Offences Introduced for Charging Visa Applicants for Employer Sponsorship

Offences Introduced for Charging Visa Applicants for Employer Sponsorship

The Migration Amendment (Charging for a Migration Outcome) Act 2015 has been passed and came into effect from 14 December 2015.


This legislation makes it illegal for a benefit to be given by a visa applicant to another person in return for a "sponsorship-related event". Effectively, this means that if a visa applicant pays an employer to sponsor them, the following can result:

• Refusal of a visa application - applicants must now declare that they have not paid for sponsorship, and this could result in Public Interest Criteria (PIC) 4020 refusal and a 3 year re-entry ban;
• Cancellation of the visa applicant's visa - even if this did not require employer sponsorship;
• Significant fines to the employer - up to $324,000 for a corporation
• Jail sentence of up to 2 years for the visa applicant, as well as a fine of up to $64,800 for individuals;
• Fines for company officers and directors who allow payment for sponsorship to occur due to recklessness or negligence, or if they know about it.

The above offences apply to 457 visas, but also apply to other visa types, including:

• Employer Nomination Scheme (ENS) Subclass 186;
• Regional Sponsored Migration Scheme (RSMS) Subclass 187;
• Temporary Work (Long Stay Activity) Subclass 401;
• Training and Research Subclass 402 (Research stream);
• Entertainment Subclass 420; and
• Superyacht Crew Subclass 488.

There are both criminal offences (which require proving the person's state of mind) as well as civil offences which do not require proof that the person acted knowingly.
"Benefits" which are prohibited include:

• Payments or valuable consideration
• Deductions - for example from a person's salary
• Real or Personal Property
• An advantage, service or a gift
• Payment of reasonable fees to a migration advisor is exempt from the above provisions

"Sponsorship related events" which are prohibited include:

• Applying for approval as a sponsor, renewing this, or not withdrawing an application
• Applying for nomination
• Employing or engaging a person to work or perform an activity, or not terminating a person

This legislation makes it clear that people paying an employer to sponsor them for a visa are acting contrary to the legislation and the consequences are severe.