Your Legal Checklist Before Sponsoring Overseas Talent

Hiring overseas talent doesn’t start with the person

If you’ve never sponsored before, it’s completely normal to assume the process starts the same way recruitment always starts: you find a great candidate, agree on a start date, and then work out the paperwork.

But when it comes to sponsoring overseas talent, that order is backwards.

The legal process starts with your business.

Before a candidate can even be assessed, your business must be eligible to support them, and the role you’re offering must be one that can legally be filled through the program.

And this is a critical point many employers miss: not every occupation can be sponsored.

If the role is not eligible, no amount of goodwill or urgency will make it work.

Step one: business readiness

The first legal assessment is about your business — not the role and not the person.

Decision-makers look at whether your business is genuinely operating. That means actively trading, paying staff correctly, meeting tax and super obligations, and having a workforce structure that supports ongoing employment.

They also look at compliance history. This includes whether there have been workplace law issues, Fair Work concerns, tax problems, or previous sponsorship breaches.

You don’t need a perfect record. But you do need to understand any risks early, because it’s far easier to address them upfront than to discover them after you’ve promised someone a job.

This is where having the right legal framework in place matters. Once your business is approved under the appropriate structure, it becomes a back-office system that supports hiring over time.

Step two: the role must stand on its own

Every overseas hire requires a fresh legal assessment of the role.

At this stage, the focus is on whether the job is genuine, ongoing, and makes sense in the context of what your business actually does.

Salary matters. It must comply with workplace laws, reflect market norms, and align with how comparable roles are paid internally.

Labour market testing is also assessed here. This is not informal advertising. There are specific rules around where roles are advertised, how long ads run, what must be included, and how timing aligns with the nomination process. Planning matters, because mistakes here can’t be fixed later.

The employment contract is another key checkpoint. A contract that looks fine commercially can still fail the legal requirements if it hasn’t been properly reviewed. This is a common reason applications fall over.

Step three: the individual comes last

Only once the business and role are in order does the assessment move to the person.

This goes far beyond a resume. Qualifications may need to be assessed against Australian standards. Some roles require formal skills assessments. English language requirements may apply.

Health and character requirements also matter — and if the candidate is including a partner or children, those family members may also need to meet health and character requirements. This can affect the pathway and, in some cases, whether approval is possible at all.

This is why asking a candidate to “sort the visa part” is risky. Candidates cannot sponsor themselves, and they cannot assess business or role eligibility.

The correct order matters

Most problems arise because employers start at the wrong end.

The correct sequence is:

• business readiness
  
  
• role requirements
  
  
• candidate eligibility
  
  

When you follow this order, hiring from overseas becomes more predictable and far less disruptive.

What to do next

If this episode highlighted gaps in how you’ve been approaching international hiring, the first step is understanding whether your business is even eligible.

You can complete the 60-second business eligibility check or book a consultation to discuss a specific scenario.

Clarity first. Decisions second.

👉 https://www.solvi.com.au/hire-international-workers-eligibility-checklist 

👉 https://www.solvi.com.au/book-a-consult

DISCLAIMER: This content is for educational purposes only and nothing in this content or its description constitutes legal advice. For advice on your personal circumstances, please make an appointment at SOLVi Migration www.solvi.com.au Copyright SOLVI PTY LTD 2026.