A company needs to become a standard business sponsor to sponsor someone to work for them on a Skills in Demand visa (Subclass 482) or Skilled Employer Sponsored Regional (Subclass 494) visa.

Standard Business Sponsorship

The standard business sponsorship is valid for 5 years from the date of approval. To become a standard business sponsor:

• Your business must be legally established and currently operating.
• Have no adverse information regarding your business.
• Your business can be in or outside Australia.
• Additional requirements for businesses in Australia apply such as strong record of, or a demonstrated commitment to, employing local labour and not engage in discriminatory recruitment practices.

Accredited Business Sponsorship

An Accredited Business Sponsorship is an additional status above the Standard Business Sponsorship. To be an Accredited Sponsor, you must be a Standard Business Sponsor.

Benefits of becoming an Accredited Sponsor:

• Receives priority processing for 482 and 494 visa and nomination applications lodged from your company.
• Option to provide a character reference for 482 visa applicants you have nominated which significantly reduces the time to collect documents from visa applicants.

In addition to the criteria to become a Standard Business Sponsor, you need to meet the requirements in one of the following categories to gain the Accredited Status:

• Category 1: Commonwealth, state and territory government agencies
• Category 2: Australian Trusted Traders
• Category 3: Low volume usage and high percentage of Australian workers (at least 85%)
• Category 4: High volume usage and medium percentage of Australian workers (at least 75%)
• Category 5: Major investment in Australia
• Category 6: STEM Start-up business in receipt of venture capital funding