Can my employer Sponsor my Visa? – Show this to your Sponsor

We are often asked what the requirements are for an employer to sponsor a visa. Is there a specific size the business needs to be? How many employees does a company need to have? Does the business need to be profitable and how long does it need to operate before it can sponsor?

In this video, we will give a brief overview of the requirements. (Please note, that this information is general in nature. There are certain caveats for certain occupations, so be sure to discuss your situation with a migration agent).

We have assisted companies as small as 2 people or as large as 1000 sponsor applicants.  Meaning companies can be either recent start-ups or long-standing companies that have been around for decades. To be honest there is no one size fits all.

Requirements:

The company must be lawfully operating in Australia

– To demonstrate this, common documents the company would provide include: evidence of ABN, CAN, tax assessments, BAS Statements, Lease Agreements, photos of the premises, etc. Ideally, the company would want to be operating for 12 months prior to sponsoring. However, it is still possible if the company is recently set up, but Immigration will provide greater scrutiny to this business. For example, a newly created restaurant may be able to sponsor a chef with no operating turnover as the company has spent a lot of money on the fit-out, signed a 3-year lease, and trained and hired other staff.

How many Staff does the company need to have?

– The company will want to demonstrate that it has a strong employment record. However, there is no specific amount of employees that the
company must have. We have successfully processed sponsorship and nomination applications for electrical companies for example with only 1 tradesman, his wife as the admin, and the newly sponsored applicant. As a General Rule of Thumb, immigration will place greater scrutiny on a company with more foreign employees compared to Australians. So a restaurant with 20 staff (15 of which are foreign), may be required to provide greater documentation to immigration to demonstrate that it has attempted to employ Australians but cannot find a suitable fit.

Does the company need to have a specific turnover or be profitable?

– There are no specific amounts that the company has to turnover or necessarily be profitable for it to sponsor an applicant. (Please note, certain occupations like accounts do have exceptions to this). However, the company will need to demonstrate that it has the capacity to employ. For For example, if a business has a lot of cash in the bank, a solid business plan, and is showing strong signs of growth, with new clients coming on board, but not yet profitable, then the company may be able to sponsor.

However, if it is a new business with only 1 employee who works out of his garage, no cash in the bank, or signed client contracts, trying to demonstrate that it can cover a $100,000 salary for a new employee will cause immigration to be skeptical.

What documents will immigration request?

Financial Documents

– Profit and Loss
– Balance Sheet
– BAS Statements
– Tax Return
– Accountant Statement

Non-Financial

– ASIC/ABN
– Trust Deed
– Lease Agreement
– Workforce Split between Aus and Foreign employees

I hope you find this information helpful, if you have any questions, feel free to touch base with Pathway to Aus