How to Become an Approved Sponsor in Australia — 2026 Guide

Australia's skilled migration program allows businesses to sponsor overseas workers to address skill shortages. If your business cannot find qualified local employees, becoming an approved sponsor gives you legal access to recruit from overseas.

This guide covers the eligibility requirements, application process, sponsorship types, obligations, and common reasons for refusal.

What is an approved sponsor?

An approved sponsor is an Australian business or organisation that has received formal approval from the Department of Home Affairs to sponsor skilled workers under specific visa programs. Approval allows the business to nominate overseas workers for relevant visa subclasses.

Sponsorship types and associated visas

Standard Business Sponsorship (SBS) — for sponsoring workers under:

• Subclass 482 Skills in Demand (formerly TSS) Visa
• Subclass 186 Employer Nomination Scheme (ENS) Visa

Temporary Activities Sponsorship — for sponsoring workers under:

• Subclass 407 Training Visa
• Subclass 408 Temporary Activity Visa

Labour Agreement Sponsorship — for employers entering formal labour agreements with the Australian Government when standard sponsorship doesn't meet specific needs (including DAMA agreements for regional areas).

Eligibility criteria

To qualify as an approved sponsor, a business must:

• Be lawfully operating in Australia with appropriate business registration
• Have a strong record of compliance with immigration and workplace laws
• Demonstrate a genuine need to employ skilled workers from overseas
• Provide evidence of financial capacity and business viability
• Meet specific obligations for the visa subclass involved

The application process

Step 1: Assess business needs

Determine which visa subclass suits your hiring needs. Short-term gaps may suit Subclass 482; occupational training suits Subclass 407; long-term recruitment suits Subclass 186.

Step 2: Set up ImmiAccount

Create an ImmiAccount on the Department of Home Affairs website. This is the platform for lodging sponsorship applications.

Step 3: Prepare documents

• Australian Business Number (ABN) or Australian Company Number (ACN)
• Business Activity Statement (BAS) for the past 12 months
• Organisational chart or staffing plan
• Financial records (profit and loss, bank statements)
• Evidence of genuine business activity

Step 4: Lodge the application

Apply through ImmiAccount under the relevant sponsorship category. The current government fee for Standard Business Sponsorship is approximately AUD $420 (subject to change — verify at immi.homeaffairs.gov.au).

Step 5: Await approval

Processing typically takes 1–3 months depending on the quality of the application and whether further information is requested.

Standard Business Sponsorship — what the Department asks a business to show

Standard Business Sponsorship (SBS) is the first of three separate approvals — sponsorship, then nomination, then the visa itself. It attaches to your business, not to any particular worker, and it is what most employers mean when they ask how to "become a sponsor". In broad terms the Department is satisfying itself of four things.

• The business is lawfully operating. A real trading entity, properly registered, actually doing what it says it does — in Australia, or overseas where the sponsorship relates to an Australian operation.
• The business is viable. Trading history and financial position matter, because sponsorship is a multi-year commitment and the Department is assessing whether you can meet it. Newer businesses are not excluded, but they carry a heavier evidentiary load.
• There is no adverse information. Past non-compliance — workplace law, immigration, or otherwise — is considered, and can extend to people associated with the business.
• The obligations are understood. Sponsorship carries continuing duties on pay, record-keeping and notification, set out below, which apply for as long as you sponsor anyone.

The specific criteria and thresholds sit in the Migration Regulations and are updated from time to time — confirm current requirements at immi.homeaffairs.gov.au before you build an application around them.

The document checklist — what to assemble first

Most delay in a sponsorship application comes from documents that have to be requested, corrected or re-issued after lodgement. Assembling these before you start is the single biggest thing within your control. Exact requirements vary with your business's size, age and structure, so treat this as the categories to prepare rather than a definitive list.

• Proof the entity exists and trades. ABN and ACN records, ASIC extracts, business registration, and evidence the business is actively operating rather than dormant.
• Financial evidence. Financial statements, tax records and bank material covering a meaningful trading period. A newer business substitutes projections, contracts and capital evidence — and should expect closer scrutiny.
• Structure and staffing. An organisational chart showing where the sponsored role sits, and who it reports to.
• Evidence of the position. A position description for the role you intend to nominate, consistent with what the business actually does.
• Identity and authority. Details of the people making the application and their authority to bind the business.
• Anything adverse, addressed. If there is prior non-compliance in the business's history, it is better dealt with openly in the application than discovered.

If you already have a worker in mind, the nomination that follows has its own separate document set — including the position description, salary evidence and, in most cases, labour market testing. Sponsorship approval alone does not permit anyone to work for you.

Sponsorship obligations

Once approved, the business is legally bound to:

• Cooperate with the Department when required
• Provide equivalent terms and conditions to those offered to Australian workers
• Keep records and provide information as required
• Notify the Department of material changes (e.g., when a worker ends employment)
• Not recover sponsorship or nomination costs from the visa applicant (Migration Regulation 2.87)

Common reasons for refusal

• Incomplete documentation or inaccurate information
• Non-compliance with previous sponsorship obligations
• Insufficient evidence of genuine business activity
• Lack of financial capacity to support workers

After approval: nomination and visa application

Once sponsorship is approved, the business can nominate specific overseas workers. Each nomination and visa application is a separate step with additional documentation and fees. For Subclass 407 nominations, a Training Plan is required.

For registered migration agents advising sponsors: WIDEN also delivers OMARA-approved CPD for registered migration agents on sponsorship and nomination practice — live Category A workshops and self-paced modules.

Related

• Sponsor a worker — full service (SBS, nomination, visa application)
• Sponsorship cost calculator
• How to find the right worker to sponsor
• 482 Skills in Demand — what you can do once sponsorship is approved
• Business migration in Australia 2026 — how sponsorship fits within business owner pathways such as 482 self-sponsorship
• For Migration Agents — sponsorship and nomination-only services for B2B referrals
• 186 Visa Guide — the PR step after 482 sponsorship

If you'd like to discuss your sponsorship situation, please contact us or call 02 8188 1887. MARN 1576536.