A Preston hospitality group thought it had found a fair compromise. The company would pay the Skilling Australians Fund levy up front, and the chef would repay half of it over twelve fortnights. Both sides signed. Both sides agreed. The arrangement was still a breach, and the deductions on the payslips proved it.
Short answer: Sponsors must pay and assume the sponsorship, nomination and recruitment costs themselves. You must not charge them to the worker or their family, or attempt to. Infringement notices run to $79,200 per breach for a body corporate.
The line that decides everything
Home Affairs splits sponsorship costs into two groups. One group belongs to your business permanently. The other group belongs to the worker. Consent does not move a cost across that line, and neither does a signed agreement.
| You must absorb | The worker may pay |
|---|---|
| Becoming a sponsor | Their visa application charge, from $4,015 |
| Nomination charges, including the levy | Their skills assessment |
| Migration agent costs for the sponsorship and nomination | Their English test |
| Recruitment agent fees and advertising | Their health examinations |
| Screening, shortlisting, interviews and reference checks | Their police checks |
| Salaries of your recruitment and HR staff | Charges for their own family members |
| Outsourced background, police and psychological checks | |
| Travel to interview or meet candidates |
Read the left column as a list of business expenses, not as a negotiating position. Meanwhile the right column is genuinely the worker’s own cost, so you do not need to reimburse it.
Informal arrangements count as recovery
The obligation catches the substance, not the label. So each of these fails, even where the worker suggested it.
- A deduction from wages, whether once or spread across a year
- A repayment agreement or a loan for the levy
- Asking the worker to pay a recruitment agent directly
- A clawback clause that triggers if the worker resigns early
- A lower salary agreed to offset the sponsorship cost
The rule also bites on the attempt. You do not need to receive the money for the Department to find a breach.
The worker offered to pay. Does that help us?
No. The obligation sits on the sponsor, and it does not turn on who suggested the arrangement. An offer from the worker, a signed acknowledgment, or a clause in the employment contract will not cure the breach. If a candidate offers, put the refusal in writing and keep it. That record helps you at a monitoring visit.
What a breach actually costs
The Department has a graduated set of responses. Most start with administrative action rather than money.
| Response | What it means |
|---|---|
| Administrative | A bar on new sponsorships, refusal of applications, cancellation of approvals, or a compliance notice |
| Enforceable undertaking | A written promise to fix the failure and prevent a repeat |
| Infringement notice | Up to $15,840 for an individual and $79,200 for a body corporate, per obligation breached |
| Civil penalty order | Up to $76,200 for an individual and $396,000 for a corporation, for each failure |
| Prohibition declaration | Serious, deliberate or repeated breaches can stop you employing migrant workers for a period |
Publication is the sanction employers underestimate. The Department publishes information identifying sponsors who have not complied, along with the action taken. Therefore the reputational cost often outlasts the financial one.
The obligation outlives the employment
- ApprovalThe cost obligations start the day your sponsorship is approved, or the day a work agreement begins.
- During employmentNotify the Department within 28 days when the worker’s employment ends or their duties change.
- Sponsorship endsThe cost and record obligations run for another two years, once you no longer employ a sponsored worker.
- Up to five yearsThe Department monitors compliance for up to five years after the sponsorship ends.
As a result, a file you closed in 2026 can still be inspected well into the future. Keep the evidence that your business paid, not just the invoices themselves.
Two costs employers keep forgetting
Return travel
You must pay reasonable and necessary travel costs so the worker and sponsored family can leave Australia. Economy class counts as reasonable. Payment falls due within 30 days of a written request from the worker or the Department. However, you pay once only, so a later return on the same sponsored visa does not restart the duty.
Removal costs
If a sponsored person becomes an unlawful non-citizen, you may repay what the Commonwealth spends locating and removing them. That liability is capped at $10,000, less anything you already paid under the travel obligation.
A five-minute audit before your next nomination
Our employer page explains how we run this check before a nomination goes in. For the approval stage and the charges themselves, see our guide to becoming a standard business sponsor. Advertising costs sit inside the same obligation, so our article on labour market testing rules is worth reading alongside it. Our fees and process page sets out how we quote each stage.
Frequently asked questions
Can we deduct the nomination charge from a signing bonus?
No. A reduced bonus that offsets the nomination charge still transfers the cost to the worker. The Department looks at the substance of the arrangement. Pay the bonus you agreed and treat the charge as a business expense.
We hired through an overseas agency. Can the worker pay the agency?
No. Recruitment agent fees sit squarely in the costs you must absorb. That applies whether the agency is in Australia or overseas. If the worker has already paid, reimburse them and keep proof.
How long must we keep the records that prove we paid?
Keep them for two years after your sponsorship ends and you no longer employ a sponsored worker. Records must be reproducible, and some must be capable of verification by an independent person. Keep the payment evidence, not only the invoice.
We paid return travel and the worker came back. Do we pay again?
No. The travel cost obligation is paid once. If the worker returns to Australia on the visa you sponsored them for, you do not pay a second time. Keep the record of the first payment and the date of the request.
Does the Department stop monitoring us once the sponsorship ends?
No. The Department monitors compliance for up to five years after your sponsorship ends. It can request records, conduct site visits with or without notice, and share information with agencies including the Fair Work Ombudsman and the ATO.
Obligations and sanction amounts verified against the Home Affairs page Sponsorship obligations for standard business sponsors as at 3 September 2026.
General information about Australian migration law as at 3 September 2026. Not legal advice. Sponsorship obligations, charges and sanction amounts change, and the outcome in any case turns on its own facts, so obtain advice before you act.