Skills in Demand visa · subclass 482

Key considerations

• Sponsorship, nomination and the visa are separate assessments.
• Core Skills, Specialist Skills and Labour Agreement have different occupation and salary rules.
• A temporary 482 grant does not guarantee eligibility for a later permanent visa.

Choose the stream around the actual role

The Skills in Demand (SID) visa replaced the Temporary Skill Shortage (TSS) visa for new subclass 482 applications on 7 December 2024. It is generally granted for up to four years. Eligible Hong Kong SAR or British National (Overseas) passport holders may qualify for a five-year visa. The grant notice determines the individual stay.

Core Skills uses the Core Skills Occupation List (CSOL). Specialist Skills instead covers eligible ANZSCO occupations in Major Groups 1, 2, 4, 5 and 6 and has its own income threshold. A high salary alone cannot make an excluded occupation eligible. The Labour Agreement stream depends on an agreement in force with the Australian Government.

• Core Skills: check the occupation, duties, any caveats and the applicable Core Skills Income Threshold.
• Specialist Skills: check the ANZSCO group and Specialist Skills Income Threshold; this is not an unrestricted route for every highly paid role.
• Labour Agreement: read the employer’s actual agreement for occupations, concessions, nomination limits and any permanent pathway.

Understand sponsorship, nomination and the visa application

These are separate assessments. In the standard program, the business needs appropriate sponsor approval. It then nominates a position and worker. The worker applies for a visa linked to that nomination. The stages can sometimes be prepared or lodged together, but one approval does not guarantee another.

An existing sponsor should review its ongoing sponsorship obligations and check the approved legal entity, expiry date and whether its circumstances have changed. Sponsor approval held by one company is not automatically available to another entity in the same group. A Labour Agreement case follows the sponsorship arrangements in that agreement.

• Sponsorship addresses the business and its suitability to sponsor.
• Nomination addresses the position, occupation, employment terms and relevant recruitment requirements.
• The visa application addresses the candidate’s skills, experience, English, visa history and personal requirements.

Match the occupation to the work, not just the title

An occupation code should describe the work the employee will actually do. The proposed duties, seniority, reporting line, work location and business activities should tell a consistent story. Renaming a position does not resolve a mismatch between everyday tasks and the nominated occupation.

For Core Skills, check the current occupation instrument and any exclusions or caveats that apply to the role or business. For a regulated occupation, separately check the licence or registration required where the person will work. A migration skills assessment and professional registration serve different purposes.

• Employers: prepare a specific position description and explain why the role is needed in the business.
• Applicants: identify which qualifications and employment examples support the proposed duties.
• For a school appointment, consider the teaching role and state or territory registration alongside the visa; the same approach applies to licensing in other regulated industries.

Check pay and recruitment before lodging

A nomination needs a defensible salary assessment, not simply a figure copied from an old visa guide. Apply the current income threshold for the chosen stream and the annual market salary rules. Awards, enterprise agreements, comparable Australian employees and appropriate market evidence may all matter. Check which amounts count as earnings; do not assume a total package including superannuation or non-cash benefits meets the visa threshold.

Labour market testing usually requires at least two compliant advertisements and a minimum four-week advertising period within the four months before nomination. Check the advertisement content, accepted advertising channels and evidence of dates. International trade obligations, alternative arrangements and Labour Agreement terms can affect the requirement; an exemption needs a basis and evidence.

• Set the intended nomination date before scheduling advertisements.
• Keep copies of the advertisements, publication dates and recruitment outcome.
• Recheck salary thresholds around 1 July and before lodgement; thresholds are indexed annually.

Assess experience, qualifications and any skills assessment

Core Skills and Specialist Skills applicants generally need at least 12 months of relevant work, or its full-time equivalent, within the five years before applying. The experience must be in the nominated occupation or a related field at the appropriate skill level. Part-time or casual work can count on an equivalent basis; a year on the calendar is not necessarily a year of full-time experience.

The applicant must also have the qualifications, skills and employment background needed for the occupation. A formal skills assessment is mandatory for some occupation and applicant combinations, with specific exemptions. If one is required for application validity, it must have been commenced before the visa is lodged and the required reference supplied. The Labour Agreement stream may specify different requirements.

• Use detailed employment references supported by pay, tax or other reliable records where appropriate.
• Explain hours, dates, duties and any gaps so the relevant experience can be calculated.
• Do not assume that holding a degree, an Australian qualification or professional registration removes every assessment requirement.

Check English and personal eligibility separately

Core Skills and Specialist Skills have specific English requirements. For example, the current IELTS route requires at least 5.0 in each component. Other approved tests have their own scores, and the applicable rules depend on the test date. Use the subclass 482 English page rather than a conversion table intended for permanent skilled visas.

Exemptions can include specified passport holders, qualifying five-year full-time secondary or higher study taught in English, and certain registration or overseas-business situations. Each has conditions. A course taught in English or working in an English-speaking workplace is not, by itself, enough. Labour Agreement concessions must be found in the relevant agreement.

The 482 has no general age limit. Health, character, adequate health cover and immigration history still need assessment. Being eligible for a temporary visa at an older age does not establish eligibility for a later permanent visa.

Divide the preparation clearly between employer and applicant

The employer and worker contribute different evidence, but the applications should agree on the role, remuneration, dates and location. Collecting documents in isolation can leave contradictions that are harder to resolve after lodgement.

The employer must pay the applicable Skilling Australians Fund (SAF) levy and cannot pass it to the visa applicant. Sponsorship and nomination costs also have employer-payment restrictions. The SAF calculation depends on business turnover and the nominated period. Check current government charges and the agreed professional scope before budgeting; a visa application fee is only one part of the total.

• Employer: legal-entity and operating evidence, financial information, position description, contract, salary basis and recruitment evidence.
• Applicant: passport and visa history, qualifications, employment evidence, English evidence or exemption basis, any required assessment and registration, and family documents where applicable.
• Both: reconcile names, employment dates, duties and salary figures, and flag changes promptly.

Use the employer sponsorship preparation checklist →

Plan for obligations and changes after grant

Sponsor responsibilities continue after the visa is granted. They include maintaining required records, meeting employment and pay obligations, cooperating with monitoring and notifying relevant changes. Build these into payroll and HR processes instead of treating visa grant as the end of the matter.

The worker must check the actual conditions on the grant notice and in VEVO. Condition 8607 ordinarily restricts work to the nominated occupation and sponsoring business or permitted associated entity, subject to exceptions. The rules provide limited periods after sponsored employment ends, including up to 180 days in a single period and 365 days in total during the visa period. Those limits do not extend the visa’s expiry date or make every proposed job change permissible.

• Get advice before changing employer, occupation, employing entity or duties materially.
• Keep current evidence of required registration and adequate health cover.
• If employment ends, assess the remaining visa time and available options promptly.

Separate family plans, permanent residence and processing times

Eligible family members may apply with the worker or through the relevant subsequent-entrant process. Relationship, dependency, sponsor agreement and personal requirements still need checking. Discuss family plans before lodging so the application is structured correctly.

A 482 grant does not guarantee permanent residence. A later subclass 186 application needs an eligible employer nomination and satisfaction of the relevant permanent-visa stream, including any age, English, work-history or skills requirements. Employer willingness to consider a future nomination is different from a current legal entitlement.

Home Affairs currently prioritises relevant temporary skilled applications under Ministerial Direction 121. Priority affects the order of processing, not the eligibility criteria or a guaranteed decision date. Build recruitment plans around a realistic assessment and check current processing guidance rather than relying on a promised turnaround.

Explore planning permanent residence from a 482 visa →

Practical situations to discuss before applying

For a business hiring its first overseas employee, the starting point may be sponsorship eligibility, recruitment and the proposed role. For an existing sponsor replacing a departing worker, we review the new candidate and nomination rather than assuming the previous approval can be reused. For a school recruiting internationally, we coordinate the visa questions with the role, location and teacher’s registration position.

Bring the position description, proposed location and salary, the candidate’s CV, and any existing sponsorship or visa details to the first discussion. We can then identify the sequence of work and the issues that need to be resolved before commitments are made.

How we can help

We assess the proposed position, location and candidate, identify the appropriate stream, and prepare and lodge the nomination and visa applications. This includes reviewing supporting evidence, identifying any gaps and coordinating any required sponsorship steps.

Questions to consider

Your next step

Discuss the proposed role, work location, salary, candidate background and current visa position with Ausdirect before choosing a pathway or committing to an employment start date.