A VEVO check is how an Australian employer confirms that a worker who isn't an Australian citizen is allowed to work, and on what conditions. You log in to VEVO through your organisation's ImmiAccount, enter the worker's passport details with their permission, and the Department of Home Affairs tells you whether they have unlimited, limited or no work rights.
This is the employer's guide: when you must check work rights, exactly how to run an organisation check, how to read the result, how often to check again and what happens if you get it wrong. It's written for owners and ops managers who need someone on site on Monday and want to know they're cleared to work. For how VEVO works for visa holders and other organisations, see our guide to the VEVO check.
This is general information, not legal advice. Visa rules change, so everything here is as at October 2026 and linked to the official source.
VEVO check for employers: what it is
VEVO stands for Visa Entitlement Verification Online. It's the Department of Home Affairs' free system that lets visa holders, employers, education providers and other organisations check visa conditions.
There are two ways in:
| Visa holder check | Organisation check | |
|---|---|---|
| Who runs it | The worker, about their own visa | Your business, about a worker |
| Login | No account needed | Your organisation's ImmiAccount |
| What you enter | Passport details plus a TRN, visa grant number or visa evidence number | Name, date of birth, travel document number and country |
| Consent | Not needed | Required from the worker |
| Result | The worker can email you a copy | You see the result directly and can save a PDF |
For employers, the organisation check is the one to rely on, because you run it yourself against Home Affairs records rather than trusting a document someone forwards. A visa holder check emailed to you by the worker is useful context, but it isn't your own check.
When employers must check work rights
Home Affairs is clear: it's against the law to hire a non-citizen who doesn't hold a valid visa, or to hire them for work that goes against their visa conditions. The same page tells employers to check a potential employee's work conditions through VEVO, with the visa holder's permission.
The law doesn't say "you must use VEVO" in those words. It says you must not allow illegal work. VEVO is how you show you checked. In practice, check:
- Every worker who isn't an Australian citizen, before their first shift. That includes permanent residents and New Zealand citizens. Most will have unlimited work rights, but you only know once you've checked.
- Again before their visa expires. A visa that was fine at onboarding can lapse months later.
- Whenever their visa changes. A new visa, a bridging visa, a change of course or a change of employer can all change their work conditions.
- Regularly for bridging visa holders, whose status can change without much notice.
Australian citizens can't be checked in VEVO. Ask for an Australian passport or citizenship certificate instead, and keep a note that you sighted it.
How to run a VEVO check as an employer, step by step
These steps follow the Home Affairs guide to VEVO for organisations.
1. Set up your organisation ImmiAccount (once)
You need an Australian Business Number (ABN). Create or join an Organisation ImmiAccount and select Visa Entitlement Verification Online (VEVO) for organisations. Employers, labour suppliers and background screening companies register for the work entitlements category, which lets you check the work rights of prospective and current employees.
The first person to register may become your Organisation Account Administrator, and the Department approves every access request, so do this before you need it.
2. Get the worker's details and permission
You need the worker's permission to use their travel document details and run the check. Collect:
- Full name, exactly as it appears on their travel document
- Date of birth
- Travel document type and number (usually a passport; VEVO also accepts an ImmiCard, a Convention Travel Document and a PLO56 Evidence Card)
- The document's country of issue (not needed for an ImmiCard or PLO56)
You don't need their visa grant number or TRN for an organisation check. Those are for the worker's own check.
3. Log in and enter the details
Log in to VEVO through your organisation's ImmiAccount, choose the document type, enter the details and accept VEVO's terms and conditions. Watch for look-alike characters such as the letter O and the number 0. If VEVO is down, Home Affairs suggests recording the date and time it was unavailable.
4. Save the result
Save the PDF of the result. Home Affairs recommends it, and notes that its compliance officers may ask for this information during field inspections. You don't need to keep a copy of the worker's passport to do this.
How to read a VEVO result
For employers, the result shows whether the person has:
- Unlimited work rights. They can work for you without visa work limits.
- Limited work rights, with a description of the conditions.
- No work rights. They can't work for you.
The result also shows the visa class and subclass, the grant and expiry dates, and any conditions. The work conditions you'll see most often:
| Condition | What it means for you |
|---|---|
| 8101: No work | The person can't work in Australia. Don't roster them. |
| 8104 / 8105: Work limitation | Usually on student visas. Under 8105, as at October 2026, students can work up to 48 hours a fortnight while their course is in session, and unlimited hours during scheduled breaks. See our guide to visa condition 8105. |
| 8547: Six months per employer | Working Holiday Makers generally can't work for one employer for more than six months without permission, with exceptions for some work and locations. |
| 8607: Sponsored work | The worker may only work for their approved sponsor in their nominated occupation. If they aren't sponsored by you, you generally can't employ them. |
Two things catch employers out. First, a Visitor visa or ETA doesn't allow work at all, according to Home Affairs. Second, VEVO shows the visa that is in effect today. A worker who has applied for a new visa may be holding a bridging visa that isn't in effect yet, so the result can look different from what they tell you.
If a condition isn't clear, check the condition's wording on the Home Affairs site or get advice before you roster them.
Record-keeping and re-checking
A check is only useful if you can find it later. For each worker, keep:
- The VEVO result PDF and the date you ran it
- The visa subclass, expiry date and any work conditions
- A note of the worker's permission
- A reminder date before the visa expires
Then re-check before expiry, when their visa changes, and on a regular cycle for anyone on a bridging visa or a visa with no fixed expiry. A spreadsheet works until it doesn't, usually when the person who owns it is on leave.
What happens if you get it wrong
Home Affairs lists the consequences for employers who break the law under the Migration Act. As at October 2026, you could:
- be directed to take action or stop doing something
- be fined
- be declared a prohibited employer and banned from hiring new temporary visa holders, with your business name published on the Australian Border Force website
- face criminal prosecution or civil penalties
For serious, deliberate or repeated breaches, the penalties include up to 5 years' jail and fines set in penalty units, which can apply for each worker. Penalty unit values are indexed, so check the current amounts on the Home Affairs page.
Visa holders also have the same workplace rights as everyone else under the Fair Work Act. The Fair Work Ombudsman covers pay and conditions for visa holders.
Common situations
International students. Expect condition 8105 or 8104. Track hours per fortnight while their course is in session, and confirm whether their course is in a break before giving them extra shifts.
Working Holiday Makers. Watch the six-month limit with one employer (condition 8547) and its exceptions. Note their start date so you know when the limit applies.
Bridging visas. Work rights depend on the bridging visa and the visa it's attached to. Some allow work, some don't, and the in-effect visa may still be their old one. Read our guide to bridging visa work rights and check more often.
PALM scheme workers. Pacific Australia Labour Mobility workers hold a Temporary Work (International Relations) visa (subclass 403) tied to an approved employer. Check before taking on a PALM worker who isn't placed with you. See our agriculture page for how growers run onboarding.
Labour hire. Using a labour hire provider doesn't remove your obligations. Home Affairs suggests putting a clause in your contracts that requires the provider to use VEVO to check workers' visa conditions. If you are the labour hire business, you check every worker you place. See Canyou for labour hire.
VEVO check checklist
- Organisation ImmiAccount set up with VEVO work entitlements access
- Worker's permission recorded
- Name, date of birth, passport number and country collected
- Check run before the first shift
- Result PDF saved with the date
- Work conditions noted and passed to whoever does the roster
- Reminder set before the visa expires
- Re-check booked for bridging visa holders
- Citizens: passport or citizenship certificate sighted instead
A VEVO check is one line of a wider new employee onboarding checklist. If the role also needs a clearance or a ticket, run it in the same week: a working with children check for schools, childcare and aged care, a White Card check for construction sites, and a high risk work licence check for forklift, crane and EWP operators.
How Canyou handles VEVO checks
Onboarding gets them into payroll. It doesn't keep them legal to work. That's the gap Canyou closes.
In Canyou, the visa check sits inside the onboarding workflow instead of in someone's inbox:
- Add a Visa details task to your onboarding workflow. The worker enters their visa and passport details from their phone. (How to add the task)
- An admin runs the check from Canyou. Every check is checked with the Department of Home Affairs (VEVO), and you can review or edit the details before you run it. (How to complete a visa check)
- See the result on the worker's record: visa status, class and subclass, expiry date, work entitlement and conditions.
- Get notice before a visa expires. You choose how many days' notice you want.
- Keep the history. Every past check stays on the worker's record as an audit trail, and you can run a new check at any time.
Visa checks are billed per check; see pricing for each plan's rate. Read more about right to work checks in Canyou, or book a demo and we'll show you a check end to end.
