Visa checks and reporting

If your business hires employees on visas, you can use our direct link with VEVO to run a Visa Check on their details. Using the Visa Check function will help you determine if your employee or candidate is eligible to work. The image below shows how Visas are checked and monitored in foundU.

This eligibility status is determined by the details entered in the 'Right to Work' section during your employee's onboarding. If they select 'No' to the question 'Are you an Australian Citizen?', they will be required to upload their passport details. These details should relate to their visa and will be reported to the Department of Home Affairs.

To run a visa check:

1. Navigate to People > Pending People (or Approved People, depending on their status, i.e. applicant or new employee).
2. On the Overview page, select 'Eligible for Visa Check'.
   • You may also see 'Not Eligible for Visa Check'. This is typically the result of incomplete visa information. Select 'More Info' for further details.
     
     
3. Then review the details and select 'Confirm Details and Run Visa Check'.
   
     Hot tip: Ensure you review the linked supporting document before performing the check. If the details in that document do not match those displayed on your screen, your check will likely return an error.
   
   
4. If the check is successful and error-free, the candidate's visa type will now appear on the overview page.
   
   

After the initial check, the platform will run the Visa Check periodically and send status updates to the assigned manager via email. You can also update and add recipients of these communications in the platform's Communication Content.
 

Understanding visa check errors

When running the Visa Check, you may encounter an error. This error typically occurs when the check results are rejected. However, it can sometimes occur if the connection between VEVO and the platform has gone offline. In such cases, the system is set to reconnect in six hours.

  Hot tip: If your Vevo connection is offline, we recommend postponing non-urgent checks until the next day. For any urgent checks, you can do them directly on the DOHA website. 
 

Common causes for a Visa Check Error are:

• The personal details the employee has uploaded to their profile don't match those in their supporting document.
  • If this is the case, the employee will need to update their details via their Employee App.
• The employee recently obtained a new passport and did not update it with DOHA.
  • If you need to run the check right away, contact the employee to update their Right to Work details with their old passport information.
  • Once they have updated their passport details with the Department, they will also need to update those details in their app. 

  Please note: If you perform a visa check on an individual and the result comes back as errored, please avoid rechecking the same employee multiple times, as this can cause longer wait times for visa checks conducted after your initial check.
 

To review the Visa Check Error, you will need to:

1. Navigate to the employee's profile and select the highlighted "Visa Check Error" option.
   
   
2. This will display the error details and inform you of the necessary steps to correct the error.
   
   

3. Update the visa details accordingly and re-run the Visa Check. You may need to clarify these details with the employee before re-running the Visa Check. 

  Contact us: If you continue to receive this error, please get in touch with our Support Team for further assistance. 

Depending on where your employee or candidate is in their lifecycle with your business, there may come a time when the details they have added for the Visa Check need to be updated.

 For example, if the employee is:

• Still in onboarding, but they have completed all steps, and their profile is still in 'Pending People'. An admin user will need to update the details on their behalf. 
• Still in onboarding, but they haven't completed all steps. They can update the details themselves by navigating back to the step where they uploaded their Right to Work information. 
• An active employee, and their profile is in 'Approved People'. The employee can update these details themselves from their Employee App. 

Updating right-to-work information on behalf of the employee

We generally recommend that employees update this information; however, in some scenarios, an admin may need to do so. Before making any changes, always confirm with the employee that the details you are updating are correct. 
 

To update this information on behalf of an employee:

1. Navigate to the employee's profile by using the search function or by selecting "Approved People" or "Pending People".
2. In the employee's profile, navigate to the onboarding icon and open the Right to Work & References tab.
3. Select (Edit) and fix or update the required information. and save and close.
         
4. Save and close to lock in those changes, and navigate back to the employee Overview tab to re-run the Visa Check.
         
    

How employees can update their information

For employees to update their Right to Work information, they must either still be in the incomplete onboarding process or approved to work on the platform.
 

How employees can update their Right to Work information while still onboarding:

1. In the Employee App, employees can navigate to the relevant step (your business has customised onboarding, so it may vary) that contains the Right to Work information.
2. The employee will then update the relevant information and move on to the next step to save.
         

  Please note: If your employee has already completed the onboarder section containing the Right to Work information, they may not be able to revisit the steps they have already completed. In such a scenario, you will need to enable a specific setting in your platform to allow the employee to revisit previous sections. For more information, please refer to our guide on the Back button for application and onboarding steps.

  Active employees can update their Right to Work information directly in their Employee App. Please refer to our detailed guide in the Employee Help Centre on how to do this.

On your platform, ensure that both your admins and employees are aware of their visa expiration status by activating expiration notifications. While doing this, you can also manage and customise the messages your employees or admins receive. 

Key use cases for doing this include: 

• Sending communications to individuals whose visas and passports are expiring before expiration. 
• Assisting with visa and passport compliance to ensure employees do not need to stop working for your business. 
• Creating destination-specific messaging for multiple recipients using a single email template.

  Permission Reminder: To proceed with these steps, you must have 'Access Expiry Notifications' and 'Manage Communication Content' permissions enabled in your User Permissions. 
 

Enabling Expiry Notifications

The first step in managing your expiry notifications is ensuring they’re enabled on your platform. Once they’re switched on, you’ll be able to manage and customise how they work for your team.

To ensure your visa expiry notifications are turned on:

1. From the main menu, navigate to Platform Settings > Expiry Notifications.
2. Find and select 'Working Visa Documentation'. In here, you can update the following items:
   • Expiry Type - You have the choice of either 'Expiry Date' or 'Assessment Date', depending on what you collect. 
   • Notify Rep - Enable or disable notifications to admin users. 
   • Notify Candidate - Enable or disable notifications to employees.
3. Select Save to update. 
           

Customising visa notification content

You can customise the content sent to your administrators and employees when the visa's status changes or the expiration date approaches. 

To do this, navigate to Communication > Communication Content in your main menu, then search for the following templates.

• Employee Visa & Passport expiring template

• Visa & Passport expiring template (Dynamic)

• Visa Check Changes Template

• Visa Check Error Template

  For more information on customising this content, please have a look at our complete guide on Personalising your Email & SMS templates.

In some cases, you may want or need to view your employee's visa status and upcoming expirations on a single page or in a single file.

There are 2 places on your platform where you can do this.

• From either the Pending or Approved People page. 
• From the Visa Check List report. 

The method you choose will depend on several key factors outlined below. 
 

Exporting from the People page

If you need to review the visa types and current expiration dates for any of your employees, and most importantly, your pending employees or candidates. The best option is your Pending People page, since pending employees do not appear in the Visa Checklist report. 
 

To export visa details for your pending employees:

1. Navigate to People > Pending People.
2. From Bulk Actions, select Export All Filtered
3. Find the Job section heading and from it, select 'Visa Type' and 'Visa Expiry'.
4. Export the CSV file to download these details for all employees. 
         

  Hot tip: Save this as a template to easily reuse for all future pending employees.

Using the Visa check list report

The Visa Check List report serves as an essential resource for monitoring the visa status of all current employees on your platform.

It allows you to filter and view employees based on specific conditions, such as:

• Visa types
• Expiration dates
• To identify any errors or issues that require attention

This detailed functionality helps ensure compliance and simplifies the management of employee visas. 
 

To run the Visa Check List report:

1. Navigate to Reports > Workforce > Visa Check List.
2. Apply any filters as needed or leave them blank to view all employees. You will be able to select filters from the following categories:
   • Visa Details 
     • Class
     • Subclass
     • Only include visas with conditions
     • Only include visas with errors
   • Eligibility
     • Limited visa
     • Unlimited visa
     • Eligible for check
     • Ineligible for check - This option is for employees who haven't had their first Visa Check triggered on their employee profile.
     • Visa rejected
     • Unable to check
   • Check Status
     • All
     • Completed
     • Rejected
     • Not checked
   • Employee Details
     • Employees
     • Employment status
     • Office code
     • Operation
     • Employee paid between
   • Visa Details
     • Granted date
     • Expiry date
     • Last check date
       
         Hot tip: Select the filters 'Only include visas with conditions' or 'Only include visas with errors' to view only employees with errors or conditions. 
3. Select Submit to generate your report. 
4. To view more details on visas with errors or specific conditions, select the highlighted blue condition number or the red 'Errors' button. 
5. Select the Export CSV option to export the report for external review.