Can a small company sponsor overseas workers? Here is the answer!

Yes, a small company in Australia can sponsor overseas workers!

The most commonly used visa is the 457 visa which requires a three stage application process the standard business sponsorship for the company, the nomination for the position being offered and the visa for the employee.

A few of the key requirements are:

• The company must have Australian staff that does not include the directors or family
• The sponsor must meet training benchmarks for their current Australian staff for the 12 months before applying
• The nominated position must be in an occupation on the consolidate skilled occupation list (CSOL)
• The salary offered must meet the Temporary Skilled Migration Income Threshold (TSMIT) at present the TSMIT is set at $51,400 and is indexed annually and also meet market rates for the nominated occupation
• The employee must show they have the required qualification and/or work experience to perform the job and hold any require licenses or registration
• For businesses operating less than 12 months then further requirements such as auditable training plans are required in lieu of meeting the training benchmarks

Smaller companies however can struggle to meet the training benchmark of having spent 1% of their payroll on training Australian staff or paying 2% of payroll into an industry training fund. If you do not currently meet the benchmarks then we would advise you speak to us to look at ways of meeting the one of the benchmarks

This is only a brief overview of the requirements for the 457 visa. Please contact a member of the migration team for a further in-depth visa assessment.