Life After 186 Visa: Can I Leave My Sponsor?

When applying for your subclass 186 visa, your employer sponsor is obligated to provide evidence guaranteeing that the sponsored position is available for at least 2 years after visa grant.

But what if you or your employer changed their mind after the subclass 186 visa has been granted?

Understanding Your Options After Receiving Your 186 Visa

Check your subclass 186 visa grant letter, and note there is no visa condition which states that you must remain employed with any particular employer. This is drastically different for subclass 482 visa and subclass 494 visa holders, who must only work for their nominating employers during the entire period of their visa.

After receiving a 186 visa, you are not legally required to stay with your sponsoring employer for any specific period. The employment relationship remains governed by standard Fair Work Australia regulations, allowing either party to end the arrangement according to normal employment law. Your employer cannot enforce a two-year commitment period - such requests have no legal backing. Similarly, they have no obligation to employ you for two years.

However, be aware that Home Affairs maintains cancellation powers for all visas, including permanent ones. If the department discovers that either you or your employer applied for the 186 visa without genuinely intending to fulfil the 2-year employment relationship post visa grant, they may determine "misleading or bogus information" was provided. This could result in your 186 visa being cancelled due to misrepresentation before the visa was granted.

Good Faith vs. Initial Intentions

We frequently hear from clients considering leaving their sponsor after recently receiving their 186 visa. While there's flexibility in your employment arrangements, it's helpful to understand the context of your visa approval.

When you and your employer signed the nomination and application forms, you both indicated an intention for a 2-year employment relationship. This mutual understanding formed part of the basis for your visa approval.

It's important to note that legitimate changes in circumstances that occur after your visa grant can justify changing employers. If your situation has significantly changed since approval - such as workplace conditions differing from what was promised, role modifications, or other substantial developments - these new factors can reasonably explain an employment change.

Should the department investigate your subclass 186 visa status after its grant, they would primarily be focused on whether your intentions were genuine during application, not on legitimate changes in circumstances that occurred afterward. The risk of visa cancellation arises from dishonest initial intentions, not from responding to new situations that developed post-approval.

If both you and your employer entered the arrangement in good faith, but circumstances later changed, this is quite different from situations where there was never an intention to maintain the employment relationship. If you're considering changing employers, we recommend documenting the changes in circumstances that have led to this decision, should questions arise in the future about the original visa application.

At Kin Migration, we share resources to help guide your journey. While our posts aim to keep you updated, they're general in nature and cannot replace personalised immigration advice. Laws and requirements change frequently, and information published is accurate at the time of publication. For personalised advice, please consult an OMARA-registered migration agent or an Australian immigration lawyer before proceeding with any application. To seek legal advice or information that is specific to your situation, please book a strategy session now.