Employer Sponsored Visas

Where an Australian business is unable to fill a skilled position from the local labour market, it may sponsor an overseas worker. Every employer-sponsored visa proceeds in three parts: the business is approved as a sponsor, the specific position is approved as a nomination, and the worker is granted the visa. All three must be consistent with one another, and the nomination is the stage at which most applications fail.

The Subclass 482 replaced the Temporary Skill Shortage visa on 7 December 2024. The principal changes were:

# The former Short-term and Medium-term streams were replaced by the Core Skills and Specialist Skills streams.

# All Core Skills stream holders now hold a permanent residence pathway. Previously only Medium-term stream holders did so.

# The maximum period of stay was extended to four years across all streams.

# The work experience requirement was reduced to one year of relevant full-time, or equivalent, experience within the preceding five years.

# Visa holders now have 180 consecutive days, subject to a maximum of 365 days across the life of the visa, in which to secure a new sponsor where employment ends.

Salary requirements for nominations lodged on or after 1 July 2026:

The minimum score required to lodge an Expression of Interest is 65 points. That figure is a threshold for lodgement, not a competitive score. Under current conditions, invitations for the Subclass 189 have commonly issued to applicants scoring between 85 and 95 points, with high-volume occupations sitting at the upper end of that range. State-nominated pathways generally invite at lower scores, but only where the jurisdiction has genuine demand for the occupation.

An applicant scoring between 65 and 75 points is best served by a candid discussion about how points might be increased, or whether an employer-sponsored or regional pathway represents a faster route. That discussion is worth having before expenditure is committed to a skills assessment.

# Points assessment and the formulation of a realistic strategy, including the steps required to become competitive.

# Selection of occupation and assessing authority. An error at this stage costs months.

# State and territory nomination applications across all jurisdictions.

# Management of the Expression of Interest and preparation of the visa application within the 60-day invitation period.

# Planning the transition from the Subclass 491 to the Subclass 191, including compliance with visa conditions and the income requirement.

The nominated salary must satisfy the applicable threshold and the Annual Market Salary Rate (AMSR) for the occupation, whichever is the higher. The threshold that applies is fixed by the date on which the nomination is lodged, not the date on which it is decided.

Further distinctions between the streams are material. The Core Skills stream requires the nominated occupation to appear on the Core Skills Occupation List (CSOL) and requires Labour Market Testing. The Specialist Skills stream carries no occupation list requirement and no Labour Market Testing requirement, which makes it materially faster for high-earning positions.

The principal pathway is the Subclass 186 Temporary Residence Transition (TRT) stream, available after two years of employment with the sponsoring employer in the nominated occupation. A skills assessment is not required for the TRT stream in most cases. Applicants must generally be under 45, subject to exemptions.

The Direct Entry stream of the Subclass 186 is available without the two-year period where the applicant holds at least three years of relevant post-qualification experience together with a positive skills assessment. This is of particular use where the applicant changes employer.

One trap warrants specific mention. Where a visa holder changes sponsor, time worked during the 180-day period before the new employer’s nomination is approved generally does not count toward the two-year requirement.

# Standard Business Sponsorship applications and renewals.

# Nomination preparation, including Annual Market Salary Rate evidence and Labour Market Testing compliance.

# Sponsor obligations and monitoring, covering record keeping, notification of changes to the Department, and equivalent terms of employment. Compliance is actively monitored and breaches attract sanctions.

# Labour Agreements and DAMA endorsements where the standard pathways do not accommodate the occupation or location.

# Review of nomination refusals before the Administrative Review Tribunal.