Sponsoring overseas staff to work for your Australian subsidiary

A foreign-owned Australian company can sponsor overseas staff, including people transferred from its parent, under the Skills in Demand visa (subclass 482). The company first becomes a standard business sponsor, then nominates the position, and the worker applies for the visa. For nominations lodged from 1 July 2026 to 30 June 2027, the Core Skills stream income threshold is AUD79,423 and the Specialist Skills stream threshold is AUD146,576, and the role must also be paid at least the market rate. The sponsor pays the Skilling Australians Fund levy and takes on legal obligations that continue after the visa ends.

Migration law is detailed and changes often. This page is general information for a foreign-owned company planning a transfer or hire. Use a registered migration agent or immigration lawyer for the application itself.

The Skills in Demand visa in brief

The Skills in Demand (SID) visa lets an employer sponsor a skilled worker for a position it can't fill with a suitably skilled Australian. It allows a stay of up to 4 years (Hong Kong passport holders may stay up to 5) and can lead to permanent residence if the holder is eligible. The two main streams for company hires are:

There is also a Labour Agreement stream, which is for employers that have negotiated a labour agreement with the government.

Thresholds come from Home Affairs' salary requirements page. They are set in the Migration Regulations 1994 and indexed each 1 July to average weekly ordinary time earnings. The explanatory statement to the 2026 amendments confirms the 2026-27 figures. Nominations lodged before 1 July 2026 were assessed against AUD76,515 (Core) and AUD141,210 (Specialist).

Some commercial websites published different 2026-27 figures in advance. Use the Home Affairs page.

The holder can generally only work for the sponsor or an associated entity, unless exempt. Visa application charges change each year and are shown on the stream pages; check them there rather than relying on older figures.

Step 1: Standard business sponsorship

Before nominating anyone, the employer must be approved as a standard business sponsor. Home Affairs requires that the business:

• is legally established and currently operating. The business can be in or outside Australia
• has no adverse information affecting its suitability, or it is reasonable to disregard it
• if it is in Australia, has a strong record of, or demonstrated commitment to, employing local labour, and declares it will not engage in discriminatory recruitment practices.

Evidence depends on the business:

• an Australian company provides its ABN and ASIC company extract
• an overseas company registered to operate in Australia provides its ARBN registration (see local agents for foreign companies)
• an overseas business not operating in Australia provides evidence of registration in its home country, plus evidence of its intention or contractual obligation to set up here, such as an expansion plan or a contract with an Australian party.

A new Australian subsidiary with little trading history can show it is operating with a business plan, contracts, business bank statements, a lease or evidence of staff. Sponsorship approval lasts 5 years. Home Affairs lists the sponsorship application charge on its cost of sponsoring page (AUD420 at the time of writing).

Which entity should sponsor? Usually the entity that will employ the worker. If the parent sponsors as an overseas business and the Australian subsidiary later becomes the employer, the subsidiary will need its own sponsorship and new nominations, because Home Affairs treats a change creating a new legal entity as requiring new approvals.

Step 2: Nomination

The sponsor nominates the specific position and person. Before lodging, it must:

• check the worker meets the stream requirements
• carry out labour market testing, unless exempt
• work out the annual market salary rate.

Labour market testing and intra-company transfers

Labour market testing generally means two valid advertisements in Australia, each run for at least 4 weeks, within the 4 months before the nomination is lodged. Since 11 December 2023, Workforce Australia advertising is no longer required.

International trade obligations remove the requirement in several cases that matter to foreign groups. Home Affairs lists, among others:

• the nominee is a current employee of an associated entity of your business located in an ASEAN country, Canada, Chile, China, Japan, Mexico, South Korea, the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Peru or certain Pacific countries
• the nominee is a current employee of an associated entity operating in a WTO member country, the occupation is an Executive or Senior Manager occupation, and the nominee will be responsible for all or a substantial part of the company's Australian operations
• your business operates in a WTO member country and is seeking to set up a business in Australia, and the role is an Executive or Senior Manager occupation
• the nominee is a citizen or national of certain countries applying in an exempt category.

These exemptions do not apply to labour agreement nominations. Read the full list before relying on one.

Skilling Australians Fund levy

Each nomination attracts the Skilling Australians Fund (SAF) levy. Home Affairs sets it by business size and, for SID visas, by the period of stay:

So a business with turnover of $10 million or more nominating a SID worker for 4 years pays AUD7,200. The levy is tax deductible, and employers must not pass it on to the visa holder. Refunds are limited to specific situations, such as the worker never arriving. The nomination charge is shown on the same Home Affairs page (AUD330 for a SID nomination at the time of writing).

Step 3: The visa application

Once the nomination is lodged, the worker applies for the visa, with health, character and English evidence as required. Processing times and priorities change; check Home Affairs.

Sponsor obligations

Sponsorship obligations are set out in Division 2.19 of the Migration Regulations 1994. For a standard business sponsor they include obligations to:

• cooperate with inspectors (reg 2.78)
• ensure equivalent terms and conditions of employment to an Australian worker (reg 2.79)
• pay reasonable travel costs to enable sponsored persons to leave Australia (reg 2.80)
• keep records (reg 2.82) and provide records and information on request (reg 2.83)
• notify Home Affairs when certain events occur (reg 2.84)
• ensure the sponsored person works in the nominated occupation (reg 2.86)
• not recover, transfer or pass on certain costs to another person (reg 2.87)
• not engage in discriminatory recruitment practices (reg 2.87C).

Home Affairs warns on its sponsor responsibilities page that breaches can lead to cancellation of sponsorship, bans, infringement notices, civil penalties, compliance notices and enforceable undertakings. Separately, business.gov.au reminds employers that migrant workers have the same workplace rights and pay rates as other workers, and that the employer must check work rights through VEVO.

Board-level point: sponsor obligations sit with the company, and directors oversee compliance. Put them in the compliance calendar, and keep the nomination, pay records and notifications on file.

The resident director angle

Foreign groups often ask whether a transferred manager on a 482 visa can be the company's Australian-resident director. The Corporations Act requires at least one director of a proprietary company to ordinarily reside in Australia. It does not require citizenship or permanent residence, so a sponsored visa holder who genuinely lives here may qualify. Read who can be a resident director for how the test works.

Two cautions:

1. Tax residency is a different test. The ATO's residency tests note that a person can hold a visa to enter Australia without being an Australian resident for tax purposes, and can be a tax resident without being an Australian citizen or permanent resident. Don't assume the director test and the tax test give the same answer.
2. The visa can end. A temporary visa is tied to employment with the sponsor. If the person resigns, is dismissed, is transferred home or the visa is refused on renewal, they may leave Australia and the company may be left without a resident director.

If the sponsored employment ends

When employment ends, Home Affairs' change in situation guidance says:

• the sponsor must notify Home Affairs within 28 days
• the employee has up to 180 days from finishing work to find another approved sponsor, be granted a different visa or leave Australia
• until then the sponsor must keep meeting its obligations to the visa holder and their dependants, including reasonable and necessary travel costs.

If that person is also your only resident director, appoint a replacement before they leave. A proprietary company that has no resident director is in breach of s201A. See appointing or removing a director.

Practical checklist for a transfer

1. Decide which entity will employ and sponsor, with migration and tax advice.
2. Incorporate the Australian company if needed; see setting up a subsidiary.
3. Apply for standard business sponsorship.
4. Confirm the occupation, stream, market salary and whether an LMT exemption applies.
5. Lodge the nomination and pay the SAF levy.
6. Support the visa application.
7. Set up payroll: PAYG withholding, super and workers compensation; see hiring employees in Australia.
8. Diary sponsor obligations and the visa expiry date.
9. If the transferee is to be a director, plan a back-up resident director.

Where we fit

A transferred executive can make a good director, but their visa ties the company's compliance to their employment. An independent resident director from AG Resident Directorship keeps the s201A requirement met whatever happens to the visa. See pricing or start here.

General information about Australian law and practice, not legal or tax advice for your circumstances. Check the official sources, or ask your adviser, before you act.