The Department of Home Affairs announced commencement of data exchange with ATO targeting the temporary skilled visa program.
Purpose of the data exchange is to identify whether business sponsors are complying with their obligations - eg. paying visa holders correctly, and whether visa holders are complying with their visa conditions - eg. to work only for the approved sponsor. Where non-compliance will be identified further actions may be taken (such as cancellation of a visa or the approval of a sponsor).
In this exchange program the Department will provide to the ATO details of the visa holders who are, or were in the last 3 financial years holders of 457 or 482 visas; and details of these clients' business sponsors.
These details will be then matched against ATO data, who will return income and employment information for these individuals to the Department of Home Affairs.
It is estimated that the total number of records shared will be around 680,000 which represents 280,000 individuals.
It is therefore very important that both visa holders and business sponsors understand their visa conditions and obligations.
For more details please do not hesitate to contact our Registered Migration Agent to discuss your case.