Pay for sponsorship in Australia? Filipino workers who buy a sponsor can lose the visa itself

Tips · 2026-11-01 · 10 min read

A Filipino man frowns at his phone in a Cebu café, with coffee and a face-down contract on the table.

If anyone asks you to pay for sponsorship in Australia, the answer is no, whoever is asking. Home Affairs says it is illegal for a person to pay an employer to sponsor them for a visa, including through salary deductions, and that doing so can lead to visa refusal or cancellation, fines or imprisonment. The sponsor carries its own costs, and a "visa for sale" deal puts your visa at risk, not just your money.

What Australian law says about paying for sponsorship

The Home Affairs page on the cost of sponsoring a worker is written for employers, but it settles the question for you too. The sponsoring employer must pay all costs of becoming a sponsor and nominating an applicant, and cannot transfer these costs to the visa holder or their family.

The Skills in Demand visa (subclass 482) adds a test of its own. Applicants must not have asked for, offered, received or provided a benefit in return for visa sponsorship in the past 3 years. The wording covers the worker who offers the money as well as the person who takes it, and it looks back: a deal made two years ago still counts when you lodge a new 482 application. Our Skills in Demand (subclass 482) visa guide explains the rest of the visa.

The shapes a "visa for sale" offer takes

These deals rarely sound illegal. They are dressed up as normal costs or a favour. Watch for these four.

A price for the sponsor itself

A middleman says they "know an employer" and offers 482 sponsorship for sale: you pay, and a business lodges a nomination for you. The 482 rule is about any benefit given in return for sponsorship, so sending the money through a third person does not change what it is for.

Cashback after you start work

Your pay slip shows the full wage, but the employer expects part of it back in cash or by transfer. The Fair Work Ombudsman says cashback schemes, where an employer unreasonably requires someone to pay them in exchange for a job, are illegal in Australia.

Cashback also cuts the pay your nomination was approved on. In the Core Skills stream the worker must be paid the Annual Market Salary Rate and no less than the Core Skills Income Threshold, which is AUD79,423 for nominations lodged between 1 July 2026 and 30 June 2027. Our guide to the 482 visa salary requirement shows how to check an offer against it.

A "sponsorship fee" taken from each pay

Salary deduction sponsorship is the quieter version: a contract clause or side letter says a visa fee will come out of your wages. Home Affairs names salary deductions directly, so spreading the payment out makes it no safer.

The levy "shared" with the worker

Some offers ask the worker to split the employer's government levy. Home Affairs says employers must not pass the Skilling Australians Fund levy on to the visa applicant.

Many of these offers begin in chat groups, the pattern the DMW warned about in its advisory on direct hire Facebook scams that ask for money. If the offer also promises a sure visa or a "work permit", read our checklist for spotting fake Australian visa offers.

What the sponsor pays, and what it cannot pass to you

Knowing the real employer costs makes a "sponsorship fee" easy to recognise. These figures are from the Home Affairs cost-of-sponsoring page.

Cost	Amount	Who pays
Becoming an approved sponsor (482)	AUD420	The employer; cannot be transferred to you or your family
Nominating you for the 482	AUD330	The employer; cannot be transferred to you or your family
Skilling Australians Fund levy (482)	AUD1200 a year for a small business, AUD1800 a year for a larger one	The employer; must not be passed on to the visa applicant
Money, cashback or deductions in return for sponsorship	Any amount	Nobody: it is illegal
A New Zealand employer's recruitment costs	Any amount	The employer; it cannot charge you, even through a third party

Your own bill is different: Home Affairs says applicants pay separately for English tests, health checks, police certificates and biometrics. Our breakdown of the 482 visa cost in pesos for your family shows what to budget for.

New Zealand draws the same line for the AEWV

Immigration New Zealand says it will decline an Accredited Employer Work Visa application if the applicant or their agent offered or promised money to the employer, or the employer's agent, in exchange for a job offer.

New Zealand employers cannot charge you fees for a job or make you pay any of their recruitment costs, including indirectly through a third party.
An AEWV employment agreement cannot include unlawful deductions.
A POEA news advisory of 19 December 2014 said licensed agencies may not charge placement fees for New Zealand jobs, citing New Zealand's Wages Protection Act of 1983.

Before you sign, use our guide to checking the accredited employer before you sign or pay. Employer Sponsored Jobs covers the other side in its guide to what a New Zealand business must pay and prove to hire migrants.

A DMW placement fee is a separate question

"Placement fee" and "sponsorship fee" are often used as if they meant the same thing. They do not. The placement fee is a Philippine rule for licensed recruitment agencies, never a price for an employer's sponsorship.

Under the 2023 DMW rules, a licensed agency may charge a placement fee equivalent to one month basic salary, except for domestic workers and countries whose law, policy or practice does not allow such fees. It may be paid only after you sign the DMW-approved contract, against a BIR-registered receipt, and no other fees in any amount, form or purpose may be charged beyond those the rules list. The same rules put the visa and stamping fee, round trip airfare, the DMW processing fee and the OWWA membership fee on the employer.

If an agency asks for more, or labels any charge a "sponsorship fee", stop and check with the DMW, and ask a registered migration agent about the Australian visa side.

What paying for a sponsor can cost you

Your visa. Paying for sponsorship can lead to visa refusal or cancellation, fines or imprisonment.
Your next application. The 482 rule covers the past 3 years, so one deal can follow you.
Your freedom to leave. A 482 holder may work only in the nominated occupation and only for the nominating business, so a sponsor who has taken your money holds a lot of power over you.
A long ban. If the deal runs through a scam agent, Home Affairs warns that people who engage in visa fraud risk being banned from Australia for up to 10 years.

Six checks before you hand over any money

Ask, in writing, what the payment is for. If the answer is sponsorship, the nomination, the levy or "the slot", say no.
Compare what you are told with the Home Affairs cost-of-sponsoring page.
Look up any agency in the DMW directory of licensed recruitment agencies and check that its status shows a valid licence.
For a New Zealand offer, search the employer on the INZ accredited employer list by NZBN or company name.
Check anyone helping with your visa: a registered migration agent has a MARN and is listed on the OMARA register, and exempt helpers must not charge a fee. In New Zealand, check the Immigration Advisers Authority register.
Keep your passport and identity documents until you are certain the employer or recruiter is genuine, as Scamwatch advises.

The honest route costs effort, not a bribe. A clear English CV matters more than any "connection", and Build AI CV can help you draft one. Optional: a verified Talent Tabloid profile lets employers check your experience and can help your application stand out.

Every role on PinoyAbroad is with an employer prepared to sponsor a visa for the right candidate, and there is no fee to apply, whether it is a head chef role in Sydney or a carpenter job in Cairns.

Already paid, or being asked to pay wages back?

Do not stay silent out of fear for your visa. In Australia, visa holders have the same workplace rights as every other employee. The Fair Work Ombudsman's page for visa holders says an employer can't cancel a worker's visa, only Home Affairs can, and contacting the Ombudsman will not get a visa cancelled. For help in another language, call the Translating and Interpreting Service on 131 450 and ask for the Fair Work Ombudsman on 13 13 94. For the visa side, speak to a registered migration agent first.

At home, DMW Advisory No. 20, Series of 2023 asks the public to report illegal recruitment to the Migrant Workers Protection Bureau at 87221192 or mwpb@dmw.gov.ph, and the DMW Emergency Hotline is 1348. Our guide to who OFWs can call when work goes wrong lists more contacts, including the Migrant Workers Office Australia.

Common mistakes Filipino workers make with sponsorship money

Trusting a payment because a relative or a kababayan arranged it. Who collects the money does not change what it is for.
Accepting cashback because the pay slip looks right.
Signing a side letter that lets a "visa fee" come out of wages.
Agreeing to "share" the Skilling Australians Fund levy.
Paying an agency before signing the DMW-approved contract, or without a BIR-registered receipt.
Paying anything for a New Zealand job offer.

Frequently asked questions

Is it legal to pay for sponsorship in Australia?

No. Home Affairs says it is illegal for a person to pay an employer to sponsor them for a visa, including through salary deductions, and it can lead to visa refusal or cancellation, fines or imprisonment.

Can my employer deduct sponsorship costs from my salary?

No. The sponsoring employer must pay all costs of becoming a sponsor and nominating you, and cannot transfer them to you or your family. Home Affairs names salary deductions as a form of illegal payment.

What is a cashback job in Australia?

It is a job where the employer pays your wage and then requires you to hand part of it back. The Fair Work Ombudsman says these cashback schemes are illegal in Australia.

Is a DMW placement fee the same as paying for sponsorship?

No. Under the 2023 DMW rules a licensed agency may charge up to one month basic salary in some cases, only after you sign the DMW-approved contract. It is never a price for the employer's sponsorship.

Can a New Zealand employer charge me for an AEWV job offer?

No. New Zealand employers cannot charge you fees for a job, even through a third party, and Immigration New Zealand will decline an AEWV application if money was offered or promised for the job offer.

Key takeaways

Paying an employer to sponsor you is illegal in Australia, including cashback and salary deductions.
Sponsor fees, nomination fees and the Skilling Australians Fund levy belong to the employer.
One payment can cost you the visa and count against a 482 application for 3 years.
New Zealand employers cannot charge workers for a job.
A DMW placement fee is a separate agency charge, never a price for sponsorship.

#pay for sponsorship australia #buy sponsorship australia #cashback job australia #salary deduction sponsorship #482 sponsorship for sale #filipino workers