Standard Business Sponsorship (SBS): Becoming an Approved 482 Sponsor

Standard business sponsorship is the Home Affairs approval a business needs before it can nominate a worker in the Core Skills or Specialist Skills stream of the 482 visa; the application costs $420 and an approval lasts 5 years. The business must be lawfully operating, in or outside Australia, with no adverse information that Home Affairs cannot reasonably disregard, and a business operating in Australia must also attest to its record of employing local labour and declare that it will not recruit in a discriminatory way (Migration Regulations 1994, regulation 2.59). The application is lodged in ImmiAccount with the business’s evidence and the fee, and Home Affairs does not start processing until the fee is paid; half of recent sponsorship applications were decided within 24 days and 90% within 4 months, as published on 24 September 2026.

Who can become a sponsor?

A standard business sponsor is a business Home Affairs has approved under section 140E of the Migration Act 1958 to nominate workers for the 482 and the 494. Regulation 2.59 of the Migration Regulations 1994 sets three tests:

1. The business is lawfully operating, whether in or outside Australia.
2. Home Affairs knows of no adverse information about the business or a person associated with it, or it is reasonable to disregard that information.
3. A business operating in Australia attests in writing to a strong record of, or a demonstrated commitment to, employing local labour, and declares in writing that it will not engage in discriminatory recruitment.

A business that operates only outside Australia passes a fourth condition in regulation 2.59(h). It sponsors a worker only to establish, or help establish, a business operation in Australia with overseas connections, or to fulfil a contractual obligation of the business. The worker then works for that business only, not for an associated entity.

A business can hold standard business sponsorship and a labour agreement at the same time, according to the Home Affairs learn about sponsoring page. Sponsorship is the first of the three approvals explained in the guide on how to sponsor an employee.

How do you apply for sponsorship?

Accredited status is requested in the same application. The first nomination can be lodged alongside the sponsorship application, but it cannot be approved until the sponsorship is. The Home Affairs standard business sponsor page does not publish a document list; it warns that incomplete applications might be delayed or refused if there is not enough information to show the requirements are met.

How long does approval take?

Half of recent sponsorship applications were decided within 24 days and 90% within 4 months, as published on 24 September 2026 in the Home Affairs global processing times tool. The figures describe recently decided applications and change over time.

What does sponsorship cost?

The application costs $420, whether it is a new sponsorship or a renewal. Requesting accreditation in the same application adds no fee. Home Affairs does not refund the fee if the application is refused, according to its cost of sponsoring page, and regulation 2.87 of the Migration Regulations 1994 prevents the business from passing the cost to the worker or the worker’s family.

How long does approval last?

Approval lasts 5 years from the date Home Affairs approves the sponsorship. That term has applied to every sponsorship approved since 3 March 2018.

When should you renew?

Home Affairs recommends lodging a renewal about two months before the current approval ends. The expiry date is shown in ImmiAccount under the original sponsorship application. Three rules follow from the timing:

• A renewed approval runs from the date the renewal is approved, not from the date the old one ends.
• If the current approval ends while the renewal is being processed, unfinalised nominations are put on hold. If the renewal is then refused, those nominations are refused unless the business withdraws them.
• If the current approval ends before a renewal is lodged, the business must lodge a completely new sponsorship application, and related unfinalised nominations are refused.

What if the business structure changes?

A change that creates a new legal entity, such as a sole trader becoming a company, needs a new sponsorship. The new entity must become a standard business sponsor and lodge new nominations for every 457, TSS, 482 or 494 holder it employs. If it does not, those workers breach their visa conditions and their visas are at risk of cancellation.

The duties that come with approval continue after the 5 years ends; they are set out under 482 sponsorship obligations.

What is accredited sponsor status?

Accredited sponsor status is a status added to standard business sponsorship for sponsors that meet one of the Home Affairs accreditation categories, requested with the sponsorship or a renewal at no extra fee. Its confirmed benefits are that the sponsor’s character reference replaces overseas police certificates for its nominees, and that labour market testing ads on the sponsor’s own website are accepted. The categories and evidence are covered under accredited sponsor status.

Can a business you own sponsor you?

Yes, if the position passes two tests. The business you own can be the standard business sponsor, but the nomination for your own role must pass the genuine position test and the written employment contract rule in regulation 2.72(10) and (11). How Home Affairs applies those tests to an owner is explained on the self sponsor visa page.

What if sponsorship is refused?

A refused business has two routes:

1. Apply to the Administrative Review Tribunal. The business applies within 28 days of being notified of the decision, under section 347 of the Migration Act 1958 and regulation 4.02(4), and pays the $3,727 fee listed on the ART fees page. The Tribunal cannot extend that deadline.
2. Lodge a fresh application that deals with the reason for refusal.

A nomination lodged alongside the sponsorship and withdrawn because the sponsorship was refused is eligible for a refund of the nomination fee and the levy under regulation 2.73AA(3B); Home Affairs may refund both on a written request.

An Australian migration lawyer makes approval more likely here because the adverse-information test and, for an overseas business, the purpose limit in regulation 2.59(h) are decided on the evidence lodged, and a refused sponsorship takes every nomination lodged with it down too. No adviser can promise an approval.

Is there a public register of standard business sponsors?

Not when this guide was checked. The Migration Amendment (Combatting Migrant Exploitation) Act 2026, assented on 8 April 2026, inserts section 140GD into the Migration Act. It allows the Secretary of Home Affairs to publish information about approved sponsors that regulations prescribe, which may include a sponsor’s name, ABN, postcode, number of nominations and the kinds of occupations nominated. The section had not commenced at the latest compilation of the Act (4 June 2026), and no commencement had been found when this guide was checked on 24 September 2026.

What does exist is the register of sanctioned sponsors, which the Australian Border Force publishes and the Home Affairs migrant worker protections page refers to. It names sponsors penalised for breaching their obligations, not every approved sponsor. A worker who wants to confirm that an employer is approved asks the employer for its approval.

Next step: nominating the position

Once approved, the sponsor lodges a separate nomination for each position it wants to fill, with the labour market testing evidence, the salary and the levy. What that application proves is explained in the guide to the 482 visa nomination.