What It Costs an Employer to Sponsor a 482 Worker

It costs an employer $420 to become a sponsor, $330 to nominate a 482 worker and $1,200 or $1,800 in Skilling Australians Fund levy for each year nominated, so one worker nominated for four years costs between $5,550 and $7,950 in government charges. The levy rate turns on annual turnover (under $10 million or not), each charge is paid when its application is lodged, and none of them can be passed to the worker (Department of Home Affairs, cost of sponsoring page). Enter the business’s turnover and the years nominated in the calculator below for the exact figure, including the worker’s visa charge if the employer chooses to pay it.

What does the employer pay?

The employer pays three government charges on a 482: $420 for standard business sponsorship, $330 for each nomination, and the levy of $1,200 or $1,800 for each year nominated. The worker’s visa charge of $4,015 is the worker’s own application charge, paid with the visa application; the charges for family members and the other visa costs are on the 482 visa application fee page.

The employer also bears three kinds of non-government cost that it must not recover from the worker, according to the Home Affairs sponsor obligations page:

1. Recruitment costs, including recruitment agent fees and screening candidates.
2. Advertising, including the labour market testing ads.
3. Migration lawyer fees for the sponsorship and nomination applications.

The salary itself is the largest cost, but it is not a charge: at least the market rate and at least $79,423 for a Core Skills nomination lodged from 1 July 2026. How the charges fit into the whole process is set out in the guide to employer sponsorship Australia.

How much is the SAF levy for your business?

The levy is $1,200 a year where annual turnover is under $10 million, and $1,800 a year otherwise, for a nominated period of 1 to 4 years. Home Affairs gives the example of a business with turnover over $10 million nominating a worker for 4 years, which pays $7,200. For a business operating in Australia, turnover means its total ordinary income in its most recent income year before the nomination, under section 4 of the Migration (Skilling Australians Fund) Charges Regulations 2018. The rate table and the refund cases are on the SAF levy page.

Which costs stay with the employer?

The Home Affairs sponsor obligations page lists the costs a sponsor must pay itself:

1. The cost of becoming a sponsor.
2. Nomination charges.
3. Migration lawyer costs for the sponsorship and nomination applications.
4. Recruitment agent fees.
5. Advertising.
6. Screening, shortlisting, interviewing and reference checks of candidates.
7. Salaries of recruitment or human resources staff.
8. Outsourced background checks, police checks and psychological testing.
9. Responding to candidates’ queries and advising unsuccessful applicants.
10. Travel, in Australia or overseas, to interview or meet applicants.

The Home Affairs cost of sponsoring page adds the levy: employers must not pass it on to the visa applicant. The sponsor must not transfer or charge any of these costs to the worker or the worker’s family.

What if a worker is asked to pay?

Asking for, or receiving, a benefit in return for sponsorship is an offence under section 245AR of the Migration Act 1958, punishable by 2 years’ imprisonment or 360 penalty units, and a civil penalty of 240 penalty units; one penalty unit is $364. The only exception is a reasonable payment for a professional service that has been, or is to be, provided. A worker asked to pay can report the employer through Border Watch, as the Home Affairs migrant worker protections page explains. The amount an employer can charge a worker for sponsorship is nothing.

What does sponsoring cost in total? (worked totals)

These totals are government charges only. They do not include the worker’s visa charges or any recruitment, lawyer or adviser costs.

A migration lawyer makes a sound result more likely here because the number of years nominated fixes the levy at lodgement with no refund if the worker later moves to a 186, and a nomination refused for a salary or advertising defect keeps the whole levy. No adviser can promise an outcome.

Is a 482 or a 186 cheaper over four years?

Path B costs $540 less where the 186 position is in regional Australia, because the TRT nomination fee is then nil.

Over four years, Path A costs the employer less in government charges. Path B ends with the worker holding a permanent visa, so no further 482 nominations are needed. The 186 route opens once the worker has 2 years in the last 3 of full-time sponsored work, and the worker pays the $6,140 visa charge for the 186 unless the employer chooses to. An employer that nominated four years on the 482 and moves the worker to a 186 after two does not get the unused levy years back, because that is not a refund case. The two visas are compared row by row on the 482 vs 186 visa page.