Sponsorship in Australia
In specific visa circumstances a sponsorship may be required by the applicant to apply for the relevant visa streams and subclasses.
The sponsor and the applicant of the visa must ensure they are both aware of the particular sponsorship requirements and obligations pertaining to the visa subclass they are applying for. This is due to considerable payments and responsibilities which may be required.
There are four categories of visa related sponsorship;
State and Territory Sponsorship
In certain instances the State or Territory in which you intend to reside when migrating to Australia, may provide sponsorship for your visa application. This sponsorship is applicable to some skilled visas, business skilled visas and employer sponsored visas.
The State or Territory Sponsorship is more like an ‘endorsement’ rather than a sponsorship and attracts certain obligations from the visa applicant which is dependent on the applicable visa stream.
The applicant must meet the minimum criteria for the state, lodge an Expression of Interest through skill select and then lodge a request for state nomination or state sponsorship.
Regional Certifying Body
The Regional Certifying Body is tasked with providing certification for the Annual Market Salary Rate and Labour Market Testing Requirements on the Skilled Regional Sponsored (Provisional) Visa. This certification requires the sponsoring employer to meet strict salary and advertising criteria in the application process and these are confirmed and certified by the Regional Certifying Body for that State or Region.
Family Sponsorship
This is required for visa that fall within the Family Stream visa categories. There are strict requirements of relationship between sponsor and applicant, and the sponsor must declare their responsibility for the applicant and their family (if applicable).
Visa conditions vary depending on the subclass, and some of these sponsorships require a large bond to be deposited for determined periods of time.
Sponsors are eligible if they;
- Are a permanent resident or Australian Citizen;
- Are over the age of 18 years;
- Have settled in Australia for longer than 2 years or for a reasonable period of time.
Business Sponsorship
The Standard Business Sponsorship (SBS) arrangement is the most common way to sponsor a skilled worker using the subclass 482 and subclass 494 visa programs. An application must be lodged to become a standard business sponsor. The business owner has a number of obligations to meet with regard to the welfare and employment of the applicant and their respective family members. A business can sponsor someone if they are able to prove that over a period of time they have been unable to find an Australian citizen or permanent resident to do the skilled work.