Turnover Is Not an Absolute Threshold — A Construction Employer’s Sponsorship Approval Granted in Just One Business Day!

When considering Subclass 482 employer sponsorship, many small businesses worry about one question: if the company’s turnover isn’t high, does that mean it isn’t eligible to sponsor overseas workers?

Recently, we successfully helped a small construction business apply for Standard Business Sponsorship (SBS) approval, and it was approved just one business day after lodgement!

Client Background

The client is an Australian construction company. It is a small business with annual turnover of less than AUD 500,000, and it wanted to obtain SBS approval to prepare for sponsoring skilled overseas workers in the future.

For a smaller business with limited turnover, the main issue to resolve in an SBS application is not ‘whether turnover has reached a fixed figure’, but how to use the supporting documents to show in full that the business is operating genuinely and lawfully and has a reasonable business foundation.

The Key to This Application: Low Turnover Does Not Mean You Cannot Sponsor

So during preparation, we focused on organising the company’s actual trading position, its construction operations and the relevant financial documents, so that the different documents corroborated one another and clearly showed how the business genuinely operates.

For small businesses, the logic of the supporting documents is especially important. Turnover under AUD 500,000 does not necessarily mean a business cannot apply, but the smaller the business, the more it needs to explain clearly ‘what the company actually does, whether its business is genuine and ongoing, and why it will need to sponsor workers in the future’.

Approved One Business Day After Lodgement

After completing our assessment of the company’s background and preparing the documents, we formally lodged the SBS application. In the end, the sponsorship approval was granted in just one business day!

Of course, an approval this fast does not mean every construction-industry SBS application will be processed at the same speed, but this case does at least show that turnover is not the only criterion for deciding whether a business can obtain approval as a sponsor.

Particularly where there is a genuine need for skilled workers in the construction industry, even a small business with modest turnover can be assessed specifically on its genuine trading position, financial capacity and future workforce plans, rather than giving up on employer sponsorship simply because ‘the company is small and turnover is under AUD 500,000’.