For employers · Sponsoring a worker on a 482
Sponsoring your employee is a smaller job than it sounds
Someone who works for you, or wants to, has sent you this page. It sets out what sponsoring them involves from your side: the three steps, what the business pays and what it does not, how long each step takes right now, and what you commit to. At the end there is a form that returns a fixed written quote. Nothing here is a sales pitch; it is the same answer you would get in a paid consultation.
By Keshab Chapagain, registered migration agent (MARN 1576536) since 2015 · WIDEN, Sydney · Reviewed 15 October 2026
Keshab Chapagain · MARN 1576536 · Registered since 2015 - Sponsorship charge
- A$420
- Nomination charge
- A$330
- SAF levy, small business
- A$1,200 a year
- Nomination decided
- 64 days for half
The migration agent that other migration agents learn from. WIDEN is an OMARA-approved CPD provider — our training is rated ★4.8 by 40+ registered migration agents.
About the CPD →This page is about sponsoring your employee. If you are the worker and have not sent it yet, the box at the bottom does that in one click.
What you are being asked to do
A 482 Skills in Demand visa has three parts, and the employer's name is on two of them.
- Sponsorship approval for the business. Once, and it lasts five years. It shows the business is real, trading lawfully and has no adverse record. You can nominate any number of workers under it.
- A nomination for the role. This is the one that gets scrutiny: that the position is genuine and full-time, that it matches an occupation on the list, that the salary meets the floor and the market rate, and that you advertised it.
- The visa for your employee. Their application, their charge, their health and character checks. It is lodged once the nomination is in.
WIDEN prepares all three. You provide documents, review and sign. The Department deals with the agent.
What it costs, and who pays
| Item | Amount | Paid by |
|---|---|---|
| Sponsorship application | A$420, once per business | Business |
| Nomination charge | A$330 per nomination | Business |
| Skilling Australians Fund levy | A$1,200 a year of visa if turnover is under A$10m; A$1,800 a year otherwise. A four-year visa for a small business: A$4,800. | Business |
| Visa application charge | A$4,015 main applicant, plus family members | Worker, unless you choose to pay |
| WIDEN professional fees | Sponsorship approval $1,000–1,500 + GST; nomination $2,500 + GST; visa stage $2,200–3,000 + GST (main applicant; family +$500 each) | Business for the two employer steps; visa stage by agreement |
The law draws the line for you: the sponsorship charge, the nomination charge, the levy and the agent's fees for those two steps must be paid by the business and cannot be recovered from the worker. The visa charge and the visa-stage fee can be the worker's. Figures as at 15 October 2026. The levy is refunded if the sponsorship is refused, if the visa is refused on health or character grounds, or if the worker never starts; it is not refunded for a nomination refused on its merits, which is the reason the nomination is checked before it is lodged.
How long it takes right now
Home Affairs publishes how long it is taking, refreshed monthly. These are the figures stamped 29 September 2026:
- Sponsorship approval: half decided within 11 days, nine in ten within 57 days.
- Nomination: half within 64 days, nine in ten within 9 months. Healthcare, construction, teaching, agriculture, aquaculture, fishing, resources and defence roles go to the front of the queue under the September 2026 processing directions.
- Visa, Core Skills stream: half within 4 months, nine in ten within 9 months.
- Visa, Specialist Skills stream (salary A$146,576 or more): half within 37 days, nine in ten within 78 days.
If your employee is already in Australia on a visa that allows work, lodging the visa application gives them a bridging visa, so they keep working while it is decided. The order matters: the sponsorship and nomination are prepared together, and WIDEN plans the lodgement around the date their current visa ends.
What you commit to
- Pay at least the salary in the nomination, and no less than an Australian would get for the same job. The floor is A$79,423 a year from 1 July 2026.
- Employ them in the nominated occupation, not a different job.
- Keep the records you keep for any employee, and provide them if the Department asks.
- Tell the Department within 28 days if they leave, the business changes hands, or the role ends.
- Do not recover the sponsorship, nomination or levy costs from them.
- Cooperate with monitoring, which in practice is a letter and a records request, if it happens at all.
What you do not commit to
- Keeping them for the length of the visa. If the job ends, you notify and your obligations for that person end; they have 180 days to find another sponsor.
- Paying the visa charge, their health checks, police certificates or the visa-stage fee, unless you agree to.
- A penalty if the nomination is refused. You lose the nomination charge and, usually, the levy; nothing else follows from it.
- Permanent residence. The 482 can lead to a 186 after two years with you, but that is a separate decision, later, with its own nomination.
Does the salary clear the floor?
The next step
Four details below and you get a fixed written quote and an indicative timeline within a business day. If you would rather talk it through, the extended consultation is 60 minutes, $550 inc. GST, credited against the fee if you go ahead, and your employee can join the call.
For employers
Get a written sponsorship quote
Four details and you get a fixed fee quote and an indicative timeline in writing within a business day, from Keshab Chapagain (MARN 1576536) personally. No call unless you want one.
Has an employer said "we'd sponsor you"?
Send them the page written for them
Cost, time, obligations and what they sign, from the employer's side, with a quote form at the end. Most sponsorships stall because the boss does not know how small the job is.
General information only, not migration advice, and not an offer of engagement. Charges and processing times are the Department's and change; the figures above carry their own dates. A quote is confirmed in a written service agreement before any work begins. Keshab Chapagain, MARN 1576536 · WIDEN — Migration Experts.
Not sure which visa fits you?
Answer three questions. An automated guide points you to the route that usually applies. General information only.
Questions we get asked first
Do I have to pay the visa charge for the worker?
No. The visa application charge (A$4,015 for a 482 main applicant) is the worker's cost, and an employer may choose to pay it but does not have to. What the business must pay, and cannot recover from the worker, is the sponsorship application, the nomination charge, the Skilling Australians Fund levy and the agent's fees for those two steps.
Am I locked in if it does not work out?
No. A 482 holder who leaves has 180 days to find another sponsor or depart; you notify the Department within 28 days and your obligations for that person end. Sponsorship approval itself lasts five years and you can nominate other workers under it or simply let it lapse.
What if the nomination is refused?
You lose the nomination charge and, in most cases, the levy: it is refunded if the sponsorship is refused, if the visa is refused on health or character, or if the worker never starts, but not for a nomination refused on its merits. There is no penalty for a refusal. The usual reasons are salary below the market rate, a position that does not match the occupation, or labour market testing done wrongly, all of which are checked before anything is lodged.
How much of my time does it take?
Typically two short conversations and a handful of documents: ABN and business registration, recent financials or BAS, the position description, the employment contract or offer, and evidence of the advertising. WIDEN prepares every form and submission; you review and sign.
Can WIDEN just give me a price?
Yes. The form at the end returns a written fixed quote within a business day. Typical professional fees for the employer steps are on the fees page: Sponsorship approval $1,000–1,500 + GST; nomination $2,500 + GST.
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