Fact Sheet 52 - Sponsored Business Visitor Visa
The short stay Sponsored Business Visitor visa is the user-friendly alternative to the standard short stay Business Visitor visa.
The aim of the Sponsored Business Visitor visa is to offer Australian business an onshore alternative to the standard short stay Business Visitor visa. By allowing Australian businesses to lodge the applications and sponsorship directly at a centre of excellence, the department is able to better accommodate requests from sponsors.
The advantages of the Sponsored Business Visitor visa over the standard Business Visitor visa are:
- An improved service for Australian business
- One-stop visa processing and
- Business partnership with the department is fostered.
The visa is designed for applicants who wish to enter Australia for a period of no more than three months for business purposes. Business activities can include attending conferences and training, but must not include the undertaking of business employment (this could have an adverse effect on the employment and training opportunities of Australian citizens or Australian permanent residents).
The requirements for a sponsored business visitor visa are similar to the requirements for the standard Business Visitor visa.
However, a Sponsored Business Visitor visa applicant must be formally sponsored at the time of their application.
The key features of the visa
- mandatory sponsorship
- onshore lodgment of the visa application at a centre of excellence
- faster processing times for most standard Business Visitor visa applications
- a maximum period of stay of three months
- a discretionary security bond can be imposed.
Eligibility
To be eligible for a Sponsored Business Visitor visa, applicants must:
- be outside Australia at time of application
- have a background that is relevant to their proposed activity in Australia
- have a demonstrated need to be in Australia to carry out that business
- have adequate funds to support their stay in Australia, and
- demonstrate that they will not be undertaking any business-related activities which would disadvantage an Australian citizen or Australian permanent resident.
To be eligible to sponsor a Business Visitor, a sponsor must be:
- an organisation specified by Gazette notice
- a Federal, State or Territory Member of Parliament
- an authorised person representing a Commonwealth, State or Territory agency, or
- a local government mayor.
Sponsors are permitted to sponsor more than one business visitor at any one time.
An Australian sponsor must vouch for an applicant's purpose of visit and provide an undertaking that their business visitor will abide by visa conditions, including that they depart Australia before their visa expires.
Applicants must complete an application form (form 1238), sponsors must complete a sponsorship form (form 1235). These forms are available from the website.
See: www.immi.gov.au
The sponsorship form along with the application must be lodged by the Australian sponsor at a centre of excellence or any other state or territory office.
The applicant must not be in Australia at the time of application.
Visa conditions
The department holds the sponsor in high regard. By entering into partnership with the department, sponsors need to be aware that the ongoing value-added service that they receive is linked to their support of the business visitors and their undertaking that, to the best of their ability, the applicant intends a genuine business visit.
The key to the success of this value-added service is the close working relationship developed between the sponsor and the local centre of excellence. The department needs to know if a person who has been vouched for has not abided by the condition of their visa. If breaches occur, the centre of excellence needs to be made aware so that they can work more closely with the sponsor to ensure that the risk of a breach reoccurring is minimised.
One way in which the risk of reoccurrence can be minimised is the possibility of the imposition, by the centre of excellence, of a security bond of between A$5000 - $A15 000, or the decision to refuse to grant the visa. If the centre is considering either of these options, an officer will contact the sponsoring organisation to discuss concerns prior to a decision being made.
The sponsored visitor visa is for a maximum stay of three months.
Conditions attached to the visa are:
- 8112 - must not undertake work which could be carried out by an Australian citizen or Australian permanent resident
- 8503 - no further stay and
- 8531 - must depart within the validity of the Sponsored Business Visitor visa
If a request for waiver of the 8503 (no further stay) condition is made, which results in the visitor remaining in Australia after their sponsored business visitor visa expires, it will be taken that the 8531 (must leave before visa expiry) condition has been breached. Penalties will then be imposed upon the sponsor, even if the 8503 condition is waived and a further visa is granted.
If the sponsor has lodged a security bond, this may be forfeited.
Other business visitor visas
Other business visitor visa categories include:
- Business Visitor (Short Stay) Visa (subclass 456)
- Electronic Travel Authority (ETA) Business Entrant (Long Validity) (subclass 956) and
- Electronic Travel Authority (ETA) Business Entrant (Short Validity) (subclass 977).
These will continue to operate as they have always done.
As has always been the case, people wanting to support a business visitor without lodging a formal and legal sponsorship, can do so by providing letters of support with visa applications.
Further information is available on the department's web site.
See: www.immi.gov.au
The department also operates a national telephone service inquiry line.
Telephone: 131 881
Hours of operation: Monday to Friday from 9am to 4pm (recorded information available outside these hours) for the cost of a local call anywhere in Australia.
Fact Sheet 52. Produced by the National Communications Branch, Department of Immigration and Citizenship, Canberra.
Revised 1 July 2008.
© Commonwealth of Australia 2008.