Employer-Sponsored Visas: 482, 186 & 494 Explained

Employer-sponsored visas are different from the skilled independent (points-tested) visas you may have read about. You do not get points for your age, English or experience and apply on your own. Instead, an Australian business agrees to sponsor you to fill a job it cannot fill locally. None of these three visas use a points test.

There are almost always three moving parts, and all three must be approved: the sponsorship (the business is approved to sponsor overseas workers, usually as a Standard Business Sponsor), the nomination (the business nominates a specific position and you for it), and the visa application (you apply, with your family if relevant).

• Subclass 482 (Skills in Demand) is temporary - it lets you live and work in Australia for up to four years.

• Subclass 186 (Employer Nomination Scheme) is permanent - it is a PR visa from day one.

• Subclass 494 (Skilled Employer Sponsored Regional) is provisional - five years, regional only, and a stepping stone to PR.

Because everything hinges on a genuine employer, be very wary of anyone offering a "job offer" in exchange for money. A real sponsoring employer pays the government nomination fees and the SAF levy itself - it is unlawful for them to claw those costs back from you.

The Skills in Demand (SID) visa replaced the Temporary Skill Shortage (TSS) visa on 7 December 2024. It is the most common way skilled workers come to Australia on an employer's sponsorship, and for most people it is the first step toward PR. It has three streams.

• Core Skills stream: your occupation must be on the Core Skills Occupation List (CSOL), which has roughly 456 eligible occupations. The job must pay at least the Core Skills Income Threshold (CSIT), and you generally need at least 12 months of relevant full-time-equivalent work experience in the occupation. The English requirement is generally IELTS 5.0 overall.

• Specialist Skills stream: no occupation list at all, aimed at high earners. The trade-off is a much higher salary floor (the Specialist Skills Income Threshold) and faster, priority processing.

• Labour Agreement stream: for workers sponsored by an employer that has a tailored labour agreement with the government (common in aged care and some regional industries).

The 482 lets you stay for up to four years (Hong Kong and British National (Overseas) passport holders can be granted up to five). You can bring your partner and dependent children, your partner can work, and you can change employers - though your new employer must lodge a fresh nomination, and you have a window (currently 180 days per cessation, capped) to find a new sponsor if your job ends. Figures and rules here change often, so confirm current details on homeaffairs.gov.au before you act.

This trips up a lot of applicants. There are two separate salary tests, and your employer must satisfy whichever is higher.

• The income threshold (CSIT or SSIT) is the government floor. For 2025-26 the Core Skills Income Threshold (CSIT) is $76,515, rising to $79,499 from 1 July 2026. The Specialist Skills Income Threshold (SSIT) is $141,210, rising to $146,717 from 1 July 2026. These are indexed most years on 1 July.

• The Annual Market Salary Rate (AMSR) is what an equivalent Australian worker would earn in that same role and location. If the market rate is higher than the income threshold, your employer must pay the market rate.

Which financial year's threshold applies is set by the date you lodge, not the date a decision is made. So an application lodged before 1 July 2026 is assessed against the 2025-26 figure even if it is decided later. The subclass 494's salary floor is tied to the Temporary Skilled Migration Income Threshold (TSMIT) and is not always indexed in lockstep with the 482 - check the current figure before relying on it.

These dollar figures are among the most volatile parts of the whole system. Always confirm the live numbers on homeaffairs.gov.au or with a registered migration agent before signing a contract.

The subclass 186 (ENS) is the prize: it is permanent residence on grant. You must generally be under 45 at the time of application, have at least Competent English (IELTS 6.0 in each band, or an equivalent test, unless exempt), and meet health and character requirements. It has three streams.

• Temporary Residence Transition (TRT) stream: the most-used route. It is for people already working for their sponsor on a 482/SID (or older 457/TSS) visa. You generally need to have worked full-time for that employer for at least 2 years - this was reduced from 3 years in late 2024, which brought PR forward for a lot of people. The TRT stream usually does not require a separate skills assessment.

• Direct Entry stream: for people who have not done the temporary-visa time first. It requires a positive skills assessment in your occupation and at least three years of relevant work experience. Useful for high-skilled applicants recruited from offshore.

• Labour Agreement stream: for workers under an employer's labour agreement.

Passport holders from the UK, USA, Canada, New Zealand and the Republic of Ireland are exempt from the English test. The under-45 age limit has some narrow exemptions (for example certain high earners and some academic or medical roles), but do not assume one applies to you - get advice.

The subclass 494 is a five-year provisional visa for skilled workers sponsored by an employer in a designated regional area - which, importantly, now includes everywhere in Australia except Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. You must be under 45, have Competent English (IELTS 6.0 each band, or exempt), have a positive skills assessment, and at least three years of relevant work experience.

A feature unique to the 494 is that the position must be certified by a Regional Certifying Body (RCB), which assesses the local market salary rate before the nomination can proceed. This is not required for the 186 or the 482.

On a 494 you can only live and work in the designated regional area named in your visa. The reward for committing to the regions is a clear PR pathway: the Permanent Residence (Skilled Regional) visa (subclass 191).

To get the 191 you generally need to have held a 494 (or 491) for at least three years, have lived and worked in regional Australia throughout, and have met a minimum taxable income each year - currently $53,900, evidenced by three ATO Notices of Assessment. There is no age limit on the 191 itself, so it remains open even if you have since turned 45.

Sponsorship is a serious legal commitment for the employer, monitored by the Department of Home Affairs. An approved sponsor must, among other things: pay you at least the market salary rate and no less than an equivalent Australian worker; only employ you in the nominated occupation; keep records such as contracts and payslips; notify the Department of changes; and cooperate with monitoring and inspections.

Two protections matter most to you as the worker. First, the employer must pay the Skilling Australians Fund (SAF) levy and cannot lawfully recover it from you. For the 482 the SAF levy is $1,200 per year of sponsorship for a small business (turnover under $10 million) or $1,800 per year for larger businesses, paid upfront. For the permanent 186 and the 494 it is a one-off $3,000 (small business) or $5,000 (larger business). Second, the employer generally cannot pass nomination costs to you.

Before nominating most 482 positions, the employer must complete Labour Market Testing (LMT) - genuinely advertising the role in Australia (broadly, at least two advertisements run for a minimum of 28 days within the four months before lodging) to show no suitable Australian was available. Some exemptions apply, including certain international trade obligations.

You will still face your own costs: the visa application charge (around $3,210 for the primary 482 applicant and around $4,770 for the 186, plus lower fees for family members), health checks, police certificates, English testing and, if you use one, a migration agent. Treat all dollar figures as indicative and confirm current pricing on homeaffairs.gov.au.

Once you arrive, get a Tax File Number (TFN). It is free, takes about 20 minutes, and you apply directly through the Australian Taxation Office once you are in Australia. Never pay a third-party website to get a TFN for you - those are a common scam, and applying directly is always free. Your employer also pays compulsory superannuation (retirement savings) on top of your wage.

Health cover is a visa condition (condition 8501) - you must hold adequate health insurance for your whole stay. If you hold a passport from one of the 11 countries with a Reciprocal Health Care Agreement (including the UK, Ireland, New Zealand, Italy, Belgium, Finland, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Slovenia and Sweden), you may be able to enrol in Medicare; otherwise you need private health insurance. Enrol with Medicare only after you arrive, and keep travel or private cover for the gap.

Watch for the classic migration scams: fake job offers that ask you for money, people promising guaranteed visas or "special government contacts", and unregistered "agents". Only an OMARA-registered migration agent or an Australian legal practitioner can lawfully give you immigration advice for a fee - you can check anyone's registration on the OMARA register before paying a cent.

Employer-sponsored visas can get complicated fast, especially around age limits, skills assessments, the AMSR and PR timing. If your case has any wrinkle, paying for advice from a registered agent or immigration lawyer is usually money well spent.