A Standard Business Sponsorship (SBS) is the formal government approval that allows an Australian business to sponsor skilled overseas workers under employer-sponsored visa programmes.
Without an active SBS, no nomination or visa application can proceed – it is the first and essential step in the entire employer sponsorship process. In practice, we see a lot of employers who approach us after they have already identified the overseas worker they want to bring on. The SBS is often the part they have not thought about, and understanding what is involved early makes the whole process significantly smoother.
Once approved, an SBS allows a business to nominate workers across multiple roles for a range of visa subclasses, including the Subclass 482 (Skills in Demand) and the Subclass 494 (Skilled Employer Sponsored Regional (Provisional). The approval period is five years, meaning a business that invests in getting the SBS right does not need to go through the process again for each new hire during that period.
The Department of Home Affairs assesses SBS applications based on whether the business is lawfully operating, financially viable, and able to meet its ongoing obligations as a sponsor. For most well-established Australian businesses, the process is straightforward. For startups and newer businesses, the documentation requirements are more involved, but approval is absolutely achievable with the right preparation.
You can find more information here about the sponsorship obligations.