Accredited Sponsor Status for 482 Sponsors: Who Qualifies and What It Changes

An accredited sponsor is a standard business sponsor that Home Affairs has also approved under one of the categories Home Affairs lists, such as a government agency, an Australian Trusted Trader or a business whose workforce is at least 85% Australian, and the status is requested with the sponsorship or its renewal at no extra fee. Accreditation lets the sponsor give a character reference so its nominees need no overseas police certificates, lets it run labour market testing ads on its own website, and makes some program or project administrators exempt from the mandatory skills assessment. The request is made in ImmiAccount in the standard business sponsorship or renewal application, with evidence for one category; if the category is not met, the sponsorship is still assessed in the usual way (Home Affairs, accredited sponsor page).

What is an accredited sponsor?

Accreditation is a status added to standard business sponsorship, not a separate sponsorship. It lasts as long as the sponsorship itself, 5 years from approval, and costs nothing beyond the $420 sponsorship fee when requested with the application or a renewal. An accredited sponsor’s obligations are the same as any standard business sponsor’s; the process for becoming an approved 482 sponsor comes first.

Which businesses qualify?

The categories below are those the Home Affairs accredited sponsor page (updated 29 July 2026) lists. The page describes the number of categories two different ways, so this guide lists them without a count.

Three conditions run through the categories:

1. No adverse outcome from Home Affairs sponsor monitoring.
2. Written employment contracts that meet the National Employment Standards.
3. Evidence that pay is at current market rates, such as an enterprise agreement or an internal salary table.

What does accreditation change?

Accreditation changes four things for the sponsor and its nominees:

1. Character reference instead of overseas police certificates. The sponsor gives a reference on company letterhead, naming the sponsor, the person signing, and each applicant with their date of birth. Home Affairs then generally relies on it instead of police certificates from countries other than Australia; Australian police checks are still needed (Home Affairs accredited sponsor page).
2. Labour market testing ads on the sponsor’s own website. Section 8(3) of LIN 18/036 on the Federal Register of Legislation accepts an accredited sponsor’s own website as one of the advertising places.
3. Skills assessment exemption for program or project administrators. Section 7 of IMMI 18/039 exempts a program or project administrator from the mandatory skills assessment if the person holds a relevant qualification, will earn at least $180,000, and the sponsor is accredited.
4. Access to the Global Talent Employer Sponsored arrangement’s Established Business stream, which is for accredited sponsors (Home Affairs, Global Talent Scheme page).

Accreditation does not remove labour market testing, and it does not change the salary thresholds, the Skilling Australians Fund levy or the sponsor’s obligations. Those are the same as for any sponsor.

How do you apply for accreditation?

If the current sponsorship has not ended when a new sponsorship is lodged, accreditation does not need to be requested again. If the business does not meet a category, its sponsorship application still proceeds and is assessed in the usual way.

An immigration lawyer makes a successful request more likely here because each category has to be proved with evidence (workforce percentages, nomination approval rates, turnover or investment), and a sponsor that gives character references without checking can lose the status. No lawyer can promise an approval.

Does accreditation change processing?

Not on the published documents. The accredited sponsor page lists no processing benefit. Ministerial Direction 121, in effect from 19 September 2026, orders 482 visa applications by priority sector, then the Specialist Skills stream, then applicants in Australia, then offshore applicants applying alone, then everyone else. Accredited status is not in that order.

A Home Affairs news item of 7 December 2024 said accredited sponsors would continue to receive priority processing. Whether any priority still applies, at the nomination or the visa stage, is not published. The current queue and the published times are set out on the 482 visa processing time page.

How is accreditation lost?

Home Affairs can revoke accreditation in two situations:

• the sponsor stops meeting the characteristics of its category; or
• the sponsor gave a character reference confirming that a nominee or family member had no criminal convictions, and at least one of them has a conviction from a country other than Australia.

After revocation the business remains a standard business sponsor until its approval expires, unless Home Affairs also suspends or cancels the sponsorship as the law permits. The duties that apply either way are set out in the 482 sponsor obligations.

Is there a list of accredited sponsors?

This guide does not list sponsors. Section 140GD of the Migration Act 1958, inserted by the Migration Amendment (Combatting Migrant Exploitation) Act 2026, allows Home Affairs to publish information about approved sponsors that regulations prescribe, such as the sponsor’s name, ABN and the kinds of occupations nominated. The Act commences on a day fixed by Proclamation, or at the latest after six months from its assent on 8 April 2026; it was awaiting commencement, and the regulations had not been found, when this guide was checked on 24 September 2026. A worker who wants to know whether an employer is accredited asks the employer.

After accreditation: the nomination

Accreditation does not change what a nomination must prove: a genuine full-time position, an eligible occupation, a market salary at or above the threshold, and labour market testing. Each of those is set out in the 482 nomination requirements.