For employers · Sponsor obligations
What a sponsor must tell Home Affairs within 28 days
Standard business sponsors must notify Home Affairs in writing, within 28 calendar days, when certain things happen to the sponsored worker or to the business. Here is the full list from Home Affairs, how to notify, and the events employers most often miss.
By Keshab Chapagain, registered migration agent (MARN 1576536) since 2015 · WIDEN, Sydney · Reviewed on 12 November 2026 · Check the OMARA register
Keshab Chapagain · MARN 1576536 · Registered since 2015 - Time limit
- 28 calendar days
- How
- ImmiAccount form or email
- Rule
- Reg 2.84
- Lasts until
- 2 years after sponsorship ends
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About the CPD →Events about the sponsored worker
- The sponsored worker's employment ends, or is expected to end (and again if the end date changes)
- The worker's duties change
- The worker did not start working for you
- You paid return travel costs for the worker or a family member under the travel cost obligation
Events about the business
- A change to your legal name, trading name, registration details, business structure, business address or ongoing contact
- A change of owners, directors, principals or partners (companies: a new director; partnerships: a new partner; associations: a new committee member)
- The business becomes insolvent or bankrupt, or goes into receivership, liquidation or administration
- The business ceases to exist as a legal entity
- Companies: an administrator, restructuring practitioner, provisional liquidator, receiver or controller is appointed; a winding-up resolution or order; a court-approved compromise or arrangement; deregistration procedures start
- Sole traders: a personal insolvency agreement, debt agreement, sequestration order, bankruptcy, or a declaration of intention to present a debtor's petition
Source: Home Affairs, Sponsorship obligations for standard business sponsors (page updated 5 November 2026; read 12 November 2026). The obligation is reg 2.84 of the Migration Regulations 1994.
How to notify, and what to keep
- Lodge the Notification of sponsor changes form in ImmiAccount, or email sponsor.notifications@abf.gov.au.
- Give the event, the date it happened, the worker's details (for worker events) and the new details (for business changes).
- Keep a copy with the date, the method and where it was sent. Home Affairs lists this record among the records a sponsor must keep.
The rule: reg 2.84 of the Migration Regulations 1994; the obligation runs from approval until two years after the sponsorship ends and you no longer employ a sponsored worker.
The traps: a change of duties that "just happened" over months (a cook running the kitchen, an analyst now managing a team); a worker who resigned with notice (the obligation is triggered when employment is expected to end, not only on the last day); a new director appointed at the annual meeting; and a worker who was granted the visa but never started.
What Home Affairs looks at: in monitoring, it compares your notifications with payroll, ATO and other agency data it can exchange, and with the worker's actual duties. A gap between them is a breach whether or not anything else was wrong.
Worked example (illustrative only): a worker gives four weeks' notice on 1 March, finishing on 29 March. Home Affairs' list covers employment that is "expected to end", so the safe course is to count the 28 days from 1 March, when the end became known, and notify by 29 March, rather than waiting until 28 days after the last day.
A duties change that moves the worker into a different occupation is not fixed by a notification: it needs a new nomination, and for a 482 or 494 a new visa. See promotions and change of duties.
Not sure whether something needs reporting?
In a sponsor consultation Keshab Chapagain (MARN 1576536, registered since 2015) reviews what has changed in your business and with your sponsored staff, and what needs to be notified. A$330 inc. GST for 30 minutes or A$550 for 60 minutes, credited in full if you engage the practice. No outcome can be promised.
In other currencies: A$330 is about US$225, €205 or £170; A$550 is about US$380, €340 or £285 (approximate, November 2026).
General information, not migration advice.
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What you get
- 30 minutes (A$330) or 60 minutes (A$550) by video with a registered migration agent, Keshab Chapagain, MARN 1576536.
- A written summary of your options and next steps after the session.
- What to bring: ABN, what the business does, the role and salary, the candidate’s CV and current visa.
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MARN 1576536 · practising since 2015 · contact details
Questions we get asked first
What must a sponsor tell Home Affairs within 28 days?
Home Affairs lists the events: the sponsored worker's employment ending or expected to end, a change in the worker's duties, the worker not starting, payment of return travel costs, and changes to the business such as its name, structure, address, owners or directors, insolvency, administration or the business ceasing to exist.
How do I notify Home Affairs of a sponsor change?
Complete the Notification of sponsor changes form in ImmiAccount, or email sponsor.notifications@abf.gov.au. Keep a record of the date, method and where the notice was sent: that record is itself a sponsor obligation.
Do I have to report a pay rise or a promotion?
A change in duties must be reported. If the worker moves to a different occupation, a new nomination is needed (and for a 482 or 494, a new visa). A pay rise on its own is not on the Home Affairs list, but keep the records: earnings are one of the things you must be able to show.
What happens if I forget to notify?
Failing to notify is a breach of a sponsorship obligation. Home Affairs can bar or cancel sponsorship, issue an infringement notice (it lists up to A$15,840 for individuals and A$79,200 for bodies corporate per breach) or seek a civil penalty. Notify late rather than not at all, and get advice.
How long does the notification obligation last?
From the day the sponsorship is approved until two years after the sponsorship ends and you no longer employ a sponsored visa holder.
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