Standard Business Sponsorship (SBS)

Australian businesses or employers that want to nominate a position to sponsor a foreign worker must apply to the government for a standard business sponsorship (SBS). When the business becomes a standard business sponsor, they can sponsor someone to work on the following two visa categories:

According to the Department of Home Affair’s requirement, in order for a nominated position to be approved, the business must have an SBS approved or to have an SBS to be still valid. Otherwise a nomination can’t be approved.

It is also the Department’s requirement that the nominator or the sponsor have their SBS to be valid in order for the nominator or sponsor to nominate the same nominee to apply for the ENS permanent visa subclass 186 from transition stream. Therefore it is of great importance that the nominator or the sponsor remains to have a valid SBS all the time.

Who can apply for a sponsorship?

Basically any Australian business can apply to become a standard business sponsor as long as they are legally established and are currently operating. By legally established, it means the business must be registered with Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) (ASIC) with an ABN or CAN.

In order to prove the business is currently in operation, a business (the applicant) must provide a series of financial documents, including, but not limited to the latest financial statements, business tax return with ATO or BAS statements, organization chart. Sometimes, bank statements, or business property lease agreement are also required.

Eligibility Criteria to be a Standard Sponsor?

The following requirements must be met in order for the applicant (sponsor) to get an SBS:

Applicant must have a business registered with Australian government with a valid ACB or ABN. The business can be operating in or outside Australia;
Applicant should have no adverse information concerning the business. This means that the business has not received any penalty or bars in the past 3 years. More information about adverse information can be found in our Monitoring of Sponsors and Visa Holders page;
Additional requirements for businesses in Australia. These include: the business has a good record of, or a demonstrated commitment to, employing local labour; not engaged in discriminatory recruitment practices;

How Long the Sponsorship Lasts?

Normally a standard business sponsorship, once approved, will be valid of 5 years. During the following 5 years of period, sponsors can nominate positions at any time.

How Many Positions can a Sponsor Nominate?

This is the question that many new sponsors are asking. The Department of Home Affairs does not have specific limit on the number of positions to be nominated. However the sponsor should exercise with reasonable efforts to nominate positions which are comparable to its actual needs, as well as to its financial capacity and affordability. As long as you really need the positions and you can financially afford to pay them, you may nominate the positions.

Sponsors Must Meet the Obligations

Once the sponsor has got their Standard Business Sponsorship approval, they must comply with all the sponsorship obligations stipulated for the standard business. A full list of the obligations can be found in our “Sponsorship Obligations for SBS” page.

In addition, sponsors are expected to notify the Department of Home Affairs if the following circumstances change:

Entity name or trading name;
Registration details;
Business structure;
Contact details;
Business structure, such as owners, directors, principals or partners;
A new partner (if any) joins the partnership;
Any of the events listed for an individual or a company occurs;
Business address;

Sponsor must also inform the Department in writing in case the persons the business is currently sponsoring have:

ceases employment with you;
changed their job duties;
did not commence working with you;

All businesses must inform the Department in writing within 28 calendar days if the following things happen:

The visa holder’s employment ends or is expected to end;
There are changes to the work duties carried out by the sponsored visa holder;
The sponsor has paid the return travel costs of a sponsored visa holder or any of the family members in accordance with the obligations to pay return travel costs;
The sponsor has become insolvent with the meaning of subsections 5(2) and (3) of the Bankruptcy Act 1966 and section 95A the Corporations Act 2001;
The business ceased to exist as a legal entity;

To Become an Accredited Sponsor

A Standard Business Sponsor may apply to become an accredited sponsor. In order to be an accredited sponsor, applicant must be a standard business sponsor first.

Once you become an accredited sponsor, your business may receive priority in the TSS 482 or Skilled Employer Sponsored Regional (Provisional) nominations and visa applications;

The eligibility criteria for an accredited sponsor may comprise 5 different categories, depending on the nature of the business. Applicants may need to meet additional characteristics of any one of the 5 categories before they can be approved. For details requirements, you are most welcome to contact Korrylink for an obligation-free consultation.

How much it costs to be a Standard Sponsor?

The applicant charge for becoming a standard business sponsorship is currently A$420.

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