What is Accredited Business Sponsorship?
An Accredited Business Sponsorship (ABS) is an additional status above the Standard Business Sponsorship. To be an Accredited Sponsor, you must be a Standard Business Sponsor.
Benefits
The Accredited Business Sponsorship has two main categories of benefits. Both are designed to reduce onboarding time for your employees. These include:
- Reduces time taken to collect documents prior to lodgment
- Reduces time between lodgment and decision of the application.
Reduction in time to collect documents
Due to lower documentation requirements both the 482 nomination and visa applications will be able to be lodged sooner with Home Affairs.
In the 482 nomination, your business can rely on salary banding meaning lengthy searching for equivalent job ads or salary surveys will not be required.
In the 482 visa application, your business can declare that the employee it is sponsoring has no criminal convictions of which you are aware. This will remove the need for the employee to arrange police clearances. Police clearances can 6 weeks+ depending on the country.
NOTE: While the reduced preparation time is likely to be a substantial benefit, we recommend employers to only make these declarations where prior background checking has been completed.
Reduction in processing time once lodged.
Accredited Business Sponsorship holders also benefit from faster turnaround times once the application is lodged with Home Affairs. Please see below a table of current processing times:
| Standard Business Sponsorship | Accredited Business Sponsorship | |
|---|---|---|
| 482 Short-term stream | 50 – 76 days | 7 – 14 days |
| 482 Medium-term stream | 44 – 62 days | 7 – 14 days |
Eligibility criteria
The criteria for Accredited Sponsorship approval as a low-risk low volume sponsor are as follows:
- 85% of the workforce are Australian citizens or permanent residents;
- Annual turnover of over $4 million for the last two years;
- Initial Standard Business Sponsorship approved at least one year ago;
- No adverse monitoring outcomes;
- At least one Subclass 482 (TSS) visa Nomination approved in the last 12 months;
- Nomination non-approval rate of less than 3% in the last 12 months;
- Standard employment terms and conditions and internal salary tables used for sponsored workers.
Home Affairs can still approve an Accredited Business Sponsorship if your business does not meet all of the above. Please speak to your Roam Migration Law representative if you do not think your business meets the above criteria.
If an application for Accredited Sponsorship is not approved, the business will remain a Standard Business Sponsor (SBS).
Processing times
Accredited Business Sponsorship applications process within 6 – 8 weeks. The processing times can vary depending on workload within Home Affairs.
Where Home Affairs requests additional information in support of the application this can result in the application being delayed further. We work to prevent requests for further information by supplying as much information as possible in support of the application upfront.
Compliance
Should your business not maintain the eligibility criteria for the Accredited Business Sponsorship it can be downgraded to a Standard Business Sponsorship. Home Affairs will not do this without first contacting you for comment.
Please contact your Roam Migration Law representative if you receive an invitation to comment regarding your Accredited Business Sponsorship.
Roam Migration Law offers a full suite of compliance services including audit and mock monitoring, compliance training, policy review, and advice.
Costs
An Accredited Business Sponsorship application is relatively inexpensive and, given the benefits, represents excellent value for money.
The government application fee is $420. Contact Roam Migration Law for a full summary of costs associated with the visa application process.
Note: The above is a summary and should not be treated as a definitive statement of the law. You should seek personalised immigration advice before acting.