457 Sponsorship

** FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT EXTENSIVE CHANGES TO 457 VISA REQUIREMENT PLEASE CHECK THE LINK BELOW:

Changes to 457 visa announced on 18 April 2017

To employ overseas workers in the 457 visa category a business must be approved as a Standard Business Sponsor with the Department of Immigration and Border Protection.

To be approved as a Standard Business Sponsor the business must demonstrate the following:

  • Lawful operation of a Business.
  • There is no adverse information known about the business or its associates.
  • Meet the training requirement.
  • Indicate a reasonable number of positions that the Sponsorship is sought for.
  • There are additional requirements for a business that has been trading for less than 12 Months.

Department of Immigration and Border Protection has certain requirements that must be met in terms of the provision of evidence to satisfy the Sponsorship criteria.

After approval, a 457 Standard Business Sponsorship is valid for 3 years (12 months for business trading less than 12 months) and enables the employer to sponsor the number of overseas workers indicated in the sponsorship. It is also possible for an approved business Sponsor to apply for a variation to the terms of Sponsorship approval, such as where more positions are needed under the existing Sponsorship.

457 Visa Training Requirement

A business is required to demonstrate that it has spent at least 1% of payroll on the training of Australian employees in the previous 12 months immediately before applying for approval as a Business Sponsor. A business that has been trading for less than 12 months will have to demonstrate through the provision of an Auditable Training Plan that it will meet the training requirement in the next 12 months after approval.

As with most areas of Migration Law there are a number of ways to meet this requirement and of course there are exceptions to the rule. We provide comprehensive advice on meeting the training requirement. The policy guidance on the training requirement is quite complex. There are certain requirements that must be considered such as the types of expenditure that can be included, the form of documentary evidence to prove the expenditure and the percentages allocated to specific types of expenditure.

We regularly lodge applications for varied business structures including Publicly Listed Companies, Private Companies, Partnerships, Trusts, Franchises and Sole Traders across all industry sectors. Where a business is not eligible to be approved as a Standard Business Sponsor upon your first enquiry with us, we will work with your business to ensure that all legal requirements are met.

 

Please contact us for more information