Employers in Australia who engage visa holders are required to verify that each person has the legal right to work. This is typically done through the Department of Home Affairs’ VEVO system (Visa Entitlement Verification Online).
While the requirement is straightforward, the process can be slow, repetitive, and hard to scale. Complize addresses this by automating VEVO checks and reducing the time involved to less than a minute per check.
A VEVO check confirms a non-citizen's visa type, expiry date, and conditions. It is the official method for determining whether a person has permission to work in Australia.
Employers must ensure that these checks are done at the time of employment and on an ongoing basis. A failure to verify work rights, or relying on outdated records, can result in civil penalties, reputational damage, or loss of sponsorship status.
Running VEVO checks manually involves:
This process is time-consuming and often decentralised across teams. It becomes difficult to track who has been checked, when the next check is due, or whether any visa conditions have changed.
For organisations employing large numbers of visa holders, relying on manual systems increases the risk of non-compliance.
Complize automates the VEVO check workflow by integrating directly with the Department of Home Affairs. Once a worker’s details are entered, the system can:
A typical check takes less than 60 seconds from start to finish.
This reduces the need for spreadsheets or calendar-based tracking.
A medium-sized business with 250 visa holders may need to conduct more than 1,000 checks each year to meet minimum compliance standards. Manual processes often result in inconsistent outcomes and undocumented checks.
By automating these tasks, organisations can:
The system is designed to support employers who need to manage right-to-work compliance at scale.
VEVO checks are part of a wider immigration compliance obligation. In addition to verifying visa status, employers must also manage sponsorship conditions, notifiable events (such as changes in duties or resignation), and internal awareness of visa constraints.
Complize includes features to support these functions, including condition monitoring, document management, and short training modules for hiring managers and staff.
New compliance laws introduced in 2024 increased penalties for breaches and gave regulators broader powers. Employers may now be subject to public sanctioning, sponsorship cancellation, or multi-year bans from employing temporary visa holders.
These changes have increased the need for systems that provide reliable, time-stamped records of VEVO checks and other compliance actions.
VEVO checks are a core part of immigration compliance for Australian employers. While the legal requirement is well understood, the practical burden of maintaining accurate, regular checks can be substantial.
Complize provides an alternative to manual tracking by automating the verification process, storing records securely, and alerting teams when action is needed. For organisations employing a significant number of visa holders, this can improve compliance reliability and reduce administrative effort.
For more information on how VEVO automation works in practice, or to assess your current approach, book a demo.