If you can’t find an Australian citizen or permanent resident to fill a job vacancy, you can employ an overseas worker. They can be on a temporary or permanent visa. There are a range of visa options available with different work rights. Some visas require the visa applicant’s potential employer to become an approved sponsor.
To learn more about the main different visa types, visit
visa options for skilled sponsored workers. You can also find out more about visas specifically for people who want to live and
work in regional Australia.
If you want to nominate an overseas worker, the role you want to fill usually needs to be on the
skilled occupation list. If the job you want to fill is not on the list, you might be able to negotiate a
labour agreement.
To nominate an overseas worker for a role, you need to create an organisation
ImmiAccount. You can find instructions to do this under ‘Create your ImmiAccount’.
Use your ImmiAccount to:
- apply to become an
approved sponsor
- nominate the role you need to fill
- nominate the person you wish to employ.
After you have nominated an overseas worker for a role, they need to submit a visa application.
You may want to employ a visa holder who is
already in Australia. If so, you need to check if they can work here and if their visa has any work restrictions. You can do this using
Visa Entitlement Verification Online (VEVO).
Visa holders are protected by Australian workplace laws. For further information see: Worker rights.
Types of visas
Visas with work rights can be temporary, offer a pathway for overseas workers to stay permanently or grant immediate permanent residence. The conditions of visa holders’ work rights vary depending on the visa type.
Sponsored visas
You can sponsor a worker for immediate permanent residence through visa programs including the
Employer Nomination Scheme visa (subclass 186).
Employers needing to temporarily fill labour gaps may be able to take advantage of the
Skills in Demand visa (subclass 482). This visa allows workers to stay in Australia for between 2 and 5 years.
Temporary Graduate visa
Temporary Graduate visa holders can live, study and work in Australia temporarily after completing their studies.
Benefits of employing a Temporary Graduate:
- they are Australian educated graduates
- their qualifications are often in fields where Australia needs skilled workers
- they can stay in Australia between 18 months and 3 years, depending on their qualification*
- they can work in Australia without requiring sponsorship
- their visas have no work restrictions
- they may be eligible for longer-term stays through sponsorship or skilled migration.
*Exceptions apply. For details, see the “About this visa” tab related to the visa holder’s stream.
Other visas with work rights
Some other visas allow migrants to work in Australia, without requiring sponsorship. These visas include:
Other visa types may have work rights, including:
Some visas may have work restrictions, including a cap on the number of hours or how long a visa holder may work for a particular employer.
To check a visa holder’s work rights, use
VEVO.
Labour agreements
Labour agreements allow businesses to sponsor overseas workers in situations where:
- they cannot fill the position with a local worker
- standard temporary or permanent visa programs are unavailable.
Labour agreements are made between the Department of Home Affairs and employers. They can be either specific to a company or cover a whole industry. Current industry labour agreements include aged care, dairy, meat, advertising and horticulture.
Labour agreements generally last 5 years and visas are granted under labour agreement streams of the following programs:
Learn more about
labour agreements.
Labour market testing
For some visa types, you need to provide evidence you have tested the labour market before hiring an overseas worker, unless you are exempt from this requirement.
Labour market testing involves advertising the position in Australia for at least 4 weeks in at least two advertisements.
For more information and details about exemptions, visit
labour market testing.
Different sponsorship types
If you want to start sponsoring a worker or take over an existing sponsorship, you need to become either:
The main types of sponsorship most commonly used by employers are:
Each sponsorship type has different requirements and benefits.
