Three steps. And the one most employers get wrong.
Most employers arrive with one question — what does it cost — and leave with three more they didn’t know to ask: who can be sponsored, what gets a nomination refused, and what you’re legally prohibited from passing to the worker. Here’s the whole shape of it.
Become an approved sponsor (SBS)
Before you can nominate anyone, your business has to be approved as a Standard Business Sponsor. Valid five years. Most refusals here are evidence failures, not eligibility failures — we build the file so it’s approved the first time.
Nominate the role (482 or 186)
Each position is nominated against a salary threshold and, where it applies, Labour Market Testing. This is where applications get refused — on the evidence, not the merits. We prepare that file.
Lodge the visa
The worker’s application. We manage it end to end so chasing the Department isn’t your job.
What you cannot pass to the worker.
The SAF levy cannot be recovered from the worker. Not as a salary deduction, not as a reimbursement, not by any private arrangement. Doing it is a compliance breach — and it’s the single most common mistake we see employers walk into, usually on advice from someone who should have known better.
For permanent (186) sponsorship you can use a clawback clause to recover certain costs if the worker leaves early — but only if it complies with Fair Work and the Migration Regulations. For temporary (482), you cannot. If a previous adviser told you otherwise, get a second opinion before you sign anything.
Sponsorship is the cheap part. Recruitment is what’s expensive.
Here’s what employers miss when they hesitate over sponsorship costs. A recruiter’s fee to find a skilled hire in Australia runs 15–25% of first-year salary — $18,000 to $30,000 on a $120,000 role — and that’s before the months of searching, the risk of a bad fit, and the chance they leave inside a year. Sponsoring someone you’ve already found, who’s already proven, and who wants to stay costs a fraction of that.
The visa isn’t the expensive part of hiring. The search is. Sponsorship is how you keep the search you’ve already paid for from being wasted — and we don’t hide the numbers.
| Component | 482 (temporary) | 186 (permanent) | Who pays |
|---|---|---|---|
| SBS application | $420 — valid 5 yrs | N/A | Employer |
| Nomination fee | $330 | $540 | Employer |
| SAF levy | $1,200–$1,800/yr | $3,000–$5,000 one-off | Employer only — not recoverable |
| Visa application charge | From $3,210 | From $4,910 | Worker, or employer covers |
| Our professional fee | Quoted upfront | Quoted upfront | Per matter |
Government charges current as at [INSERT DATE]. The SAF levy applies to both streams — charged per year on the 482 and as a one-off on the 186, based on business turnover. Many employer clients choose to cover the visa application charge as part of the offer. Your total depends on turnover, visa length, and dependants.
Built for the employer, not the jobseeker.
This service is for Australian businesses sponsoring a worker — whether it’s your first sponsorship or your fifth. If you’ve found someone and need to keep them here legally, this is the page.
It is not for individuals looking for an employer to sponsor them. If that’s you, we can’t match you to a job — but our individual visa services cover the visas you may be eligible for.
Know what it costs before you commit.
Tell us the role and your turnover band. We’ll give you a fixed-fee estimate for your exact situation — government charges, professional fees, and SAF levy — before any work begins.
Fixed fees · MARN 1466195 · Sydney CBD · Response within 24 hours