Head to head · Checked 30 October 2026
Self-sponsorship through your own company vs Sponsorship by an employer
There is no self-sponsorship visa; a person who owns a company has that company sponsor them as any employer would, and the Department reads the nomination for whether the business is real, the position is genuine and the salary can be paid from the business rather than from the applicant’s own savings. It works for an established, trading business with revenue that supports the threshold salary and a role the owner does not simply invent; it fails for a shell set up to hold a visa. An employer’s sponsorship is the ordinary route, with the employer carrying the charges and the obligations and the worker tied to the job; self-sponsorship moves all of that onto the applicant and adds the genuineness question.
By Keshab Chapagain, registered migration agent (MARN 1576536) since 2015 · WIDEN, Sydney · Reviewed 30 October 2026
Keshab Chapagain · MARN 1576536 · Registered since 2015 - Who sponsors
- A company the applicant owns or controls; not a sole trader · An unrelated business approved as a sponsor
- The hard criterion
- Genuine position and a business that can pay the salary from its own revenue · Genuine position, read more lightly where the employer is at arm’s length
- Labour market testing
- Applies · Applies unless exempt
- Salary
- At or above the threshold and the market rate, paid by the company · The same, paid by the employer
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About the CPD →Side by side
| Self-sponsorship through your own company | Sponsorship by an employer | |
|---|---|---|
| Who sponsors | A company the applicant owns or controls; not a sole trader | An unrelated business approved as a sponsor |
| The hard criterion | Genuine position and a business that can pay the salary from its own revenue | Genuine position, read more lightly where the employer is at arm’s length |
| Labour market testing | Applies | Applies unless exempt |
| Salary | At or above the threshold and the market rate, paid by the company | The same, paid by the employer |
| Who pays the charges | The applicant’s company: sponsorship, nomination, levy; and the applicant the visa | The employer the sponsorship, nomination and levy; the worker the visa |
| Path to PR | 186 after 2 years, read for genuineness again | 186 after 2 years |
| Watch out | A new company with no trading history, a salary funded by the applicant, a director as the only employee | Losing the job starts the 180 days; costs cannot be recovered from the worker |
Charges are the current government application charges (from 1 July 2026, main applicant) — see the fee calculator for your family's total. Checked 30 October 2026.
The honest verdict
There is no self-sponsorship visa; a person who owns a company has that company sponsor them as any employer would, and the Department reads the nomination for whether the business is real, the position is genuine and the salary can be paid from the business rather than from the applicant’s own savings. It works for an established, trading business with revenue that supports the threshold salary and a role the owner does not simply invent; it fails for a shell set up to hold a visa. An employer’s sponsorship is the ordinary route, with the employer carrying the charges and the obligations and the worker tied to the job; self-sponsorship moves all of that onto the applicant and adds the genuineness question.
Which side of that line you fall on depends on facts a table cannot hold — your age, score, occupation's lists, and what evidence you can actually assemble. That is consultation territory, not guesswork territory.
More head-to-heads: 482 vs 494 · 190 vs 491 · 189 vs 190 · 482 vs 186
General information only, not migration advice. Settings shown are the general rules; exemptions and stream variations exist. Migration advice is provided by Keshab Chapagain (MARN 1576536) after a paid consultation under the Migration Agents Code of Conduct.
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Questions we get asked first
Self-sponsorship through your own company or Sponsorship by an employer — which is better?
There is no self-sponsorship visa; a person who owns a company has that company sponsor them as any employer would, and the Department reads the nomination for whether the business is real, the position is genuine and the salary can be paid from the business rather than from the applicant’s own savings. It works for an established, trading business with revenue that supports the threshold salary and a role the owner does not simply invent; it fails for a shell set up to hold a visa. An employer’s sponsorship is the ordinary route, with the employer carrying the charges and the obligations and the worker tied to the job; self-sponsorship moves all of that onto the applicant and adds the genuineness question.
What is the main difference between the Self-sponsorship through your own company and the Sponsorship by an employer?
Who sponsors: Self-sponsorship through your own company — A company the applicant owns or controls; not a sole trader; Sponsorship by an employer — An unrelated business approved as a sponsor. The hard criterion: Self-sponsorship through your own company — Genuine position and a business that can pay the salary from its own revenue; Sponsorship by an employer — Genuine position, read more lightly where the employer is at arm’s length. Labour market testing: Self-sponsorship through your own company — Applies; Sponsorship by an employer — Applies unless exempt.
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