Sponsoring a foreign worker in Australia – 457 Standard Business Sponsorship

Sponsoring a foreign worker in Australia – 457 Standard Business Sponsorship

Australia has been welcoming foreign workers for a very long time (prior to its federation) to help the Australian nation economy prosper and grow. If a business is considering or would like to sponsor a skilled worker from overseas the Department of Immigration & Border Protection are able to receive an application to allow businesses to apply to become Standard Business Sponsors. It is essentially an approval from the Australian government to be able to sponsor foreign workers for a business.

So what are the main criteria to be eligible to sponsor and nominate an overseas worker?

Be a lawfully operating business

A business must be able to provide the Department with documentary evidence to demonstrate that the business is a lawfully operating business. Documentation that helps evidence this is ASIC registration documents, bank statements, business activity statements and tax returns.

Must not have any relevant adverse information against the business

To be granted a Standard Business Sponsorship the business must not have any adverse information against the business that is relevant to sponsoring and employing foreign workers. For example; if the business has breached sponsorship obligations in the past it may not meet this requirement.

The business must meet training requirements if it is based in Australia

The business must be able to provide evidence that it has a commitment to training Australian citizens and/or permanent residents. This criteria was introduced by the Australian governement to ensure that businesses were not employing foreign workers as an alternative to training Australian workers.

Examples of meeting the training requirements are; evidence of contracts with external training provider’s covering the last 12 months, receipts for contributions that have been made to an Industry Training Fund in the last 12 months.

Australian businesses that have been trading for less than 12 months can show an auditable plan, with their intentions on meeting the training requirements in the next 12 months.

Overseas businesses that are not not currently operating in Australia

If your business is offshore, and you have intention to expand into Australia, you must show evidence of this. Evidence can include a company or business expansion plan, any agreements you may have with an Australian business to provide products and/or services or a contract for work that will be undertaken in Australia.

Next steps?

If your business is considering sponsoring a foreign employee Ethos Migration can make the whole process seamless for you. As specialists in employer sponsored migration we will be able to handle the whole process ensuring all strict criteria are met.

Contact us on 1300 083 843 or at info@ethosmigration.com.au for your initial consultation.