Pay for sponsorship Zimbabwe Australia rules: a cash request means walk away

Tips · 2026-11-12 · 9 min read

A determined Zimbabwean man pushes a phone away at a market stall while keeping his passport closed under his hand.

If an employer, agent or "contact" in Australia or New Zealand asks you for money in return for sponsorship or a job offer, stop before you pay. Paying for sponsorship is illegal in Australia and can lead to visa refusal or cancellation, fines or imprisonment, and New Zealand employers cannot charge you for a job. For anyone reading in Harare, Bulawayo, Mutare or Gweru, the person asking is usually far away and reaches you by chat message, so the rules below are your protection.

Pay for sponsorship from Zimbabwe: what the rules say

Home Affairs says it is illegal for a person to pay an employer to sponsor them for a visa, including through salary deductions. The risk lands on the worker as well as the employer: refusal or cancellation of the visa, fines or imprisonment.

For the Skills in Demand visa (subclass 482), applicants must not have asked for, offered, received or provided a benefit in return for visa sponsorship in the past 3 years. Our guide to the Skills in Demand (482) visa from Zimbabwe explains how the employer-led process is meant to work.

Fair Work also names "cashback" schemes, where an employer unreasonably requires someone to pay them in exchange for a job. These are illegal in Australia. The money may be called a deposit, a training charge, a "processing fee" or a repayment of wages, but the test is the same: you are paying the person who controls the job.

In 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. Immigration New Zealand (INZ) will decline an Accredited Employer Work Visa (AEWV) application if the applicant or their agent offered or promised money to the employer, or its agent, in exchange for a job offer. A payment you thought would help can end the application.

Six payment requests and what the official pages say

What you are asked for	What the official pages say	Country
Money to an employer to be sponsored	Illegal, including through salary deductions; can lead to refusal, cancellation, fines or imprisonment	Australia
Money back to an employer in exchange for a job ("cashback")	Illegal where an employer unreasonably requires it	Australia
The employer's costs of becoming a sponsor and nominating you	The employer pays all of them and cannot pass them to you or your family	Australia
Recruitment fees for a job, including through a third party	Employers cannot charge you or make you pay their recruitment costs	New Zealand
Money offered or promised to an employer for an AEWV job offer	INZ will decline the application	New Zealand
Visa fees paid into a bank account	INZ never asks for this; it accepts card payment on its forms or payment at an approved Visa Application Centre	New Zealand

Common mistakes when a job offer comes with a bill

These mistakes come from the pressure to move fast. Scammers know that a long wait for a job offer makes a quick answer attractive.

Treating a fee as the price of a place in the queue. Scamwatch lists being asked to pay a "recruitment fee" or for training materials before starting as a warning sign of a job scam.
Believing a "working holiday" is on offer. Zimbabwe is not on Home Affairs' list for the Working Holiday (417) visa or the Work and Holiday (462) visa, and it is not on INZ's list of working holiday countries. Anyone selling you one is not describing a route that exists for a Zimbabwean passport.
Accepting a promised outcome. Anyone promising an Australian visa, permanent residency or citizenship is misleading you, because no one can promise those. In New Zealand a temporary visa carries no promise of residence, and scammers often overstate how likely residence is.
Paying for a "work permit". Australia does not issue work permits, visa labels or Labour Market Impact Assessments, so anyone offering one is running a scam.
Sending a passport scan too early. Scamwatch advises never sending your passport or identity documents to an employer or recruitment firm unless you are certain they are genuine.
Trusting a screenshot of a visa. A visa grant that cannot be found in VEVO is probably fake, and ImmiAccount is the only official website for applying for an Australian visa.

Real costs versus a payment to the job-giver

Not every cost in a move is a scam, and that is why some people hesitate to question a request. The difference is where the money goes. Real costs go to a government or an approved provider through an official channel. A scam asks for money to the person offering the job, or to a personal account.

A medical for an immigration application is a good example. In New Zealand only approved panel doctors and other registered doctors can accept payment for immigration medicals, and INZ never asks for medical payments itself. Our guide to the visa medical in Zimbabwe shows how to check the doctor first. In the same way, our guide to checking qualifications before you pay anyone separates assessment bodies from middlemen.

Agents are a separate case. Each registered migration agent in Australia has a Migration Agents Registration Number (MARN), and someone claiming to be an agent without a MARN or Office of the Migration Agents Registration Authority (OMARA) listing is not legitimate. In New Zealand anyone giving immigration advice must be licensed by the Immigration Advisers Authority unless exempt, and its public register shows whether a person is licensed. Our guide to a registered migration agent in Zimbabwe shows both searches. You are not required to use an adviser to apply for a New Zealand visa.

Fees for an agent's own service are between you and a registered agent. They are never a payment for the employer's sponsorship. If a person mixes the two, treat that as a red flag.

Your next six moves before any money leaves

Pause and do not pay. Ask for the request in writing, and do not move any money by mobile transfer, bank transfer or cash while you check.
Find the official rule. Read Home Affairs' page on visa scams for Australia and INZ's page on protecting yourself from immigration scams for New Zealand.
Check the email address. Emails claiming to be from the Department of Home Affairs whose address does not end in .gov.au are scams. Official INZ email addresses end with immigration.govt.nz or mbie.govt.nz.
Check any agent's registration. Search the Australian or New Zealand register, as in the guide above, before you discuss money.
Keep every message, receipt and screenshot. Do not delete the chat, even if you feel embarrassed. These records matter if you later need to explain what happened.
Ask for help early. If you are already in Australia and a payment is deducted from your wages, the Fair Work Ombudsman helps visa holders. For workplace help in another language, call the Translating and Interpreting Service on 131 450 and ask them to call the Fair Work Ombudsman on 13 13 94.

Already sent money? Stop the second payment

Do not make a second payment to "fix" the first, and do not lie to the department to cover it. People who engage in visa fraud through a scam agent risk visa refusal or cancellation and being banned from Australia for up to 10 years. The honest route is to stop, keep the records, and read the official pages above or speak to a registered agent or licensed adviser. No one can promise you a refund, and neither can we.

A common fear is that complaining will cancel your visa. An employer cannot cancel a worker's visa; only Home Affairs can grant, refuse or cancel visas, and contacting the Fair Work Ombudsman will not get a visa cancelled. Everyone in New Zealand, including migrants, has the same minimum employment rights, including paid holidays and sick leave.

Routes that start with the employer paying

A genuine route starts with an employer who carries the sponsorship costs. Read our guides to the AEWV from Zimbabwe and the four checks before you accept an AEWV job offer. For Australia, the post on why "sponsorship may be considered" is not a job offer shows how to read an ad honestly. All our visa guides are at JobsAbroad Zimbabwe's visa guides.

The costs question is also covered from the employer's side. Employer Sponsored Jobs explains who pays for visa sponsorship in Australia, line by line, and its post on AEWV recruitment costs covers New Zealand.

Spend your own time on the parts you control: a clear CV (Build AI CV can help you draft one) and direct applications to employers who state sponsorship in the ad.

Frequently asked questions

Is it illegal to pay an employer for sponsorship in Australia?

Yes. Home Affairs says it is illegal for a person to pay an employer to sponsor them for a visa, including through salary deductions. It can lead to visa refusal or cancellation, fines or imprisonment.

Can a New Zealand employer charge me a recruitment fee?

No. 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. INZ may also decline an AEWV application if money was offered or promised to the employer or its agent.

Who pays the cost of sponsoring me in Australia?

The sponsoring employer must pay all costs of becoming a sponsor and nominating an applicant. The employer cannot transfer these costs to the visa holder or their family.

Can I get a working holiday visa from Zimbabwe if the agent says yes?

Not on the official lists. Zimbabwe is not listed for the Australian 417 or 462 visas, and INZ says that if a country is not listed it cannot give a working holiday visa. A different work visa may be possible, so check the official pages first.

How do I know an agent is real?

For Australia, check for a MARN and an OMARA listing. For New Zealand, search the Immigration Advisers Authority register. A polished social media page proves nothing on its own.

Key takeaways

Paying an employer for sponsorship is illegal in Australia and can lead to refusal, cancellation, fines or imprisonment.
New Zealand employers cannot charge you for a job, and an offer of money can lead INZ to decline an AEWV.
Real costs go to a government or approved provider, never to the person offering the job.
Zimbabwe has no working holiday route to Australia or New Zealand, and no one can promise you a visa.
Keep every message and receipt, check registers, and ask official bodies before paying anyone.

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