- Sponsorship approves your business. Nomination approves the role. They’re two separate applications, assessed against two different tests, and approval of one doesn’t carry the other.
- Sponsoring a worker is three applications, not one. Sponsorship and nomination are yours. The visa application belongs to the worker.
- The nomination is where most employers come unstuck, because it tests whether the job is genuine, correctly classified and paid at or above both the income threshold and the market rate.
- Sponsorship costs can’t be passed to the worker. The sponsorship charge, the nomination charge and the Skilling Australians Fund levy are employer costs, and recovering them is a breach of your obligations.
Most employers hiring their first overseas worker think sponsorship is one application. It’s three, and two of them sit with your business. Sponsorship approves the business as a sponsor, nomination approves the specific role, and the worker then lodges a visa application of their own. This guide sets out what each stage tests, what it costs, who pays and what order to lodge in.
What’s the Difference Between Sponsorship and Nomination?
Sponsorship approves your business. Nomination approves the job. That single line resolves most of the confusion, because advisers and job ads use “sponsorship” loosely to describe the whole process. An employer-sponsored hire runs through three approvals:
- Sponsorship: your business applies to become a Standard Business Sponsor. Assessed against the business itself.
- Nomination: you apply to have one specific position, filled by one specific worker, approved. Assessed against the job.
- Visa application: the worker applies for the Skills in Demand (subclass 482) visa or another employer-sponsored visa. Assessed against the worker.
Each is decided separately and each can be refused separately. An approved sponsorship tells you nothing about whether your nomination will succeed.
What Does Standard Business Sponsorship Actually Approve?
It approves your business as an entity permitted to nominate overseas workers. Nothing about a particular role or person is assessed at this stage. Home Affairs is testing whether your business:
- Is lawfully and actively operating in Australia.
- Has no adverse information recorded against it, including workplace relations or compliance findings.
- Can meet the sponsorship obligations that attach once approved.
Two facts matter commercially. Approval generally lasts five years, and it isn’t tied to a single worker, so an approved sponsor can nominate multiple roles without reapplying or paying the charge again. The obligations start the moment you’re approved. Record keeping, paying the salary you nominated, notifying the Department when circumstances change and not recovering sponsorship costs from the worker all apply for the life of the sponsorship. Our guide on how to become a Standard Business Sponsor walks through the evidence involved.
What Does a Nomination Have to Prove?
A nomination has to prove the job is real, properly paid and genuinely needed. It covers one position, one occupation code, one salary, one location and one nominated period, for one named worker. Four elements carry most of the weight:
- Genuine position: the role must be real, consistent with the size and nature of your business, and not created to produce a visa outcome. A two-person company nominating a general manager will get questions.
- Occupation match: the duties you describe must match the occupation code you nominate. Drift between the two is a common refusal ground.
- Salary: the nominated earnings must meet the applicable income threshold and the annual market salary rate for an equivalent Australian worker. The higher of the two governs.
- Labour market testing: for most Core Skills nominations you must advertise the role in Australia before lodging, and the advertising has to fall inside the Department’s validity window.
From 1 July 2026 the Core Skills Income Threshold is A$79,423 and the Specialist Skills Income Threshold is A$146,576. Both are indexed annually, and the threshold that applies is the one in force when the nomination is lodged. Our Core Skills stream guide covers how the streams differ. The Skilling Australians Fund levy is also paid at nomination. It’s charged per year of the nominated period, at A$1,200 a year for businesses turning over under A$10 million and A$1,800 a year above that, and the full amount falls due upfront. A four-year nomination for one worker means close to a $5,000 of levy payable on day one.
How Do the Two Stages Compare?
Sponsorship is a one-off business approval. Nomination is a recurring, role-specific approval you’ll lodge again for every hire, every renewal and every change of position.
| Sponsorship (SBS) | Nomination | |
| What it approves | Your business as a sponsor | One specific role and worker |
| What’s assessed | Lawful operation, compliance history | Genuine position, occupation, salary, labour market testing |
| How often | Once per business | Once per role, per worker |
| How long it lasts | Generally five years | Tied to the nominated period |
| Government charge | $420 | $330, plus the SAF levy |
| Who pays | Employer | Employer |
| Main risk | Adverse information or an inactive entity | The role failing the genuine position or salary test |
The worker’s own visa application charge sits outside this table. For the Skills in Demand visa it’s A$4,015 for the primary applicant from 1 July 2026, and the worker can pay it.
Do You Have to Lodge Sponsorship and Nomination Separately?
You can lodge them at the same time, but the nomination can’t be approved before the sponsorship is. Concurrent lodgement shortens the total elapsed time, which matters when a role is sitting vacant. The trade-off is worth weighing:
- Lodge concurrently when your business is well established, financially clean and the sponsorship is uncontroversial.
- Lodge sequentially when your business is newly established, restructured or carries any compliance history, because a refused sponsorship leaves you having already paid the nomination charge and the levy.
One point to make clear to your candidate: an approved nomination isn’t permission to start work. The worker can’t begin in the nominated role until the visa itself is granted.
Does the Same Process Apply to the 186 and 494?
The two-stage employer structure changes depending on the visa. The permanent Employer Nomination Scheme (subclass 186) works differently from the temporary 482.
- Subclass 186: the employer lodges a nomination, but Standard Business Sponsorship approval isn’t required in the way it is for the 482 if you are submitting a 186 Direct Entry Application. If you are submitting a 186 application in the Temporary Residence Stream then you will need an approved Standard Business Sponsorship to sponsor.
- SAF levy treatment: for the 482 the levy is charged per year of the nominated period. For the permanent 186 it’s a larger one-off payment, currently A$3,000 for businesses under A$10 million turnover and A$5,000 above that.
- Subclass 494: the regional pathway follows the sponsorship plus nomination structure, with its own regional requirements.
If you’re deciding between a temporary and a permanent hire, our comparison of the 482 and 186 pathways sets out the trade-offs.
What Happens If One Stage Is Refused?
Each refusal has a different commercial consequence, and only one of them stops everything.
- Sponsorship refused: you can’t nominate at all until the underlying issue is resolved. The nomination charge and levy you’ve already paid on a concurrent lodgement aren’t refunded.
- Nomination refused: the role failed the test, and the worker’s visa application follows it down. Labour market testing may need to be redone before you try again.
- Visa refused: your approvals stand, but the hire doesn’t happen. You can nominate a different worker for the position or if the worker is onshore, you can appeal while the applicant remains working on their bridging visa.
Nomination decisions can generally be reviewed by the Administrative Review Tribunal within strict time limits. Review is slow and uncertain, so the cheapest refusal is always the one avoided at the evidence stage.
What Mistakes Do First-Time Sponsors Make?
The same handful, and each one has a price attached:
- Telling the worker to start once the nomination is approved, which puts both parties in breach.
- Passing the sponsorship charge, nomination charge or SAF levy to the worker, which risks sanctions and your sponsor status.
- Running job ads that don’t satisfy labour market testing requirements, which forces you to re-advertise and re-lodge.
- Nominating an occupation that doesn’t match the actual duties, which is one of the most common nomination refusal grounds.
- Setting salary at the income threshold when the market rate for the role is higher.
- Letting the job quietly change after the worker starts, so the role no longer matches what was approved.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need to apply for sponsorship again for every worker?
No. Standard Business Sponsorship approval generally lasts five years and covers multiple nominations. You lodge a fresh nomination and pay the nomination charge and levy for each worker and each role.
Can the worker pay the sponsorship and nomination costs?
No. Three costs are legally yours:
- The sponsorship application charge.
- The nomination application charge.
- The Skilling Australians Fund levy.
The worker can pay their own visa application charge and the charges for any family members included. You may pay the visa application charge as a business if you would like to do so, however, this is not mandatory.
How long does the whole process take?
It depends on the stream, the quality of the evidence and current Departmental workloads. Plan in months rather than weeks, and check the Home Affairs processing times for sponsorship, nomination and the relevant visa subclass before you commit to a start date with your candidate.
Does an approved nomination mean the worker can start?
No. The worker can only begin in the nominated role once their visa is granted. Starting earlier breaches both your sponsorship obligations and their visa conditions. Sponsorship and nomination test different things, and treating them as one application is what leads employers to budget wrong, lodge in the wrong order and lose non-refundable charges on a role that was never going to be approved. Getting both stages prepared as a single decision-ready package is what keeps a first hire on schedule.