How to hire a RSMS (subclass 187, legacy) worker for your Agriculture & Farming business

A Geelong aged-care group needed two registered nurses on 482s before Christmas. They’d never sponsored before. Here’s the day-by-day of their first hire.

This guide walks agriculture & farming businesses through the practical steps of hiring someone on a RSMS (subclass 187, legacy) — what to check, what to advertise, how to verify work rights, and what compliance you need before day one.

Step 1 — Verify work rights

The RSMS (subclass 187, legacy) carries full work rights by default. Always confirm against the candidate’s grant letter or via VEVO before you make an offer — the platform stores their visa data so you can check at a glance, but VEVO is the source of truth.

Step 2 — Match your role to their work rights

If the candidate is hours-limited, structure the role accordingly. If they’re sponsorship-eligible and you’re a Standard Business Sponsor or Accredited Sponsor, you can use this hire as your nominated position.

Step 3 — Sponsorship pathway

This visa subclass is part of the sponsorship pipeline. Your business needs Standard Business Sponsor (SBS) status — or Accredited Sponsor for faster processing — before you nominate.

Step 4 — Compliance you can’t skip

• Fair Work obligations — minimum wage, super, leave entitlements, regardless of visa.
• Modern Award — pay against the relevant industry award; below-award pay rejects the post here.
• Record keeping — VEVO check date, offer letter, signed agreement, super fund choice.
• Never charge the candidate — sponsorship-fee or pay-for-work conduct is criminal under s245AR Migration Act 1958.

Step 5 — Post the role

Use the platform: tag the role with the visa subclasses you can hire (the RSMS (subclass 187, legacy) lives in our taxonomy as a single click), set sponsorship to “yes” or “maybe”, and tick “open to offshore” if relevant. The matcher will start surfacing candidates within minutes.