We are often asked what the differences are between doing a visa check in vSure versus doing a visa check using the Department of Home Affairs’ VEVO system.
The top 9 differences between VEVO and vSure visa checks are summarised below:
1. Compliance = more than just VEVO visa checks
Employers have the obligation to validate the work rights of ALL staff. This means sighting evidence of Australian citizenship for those that claim to be, as well as performing a visa / VEVO check against foreign citizens.
vSure streamlines the end-to-end work rights compliance obligation. You can send new staff members an SMS or Email and they can simply click on the link, follow the steps including snapping a photo of passport or citizenship / ID documents.
vSure delivers an awesome new employee/candidate experience that is so much more than just performing a VEVO check!
2. Seamless handling of Student Visa check obligations
Employers of student visa holders (subclass 500) are obligated to collect further documents beyond a Passport under the 8104 and 8105 employment conditions.
The 8105 (Primary Visa Holder) condition carries the following recommendation from the Department of Home Affairs:
“Important: If you are an employer seeking to hire a student visa holder you should request evidence that they have commenced their course, such as a confirmation or enrolment or a letter from the relevant education provider.”
The vSure self-onboarding solution streamlines the collection of the Confirmation of Enrolment document during the simple SMS or email workflow.
The 8104 (Secondary Visa Holder) condition carries the following recommendation from the Department of Home Affairs:
“Important: Employers seeking to hire the family member of a primary student visa holder are advised to request evidence:
- of the relationship (such as a visa grant letter, marriage or birth certificate) and
- that the primary student visa holder has commenced their course, such as a Confirmation of Enrolment or a letter from the relevant education provider”
The vSure self-onboarding solution streamlines the collection of the Primary visa holder’s Confirmation of Enrolment document AND the proof of relationship documents during the simple SMS or email workflow.
3. Data Entry
To use VEVO, you must manually enter each visa holder’s passport details every time you do a visa check.
With vSure, you only need an email address or mobile number to send a request to the employee – who can snap a photo of their necessary documents, you can then check the person’s visa status with a single button click.
Versus manually entering the passport data, vSure results in less staff time and a reduced error rate.
4. Setting up a Large Number of Staff for Visa Checking
Clients with a large number of staff have reported that it’s difficult to get passport details for all temporary visa holders together for visa checking.
With vSure, we’ve created a number of different solutions which make it easy to quickly and accurately set up and maintain passport details for clients:
- Passport Scans: you can upload a scan of the passport and vSure will automatically enter the person’s details
- Bulk VEVO checks / CSV Imports: you can upload excel documents with staff passport details directly to vSure. You can also use this feature to synch current staff with your payroll software
- Request Details via Email or SMS: you can paste a list of staff email addresses or mobile numbers into vSure and this will generate emails/SMSs to the staff requesting passport details
- Onsite Wizard: you can use a tablet or smartphone to take a photo of each passport at your business locations, and import the staff members into vSure
5. Multiple Visa Checks
VEVO does allow up to 20 simultaneous visa checks to be done – but still requires passport details for each staff member to be manually entered.
vSure gives you the ability to simultaneously check any number of staff. What’s more, you’ll receive a report summarising the results of the visa checks.
6. Scheduled Visa Checks
It’s important to check visa holders regularly, particularly if they are in a high risk category (eg bridging visa holders).
vSure allows you to schedule regular visa checks for your staff – weekly, fortnightly, monthly or quarterly. You’ll then receive a report via email highlighting any staff who have issues with work rights.
7. Record Keeping – audit trail of visa checks
To avoid penalties under the Employer Sanctions Legislation, employers need to prove that they have conducted visa checking.
Particularly when there are staffing changes, it may be difficult for businesses to ensure that they maintain the required records to prove that they’ve been doing the necessary visa checks.
vSure automatically keeps a copy of visa check results for future reference on 3 different levels:
- The staff member’s current visa status is updated in the database
- An HTML copy of the visa check is retained
- A pdf copy of the visa check is retained
8. Visa Expiry Reminders
Making sure that the business takes action to renew visas or cease employment of staff prior to visa expiry is crucial.
Whilst VEVO gives the expiry date of the visa, it is up to the employer to ensure that they take action prior to visa expiry. Many employers keep an Excel spreadsheet of visa expiries. Whilst this is better than nothing, there is no guarantee that the information is correct. A simple typo may mean that the expiry date is inaccurate.
vSure will remind you a number of times prior to visa expiry – starting at the 3 month mark. You also have the option of setting up a calendar reminder or SMS reminder. This means that you will never miss a visa expiry again.
9. Understanding Visa Types and Visa Conditions
VEVO often gives very limited information on the kind of visa the staff member holds – usually only the visa class and subclass is given. Because there are a large number of work visas, this can be confusing for employers.
vSure gives you more information about the nature of the visa held and what the visa allows the staff member to do in Australia. We also give easier to understand information on the visa conditions which apply.
Conclusion
Whilst VEVO is a good solution if you only have a few staff, it is risky to rely on VEVO alone if you have larger numbers of temporary visa holders.
vSure systematises the visa checking process, making it less labour intensive and more accurate. It eliminates manual data entry and creates a “set and forget” process for visa checking. vSure gives Company Officers and Directors assurance that visa checking is being done regularly. vSure automatically provides the business with regular reports highlighting any employees with immigration risks.
The Department of Home Affairs has raised the bar when it comes to immigration compliance – vSure allows businesses to meet the new standards in a cost-effective way.
