A new job offer can be a welcome opportunity. If you hold a subclass 482 visa, however, agree on the immigration steps as well as the salary and start date before making the move.
You need to answer two separate questions: what work can you do during a gap after leaving your sponsor, and what approvals do you need for the new ongoing sponsored position? The answer to the first does not automatically settle the second.
This guide is for the sponsored worker holding a 482 visa, including the older Temporary Skill Shortage (TSS) visa and the Skills in Demand (SID) visa. A partner’s work conditions can be different. Always check the actual visa grant and conditions rather than relying on the subclass number alone.
1. Start with your own visa and employment records
Before accepting a firm start date, put these documents together:
- Your visa grant notice and a current VEVO record.
- Your current approved nomination, including the nominated occupation.
- Your employment contract and any resignation, redundancy or termination correspondence.
- A record of previous periods outside your sponsored employment arrangements.
- The proposed employer’s legal name, job description, salary, hours and work location.
- Any professional registration, licence or membership relevant to the work.
Ask someone to compare the proposed duties with your nominated occupation. A familiar job title does not establish that the underlying work is the same. Equally, a change of title alone should not be treated as proof of a different occupation.
Check your visa details and conditions with Home Affairs.
2. Understand the time limits after sponsored employment ends
The work-mobility changes announced on 21 June 2024 commenced on 1 July 2024. They are existing rules, not a newly announced October 2026 concession.
After ceasing the relevant sponsored work, condition 8607 allows periods outside the usual nominated occupation and employer requirements, subject to both limits:
- No more than 180 consecutive days in any one period.
- No more than 365 days in total across the visa grant period.
Both limits matter. Earlier periods can reduce the time available for a later move; periods before 1 July 2024 are disregarded under the transitional rules. Your visa’s expiry date is a separate boundary. The allowance does not extend it.
Do not leave the calculation until a prospective employer is ready to lodge. Record the relevant dates and have the remaining allowance checked, particularly if you have already changed employers or had an earlier break.
Home Affairs’ mobility announcement and the 2024 amending regulations explain the change and its commencement.
3. Can you work while looking for another sponsor?
Potentially, yes. During the permitted cessation period, Home Affairs expressly allows work for other employers, including work outside the occupation in the previous nomination.
That flexibility does not mean unrestricted work throughout the visa’s life. Unless an exception applies, you must first have ceased work with the sponsoring employer. While continuing with the existing sponsor, you must remain in your nominated occupation.
Temporary work elsewhere should be recorded as part of your transition plan. Do not assume it stops the clock or establishes an ongoing sponsorship arrangement.
There are specific exceptions concerning certain occupations and work undertaken to fulfil statutory notice requirements. Do not assume that an ordinary notice period allows any second job: have your circumstances checked before overlapping roles.
Licensing and registration requirements still matter. A visa condition does not authorise professional work that your registration does not permit.
Read Home Affairs’ explanation of condition 8607.
4. Is the new job in the same occupation?
For an ordinary change of sponsor in the same nominated occupation, the new employer generally needs the appropriate sponsorship approval and a new approved nomination. A fresh visa application is not normally needed solely because the employer changes.
If the move involves a different nominated occupation, Home Affairs says a new nomination and a new visa are required, with the visa granted before the new ongoing sponsored arrangement begins. Moving from a Labour Agreement arrangement to a standard business sponsor also requires a new visa application. An approaching visa expiry needs its own application plan. This is separate from any permitted temporary work during a cessation period described above.
Ask the proposed employer or adviser to confirm, in writing:
- Which legal entity will employ and nominate you?
- Does the job match your existing nominated occupation?
- Is this a nomination-only move or a new visa application as well?
- Which approval and work-rights basis will support your proposed start date?
Home Affairs: changes in your situation on a 482 visa.
5. Agree on the start date, not just the offer
A job offer, a lodged nomination and an approved nomination are different stages. Ask for the approval evidence relevant to the ongoing sponsored role, rather than relying on “the paperwork is underway”.
Where temporary work during the cessation period is being considered, document that separately: the permitted work, the remaining time available and the plan for establishing the new sponsored arrangement. Do not assume a pending application pauses the time limits.
Build a practical fallback into the discussion. Who will tell you if further documents are requested? Who monitors the visa expiry? What happens if the proposed start date arrives before the necessary approvals? These questions are easier to resolve before you have committed to a resignation date or relocation.
6. Check the costs and keep the departure paperwork
A current or former approved work sponsor cannot transfer to you, or recover from you, prohibited sponsorship, nomination or relevant recruitment costs. The rules also cover associated migration-agent costs and the nomination training contribution charge, commonly called the SAF levy. A repayment clause should therefore be reviewed by cost category rather than accepted as a single “visa costs” bill.
Ask for an itemised explanation before signing or reimbursing anything. Separate employer-side costs from any proposed charges relating to your own visa application, and obtain advice on any disputed deduction or clawback clause.
Your sponsor must notify Home Affairs within 28 days after your employment ends; other specified changes also have notification requirements. Keep your own copies of the last working date, notice arrangements and final employment records; do not rely on somebody else’s filing system.
Home Affairs’ sponsor obligations and Migration Regulations, regulation 2.87 set out the cost protections.
Before you make the move
Bring the documents together and get a written plan covering your occupation, remaining visa validity, any cessation periods, the new employer’s nomination and your lawful start date. If permanent residence is part of your plans, ask for that pathway to be reviewed separately rather than assuming a job change has no consequences.
Considering a new role on a 482 visa? Contact Ausdirect Migration to discuss your current visa, the proposed position and the steps to check before you move.
General information, not an assessment of your circumstances. Sources checked on 28 October 2026. Rules and individual conditions should be rechecked before action.
MARN 1678399.