only work in their nominated occupation for their sponsor will now end when the visa holder ceases their employment. So the sponsored primary visa holder does not need to wait for a new Nomination application to be lodged and approved to be able to start working for a new employer.

482 SID Visa

The Skills in Demand (Subclass 482) visa (SID visa) enables employers to address labour shortages by sponsoring skilled foreign workers where they cannot source an appropriately skilled Australian (replaced the TSS visa on 7 December 2024).

The SID visa, has three Streams:

Specialist Skills Stream:

- nominated in a 6 digit Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations (ANZSCO) 22 November 2022 occupation in Major Groups 1, 2, 4, 5 or 6 with the exception of ANZSCO Major Group 3 (Technicians and Trades Workers), 7 (Machinery Operators and Drivers) and 8 (Labourers);
- meet any occupational Caveats as specified in the CSOL; and
- earn at least the Specialist Skills Income Threshold of at least A$141,210 and which is at least the annual market salary rates (i.e., not paid less than Australian workers in the same occupation).

Core Skills Stream:

- nominated in an occupation listed on the Core Skills Occupation List (CSOL); and
- meet any occupational Caveats as specified in the CSOL; and
- earn at least the Core Skills Income Threshold of at least A$76,515 and which is at least the annual market salary rates (i.e., not paid less than Australian workers in the same occupation).

Labour Agreement Stream:

This stream is utilised where an employer has executed a work agreement with the Commonwealth to source skilled overseas workers because there is a demonstrated need that cannot be met in the Australian labour market.

Sponsoring a foreign worker in Australia involves 3 Steps:

Step 1: Sponsorship Application

The business needs to be approved as a Standard Business Sponsor by lodging a Sponsorship application.

Step 2: Nomination Application

Employers nominate the position they wish to be filled by the skilled foreign worker (Nominee) by lodging a Nomination application which identifies the occupation to be filled. Before submitting a Nomination application, the business must conduct labour market testing (unless exempt) and meet salary and employment requirements. There are other nomination requirements.

From 12 August 2018, to enable employers to sponsor skilled foreign workers the Skilling Australians Fund (SAF) training levy is payable at the time of lodgement. Either A$1,200 (business turnover less than A$10M) or A$1,800 (business turnover is A$10M or more) for each 482 Nominee and payable by the employer for each sponsored year.

Sponsors must now also demonstrate that they have the financial capacity to employ the proposed visa holder and pay them their annual market salary for the proposed visa period (new financial capacity requirement).

Step 3: Visa Application

The applicant must be nominated, have appropriate skills and qualifications (meet ANZSCO Skill Level), demonstrate at least 1 year of full-time work experience in the last 5 years in the nominated occupation or related occupation, meet English language requirements, and may need a skills assessment (depends on occupation). There are other visa requirements (including health and character).

The visa application charge for both the Core Skills Stream and Specialist Skills Stream is A$3,210 (main applicant), A$3,210 (additional applicant aged 18 and over) and A$805 (additional applicant aged under 18).

482 TSS Visa

The Temporary Skill Shortage (Subclass 482) visa (TSS visa) enables employers to address labour shortages by sponsoring skilled foreign workers where they cannot source an appropriately skilled Australian (replaced the Subclass 457 visa on 18 March 2018 and closed on 6 December 2024).

The TSS visa had three Streams:

Short-Term Stream: 1-2 year visa or up to 4-year visa (if International Trade Obligation applies) (STSOL applies)
Medium-Term Stream: 1-4 year visa (MLTSSL and ROL apply)
Labour Agreement Stream: available if the employer has entered into a Labour Agreement with the Department of Home Affairs

Applications for the TSS visa closed on 6 December 2024. The Department of Home Affairs will still process all outstanding lodged applications in line with previous criteria. A TSS visa holder will still have a pathway to permanent residence, subject to meeting all relevant eligibility criteria.

Sponsoring a foreign worker in Australia involves 3 Steps:

Step 1: Sponsorship Application

The business needs to be approved as a Standard Business Sponsor by lodging a Sponsorship application.

Step 2: Nomination Application

From 12 August 2018, to enable employers to sponsor skilled foreign workers the SAF training levy is payable at the time of lodgement. Either A$1,200 (business turnover less than A$10M) or A$1,800 (business turnover is A$10M or more) for each 482 Nominee and payable by the employer for each sponsored year.

Step 3: Visa Application

The applicant must be nominated, have appropriate skills and qualifications, demonstrate at least 2 years of full-time work experience in the last 5 years in the nominated occupation or related occupation, meet English language requirements, and may need a skills assessment (depends on occupation). There are other visa requirements (including health and character).

Changes to Conditions 8107, 8607 and 8608

From 1 July 2024, Conditions 8107, 8607 and 8608 changed in response to the Australian Government’s Migration Strategy to help tackle worker exploitation and drive productivity.

To support the labour market mobility of temporary migrants with the following visas:

Temporary Work (Subclass 457) visa
Temporary Skill Shortage (Subclass 482) visa
Skilled Employer Sponsored Regional (Subclass 494) visa

These visa holders who stop working with their sponsoring employer will have more time to find a new sponsor, apply for a different visa or arrange to depart Australia.

These primary visa holders will have up to:

180 days at a time, or
a maximum of 365 days in total across the entire visa grant period.

During this time, visa holders can work for other employers. This includes work in occupations not listed in their most recently approved sponsorship nomination. This will ensure that visa holders can support themselves while they look for a new sponsor.

This amendment is part of the migrant mobility provisions and allows a sponsored primary visa holder to work for any employer in any role for up to 180 days at a time or a maximum of 365 days in total across the entire visa grant period.

Unless exempt, a visa holder cannot work for another employer unless they have ceased work with their sponsoring employer. Visa holders must remain in their nominated occupation while working for their existing sponsor.

Sponsors must still inform the Department within 28 days when there is any change in situation. This includes ceasing sponsorship or if a visa holder resigns.

Visa holders must not do any work that is inconsistent with any licence or registration needed for their nominated occupation. This includes any conditions or requirements they are subject to.

The changes apply to existing visa holders, as well as those granted a visa on or after 1 July 2024. Any periods a visa holder stopped working for their sponsor before 1 July 2024 will not count towards the new time periods outlined above.

494 SESR Visa

The Skilled Employer Sponsored Regional (Subclass 494) visa (SESR visa) enables regional employers to address identified labour shortages within their region by sponsoring skilled workers. This is a provisional visa that provides a migration pathway to permanent residence via the Permanent Residence (Skilled Regional) (Subclass 191) visa.

This visa is designed to respond to labour market shortages in regional Australia. It enables employers to recruit skilled foreign workers who are willing to live and work in regional Australia on an ongoing basis.

The SESR visa, has two Streams:

Employer Sponsored (ES) stream – this stream is for employers in regional Australia to recruit skilled overseas workers to work in specified skilled occupations for five years. Visa holders become eligible to apply for permanent residence after three years.
Labour Agreement (LA) stream – this stream is for employers in regional Australia who have a labour agreement with the Commonwealth to source skilled overseas workers to work, in an occupation specified in the labour agreement, for five years.

Sponsoring a foreign worker in Australia involves 3 Steps:

Step 1: Sponsorship Application

The regional business needs to be approved as a Standard Business Sponsor by lodging a Sponsorship application.

Step 2: Nomination Application

Employers nominate the position they wish to be filled by the skilled foreign worker (Nominee) by lodging a Nomination application which identifies the occupation to be filled. Before submitting a Nomination application, the business must conduct labour market testing and meet salary and employment requirements. There are other nomination requirements.

From 12 August 2018, to enable employers to sponsor skilled foreign workers the SAF training levy is payable at the time of lodgement. Either A$3,000 (business turnover less than A$10M) or A$5,000 (business turnover is A$10M or more) for each 494 Nominee and payable by the employer (one-off payment).

Step 3: Visa Application

The applicant must be nominated, have appropriate skills and qualifications, demonstrate at least 3 years of work experience in the nominated occupation, meet English language requirements, and will need a suitable skills assessment (mandatory) unless exempt. There are other visa requirements (including health and character).