VEVO for Employers: How to Check Work Rights in Australia (2026)
How Australian employers use VEVO to verify a visa holder's work rights, what the common condition codes mean, and the civil and criminal penalties for getting it wrong. Figures as at September 2026.
Read the full guide, with official sources →
Watch
Chapters
- 0:00 Hiring a non-citizen?
- 0:12 VEVO: free, real-time,
- 0:24 Three ways to check
- 0:50 8105: the student.
- 1:04 No VEVO check needed:
- 1:15 When to check
- 1:36 For a company: up to
- 1:46 The criminal penalties
- 2:02 Your defence: a saved VEVO check,
Transcript
Before you hire someone who isn't a citizen, the law says you have to check their work rights — and there's a free government tool that does it in seconds.
That tool is VEVO — Visa Entitlement Verification Online. It's free, it's run by the Department of Home Affairs, and it shows a visa holder's real-time status and conditions.
You can check it three ways: the free web search, through your ImmiAccount, or with an organisational account for bulk checks.
When you check, read the condition code. Condition 8101 means no work at all. Condition 8105 caps a student visa holder at 48 hours a fortnight while their course is in session. Condition 8107 means work only for the approved sponsor.
One mix-up trips people up. Condition 8105 belongs to the student visa holder, themselves. Condition 8104 is the same 48-hour cap, but on a family member included on their visa.
Australian citizens, and New Zealand citizens on a Special Category visa, subclass 444, have unrestricted work rights — you don't need a VEVO check on them.
Best practice is checking at three points: before the person starts, before their visa expires, and whenever their circumstances change.
Get it wrong, and the civil penalty for one illegal worker can reach 240 penalty units for an individual — up to $79,200, at the current penalty unit value.
For a company, a court can multiply that by 5 — up to 1,200 penalty units, or $396,000 per worker.
Knowingly or recklessly allowing the illegal work is also a criminal offence: up to 2 years in prison, or a fine of up to 360 penalty units. If the worker is being exploited, that rises to 5 years, or up to 900 penalty units.
The one thing that protects you is a documented VEVO check for every non-citizen you employ — taken before their first day, and kept on file.
The full guide, with the official sources, is on migratio.com.au. The link is in the description.
Short versions
- The penalty for skipping a VEVO check (0:31)
- 8104 or 8105? Employers mix these up (0:35)
- Three moments every employer should run a VEVO check (0:28)
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