| SC# | Name | Type | Duration | PR Pathway |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 482 | Skills in Demand | Temporary, employer sponsored | Up to 4 yrs (Core) / 5 yrs (Specialist) | Via 186 TRT, after 2 yrs |
| 186 | Employer Nomination Scheme | Permanent, employer sponsored | Permanent | Is the PR outcome |
| 494 | Skilled Employer Sponsored Regional | Provisional, regional employer sponsored | Up to 5 yrs | Via 191, after 3 yrs regional work |
| 191 | Permanent Residence (Skilled Regional) | Permanent, from 494/491 | Permanent | Is the PR outcome |
| 407 | Training | Temporary, occupational training | Up to 2 yrs | None — not a work-visa pathway |
| 400 | Temp Work (Short Stay Specialist) | Temporary, highly specialised | Up to 3 months, rarely 6 | None |
| 858 | National Innovation Visa | Permanent or provisional | Varies by stream | Direct PR for eligible streams |
Other arrangements, including Designated Area Migration Agreements (DAMAs), can provide additional options in participating regions.
Can’t find the skilled people your business needs? Or are you a skilled worker hoping to build a career in Australia? Employer sponsorship can connect the two.
Australia has several employer-sponsored pathways. Some are temporary. Others can lead to employer sponsored permanent residency.
| Field | Detail |
|---|---|
| Streams | Core Skills · Specialist Skills · Labour Agreement (expected rebrand to “Essential Skills” during 2026) |
| Core Skills stream | Occupation on CSOL (456+ occupations). Min salary $76,515, rising to $79,499 from 1 July 2026. Up to 4 years. |
| Specialist Skills stream | No occupation list requirement. Min salary $141,210, rising to $146,717 from 1 July 2026. Up to 5 years, priority processing (~7 days median). |
| Labour Agreement stream | For employers with a formal Labour Agreement/DAMA — covers occupations and salaries outside standard streams. |
| Work experience | At least 1 year full-time relevant experience in the last 5 years. |
| English | Generally IELTS 5.0 overall, no band below 4.5, or equivalent. |
| Sponsor requirement | Approved Standard Business Sponsor (or Accredited Sponsor), SAF levy obligation met. |
| Path to PR | Subclass 186 via TRT stream after 2 years full-time work with the sponsoring employer. |
The Skills in Demand (482) visa allows eligible employers to sponsor skilled workers for temporary roles.
In plain terms: this is the visa an Australian employer uses to bring a skilled worker over from overseas for a genuine, ongoing job they can’t fill locally. It’s temporary, not permanent — but for most people who end up staying in Australia long-term, this is the visa they start on. If you’re the employer, it’s how you legally sponsor someone. If you’re the worker, it’s what lets you live and work in Australia for your sponsor, generally for up to 4 or 5 years depending on the stream, with a clear route to
permanent residency built in if you and the employer both want to make it permanent later.
Replaced the Temporary Skill Shortage (TSS) visa on 7 December 2024. The primary route for employers to sponsor overseas workers into genuine skilled vacancies they can’t fill locally.
| Stage | What happens |
|---|---|
| 1. Sponsorship | Employer applies for (or renews) approval as a Standard Business Sponsor. |
| 2. Nomination | Employer nominates the specific position, providing evidence of genuine need, LMT, and salary compliance. |
| 3. Visa application | The nominated worker lodges the visa application, with family members able to apply concurrently as secondary applicants. |
Visa conditions typically include a work condition tying the visa holder to the approved occupation and sponsor, and a requirement to maintain health insurance for the duration of the visa. Visa holders who lose their sponsoring employer generally have a defined period to find a new sponsor, transfer their nomination, or depart, rather than immediately becoming unlawful.
In order to be able to sponsor someone who isn’t Australian, employers need to follow Australian workplace and immigration rules. This includes meeting sponsorship obligations, paying the required salary and keeping appropriate records.
There are also rules around the sponsored position and the worker’s employment.
Getting these details wrong can create serious problems for a business.
That is why employer sponsored migration should not be treated as a box-ticking exercise. Employers need a process they can confidently manage.
| Field | Detail |
|---|---|
| Direct Entry (DE) | For skilled workers without enough time on a 482/457 to use TRT. Positive skills assessment, ~3 years' experience, occupation on CSOL. |
| Temporary Residence Transition (TRT) | For 482/457 holders who've worked full-time for the nominating employer 2+ years. Usually no fresh skills assessment. |
| Labour Agreement (LA) | For workers nominated under a specific employer or regional labour agreement (incl. DAMA). |
| Salary threshold | Min $76,515, rising to $79,499 from 1 July 2026, plus Annual Market Salary Rate. |
| Age limit | Generally under 45 at application, with exemptions for academics, government researchers, high-income or regional cases. |
| Employer costs | SAF levy $3,000 (small) / $5,000 (larger) per nomination, plus $540 nomination fee — always the employer's cost. |
| Processing (indicative) | Labour Agreement stream fastest (~5–9 months). Direct Entry and TRT currently 12–19 months. |
The Employer Nomination Scheme (186) is a permanent option for eligible skilled workers. It can provide employer sponsored PR where the relevant requirements are met.
This is Australia’s main permanent employer-sponsored visa — the one that actually grants permanent residency, rather than just a temporary stay. Unlike the 482, there’s no waiting period once it’s granted: the person is a permanent resident from day one, full stop. It exists for two different situations. Most commonly, it’s used to make permanent a worker who’s already been on a 482 for a couple of years and has proven themselves — the employer just formalises what’s already working (TRT stream). It can also be used to sponsor someone straight into a permanent role without that history, provided they can pass a skills assessment (Direct Entry stream).
Australia’s primary permanent employer sponsored visa — PR on grant, no points test.
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Application structure | Two linked applications — the employer's nomination, and the worker's visa application — generally lodged together or in close sequence. |
| Employer costs | $540 nomination fee plus the SAF levy ($3,000 small business / $5,000 larger business), paid by the employer and never recoverable from the worker. |
| Visa outcome | Permanent residence from the date of grant (if onshore) or first entry (if offshore) — no further visa required, though a Resident Return visa is needed after the initial 5-year travel facility to keep travel rights current. |
| Family members | Eligible partners and dependent children can be included in the same application. |
Across all three streams, the position itself must satisfy a genuine and ongoing need test — the Department can refuse a nomination where the role does not appear to be a legitimate, continuing position within the business, independent of whether the applicant personally meets the criteria. Standard health and character requirements apply, including police clearances from every country lived in for 12 months or more in the past decade.
Requires a positive skills assessment from the relevant assessing authority (e.g. Engineers Australia, ACS, VETASSESS, TRA), generally around 3 years' relevant full-time experience, the nominated occupation on the CSOL, Competent English, and the applicant under 45 at time of application (exemptions apply for academics, researchers, scientists, certain high-income earners and some existing visa holders).
For 482/457 holders who have worked full-time for the nominating employer for at least 2 years within the last 3 years, in the same or a closely related position to the one held on their temporary visa. No fresh skills assessment is generally required, and there is no upper age limit on this stream.
For workers nominated under a specific employer or regional labour agreement, where terms (occupation, age, English, salary) are set by the agreement itself rather than the standard criteria.
| Field | Detail |
|---|---|
| Who it's for | Skilled workers with a genuine job offer in a designated regional area — outside Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane. |
| Requirements | Relevant occupation, formal skills assessment, 3+ years' experience, Competent English (IELTS 6.0 each band), Labour Market Testing, Regional Certifying Body approval. |
| Salary threshold | TSMIT — $79,423 from 1 July 2026. |
| Visa conditions | Holders must live, work and study only in designated regional areas. |
| Path to PR — 191 | After 3 years on 494/491, meeting income requirements — no fresh employer nomination required. |
The Skilled Employer Sponsored Regional (494) visa is designed for skilled workers sponsored for roles in designated regional areas. It can also provide a pathway towards permanent residency.
This one exists because regional Australia has it harder than the big cities when it comes to finding skilled staff — smaller local populations mean a much thinner pool of workers to hire from. The 494 lets a regional employer sponsor someone from overseas the same way the 482 does, but it’s specifically tied to a regional location, and it comes with a genuine, built-in route to permanent residency (the 191) after a few years — something the 482 doesn’t offer on its own without an extra step. It’s a package deal: come work in a regional area for a set period, and permanent residency is the reward, not a separate application you have to compete for.
The 494 is a 5-year provisional visa for regional employers who can’t fill a genuine skilled vacancy locally, with a defined route to PR. Replaced the old RSMS (subclass 187) in November 2019.
“Designated regional area” is broader than it sounds — it covers all of Australia except Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, which means Perth, Adelaide, Hobart, Canberra, the Gold Coast and Newcastle all currently qualify as regional for this visa. This makes the 494 a genuinely practical option for employers outside the three largest cities, not just remote or rural businesses.
Visa conditions require the holder to live, work and study only within a designated regional area for the life of the visa — this
is actively monitored, and breaching it can jeopardise both the visa and the eventual 191 pathway.
| Stage | What happens |
|---|---|
| 1. Sponsorship | Employer secures (or already holds) Standard Business Sponsor approval. |
| 2. RCB certification | The Regional Certifying Body assesses and certifies the nomination — a step unique to this visa. |
| 3. Nomination | Employer formally nominates the position, evidencing genuine need, location and salary compliance. |
| 4. Visa application | The worker applies, providing skills, experience, English, health and character evidence. |
After holding the 494 (or 491) for at least 3 years, complying with the regional-living condition throughout, and meeting a minimum taxable income threshold across the qualifying period (evidenced through ATO Notices of Assessment), holders become eligible for permanent residence via Subclass 191 — without needing a fresh employer nomination. The specific income threshold is indexed and should be confirmed against current Department settings before advising a client on timing.
| Field | Detail |
|---|---|
| Training types | Occupational registration/licensing training · structured skills training · training that builds capacity for use overseas. |
| Sponsor | An approved Temporary Activities Sponsor. |
| Duration | Typically up to 2 years. |
| 2026 change | For applications lodged from 11 March 2026, sponsorship and training nomination must both be approved before lodgement (except Commonwealth agency sponsors). |
| English | Generally functional — IELTS 4.5 overall, no band below 4.0. |
| Path to PR | None directly — a training pathway, not a migration one. |
This is easy to confuse with a work visa because it does let you work — but the whole point of it is training, not labour. It’s for someone who genuinely needs structured, hands-on experience in Australia to develop a skill, gain a qualification, or become eligible for registration in their field, sponsored by an Australian business or organisation. It’s not meant to plug a staffing gap, and the Department checks closely for employers trying to use it that way instead of properly sponsoring someone on a 482.
Every application requires a Training Plan (Deed of Agreement) setting out the specific skills gap, a week-by-week or month-by-month activity breakdown, and how the training builds on the applicant’s existing background — generic or templated training plans are a common cause of refusal. At least 70% of the training must generally be workplace-based rather than classroom-based. This visa is explicitly not a substitute for standard employer sponsorship. If the real purpose is filling an ongoing labour gap rather than training, the Department will look to refuse it and direct the employer toward the 482 instead.
Functional English is the standard requirement (broadly IELTS 4.5 overall, no band below 4.0). Family members can be included, though their work rights while in Australia on a 407 are capped (broadly 40 hours per fortnight).
For training genuinely necessary to gain registration, membership or licensing in an occupation, in Australia or the applicant’s home country
The most commonly used stream, for workers wanting to upgrade their skills in an occupation they already work in, generally requiring 12 months of relevant full-time work or study experience in the past 24 months.
For overseas managers or professionals sent to Australia by their overseas employer for formal, often classroom-based, professional development.
Not formally defined in legislation, but generally understood as skills, knowledge or experience at a level genuinely scarce in the Australian labour market, typically (though not exclusively) among managers, professionals, technicians and trades workers.
The work must be likely to be completed within a continuous period of around six months or less, and cannot be used to fill an ongoing position.
The Australian business doesn't need to be an approved sponsor, but must demonstrate the genuine need and invite the specialist for a defined project or contract.
In most cases, and generally no English test — the evidentiary focus is entirely on proving the specialised nature of the work and the worker's fit for it.
Department guidance looks favourably on arrangements that include some transfer of skills to Australian employees during the engagement.
Total time spent in Australia across one or more subclass 400 visas generally cannot exceed six months within any 12-month period.
What it is: picture a technician flying in for two weeks to commission a piece of machinery nobody in Australia knows how to work on, or a specialist brought in for one specific, defined project. That’s what this visa is for — genuinely specialised, short, one-off work, not an ongoing job. It’s the fastest and lightest-touch visa on this page because the scope of what it allows is so narrow: no sponsorship approval process, but also no path to anything longer, and the Department watches closely for businesses trying to stretch it into something it isn’t.
Reserved for genuinely specialised, non-ongoing work — short executive assignments, one-off specialist projects, equipment installation/servicing. Usually up to 3 months, occasionally 6. No sponsorship required, but not a pathway — misuse can jeopardise an employer’s broader sponsorship standing.
Family members can be included in the application. Because the criteria are comparatively light-touch, the Department scrutinises subclass 400 applications closely for signs the role is really a disguised ongoing position that should be sponsored under the 482 instead.
Sponsoring someone involves more than the visa application fee.
Depending on the circumstances, employers may have costs associated with sponsorship, nomination, the Skilling Australians Fund levy and professional support.
The exact amount depends on factors such as the visa pathway, business and length of sponsorship.
For a company sponsored visa Australia process, it is worth understanding the full cost before making an offer.
At My Australian Career, we bring recruitment and migration together. We help employers find suitable Australian and international talent, then provide migration support where needed. Candidates also get guidance rather than being left to figure everything out alone.
Need skilled talent but not sure how to make sponsorship work? Don't start with a visa application. Start with the right person. My Australian Career can help you identify the skills you need, find suitable candidates and navigate the sponsorship process from recruitment through to migration. Talk to our team and let's find the right solution for your business.
