Who this may suit
For Skills in Demand and earlier TSS 482 holders, their families and employers planning the next stage. Use this guide to prepare a pathway discussion; the individual visa guides explain the detailed requirements.
Key considerations
- Permanent residence requires a separate application and assessment; a 482 grant is not a promise of PR.
- TRT visa-holding time and sponsored-employment time must be checked separately.
- Employer support, age, evidence and regional commitments can change which options deserve attention.
1. Start with the decision you need to make
Write down the question that matters now: whether an employer will support a permanent nomination, whether your qualifying employment is complete, or whether another pathway fits your plans. These are different problems, even when everyone is talking about “482 to PR”.
Prepare a one-page brief with your current visa and expiry date, occupation, employers, work locations, age and family plans. Add any proposed promotion, business restructure, overseas assignment or move. The aim is to identify the next decision and its dependencies, not to predict a grant date.
Sources: Home Affairs: 186 Temporary Residence Transition stream · Migration Regulations 1994: sponsorship and nomination requirements, including regulation 5.19
2. Compare the routes before choosing a timetable
- 186 Temporary Residence Transition (TRT): investigate this when you have qualifying sponsored work and a suitable current employer willing to nominate you. Check the history and the new nomination, rather than relying on the length of your employment contract.
- 186 Direct Entry: assess this separately if you have the relevant occupation, skills assessment and experience. It generally requires an occupation on the Core Skills Occupation List, three years of relevant experience and a positive assessment before applying, unless exempt. A prior 482 is not a compulsory first step.
- 186 Labour Agreement: if your employer uses an agreement, obtain its actual permanent-pathway terms. A temporary nomination or a general industry concession does not establish a permanent entitlement.
- Points-tested skilled migration: 189, 190 or 491 may merit a separate review of occupation, assessment, points and invitation prospects. A 491 involves state or territory nomination or eligible family sponsorship, rather than employer nomination.
- 494 followed by possible 191: consider this around an eligible regional job and a genuine regional plan. Both 494 and 491 are provisional visas with their own requirements, not permanent grants.
Sources: Home Affairs: 186 Temporary Residence Transition stream · Home Affairs: 186 Direct Entry stream · Migration Regulations 1994: sponsorship and nomination requirements, including regulation 5.19 · Home Affairs: Skilled Nominated visa 190 and SkillSelect preparation · Home Affairs: Skilled Work Regional visa 491, main applicant · Home Affairs: 494 Employer Sponsored stream · Home Affairs: 191 Regional Provisional stream
3. Build two timelines for TRT
Under the standard TRT rules, the three years immediately before the visa application are examined twice: for at least two years of qualifying visa holding, and for at least two years of eligible sponsored employment. Employment generally must be full-time, undertaken in Australia and during eligible visa periods; unpaid leave is excluded. Specified bridging-visa circumstances and limited occupation-specific variations need individual checking.
Employment can count across approved sponsors and occupations you were approved to perform. It is not enough that work occurred while a 482 was in effect. When employers changed, Home Affairs says qualifying work may count from the lodgement date of a nomination that was subsequently approved, if employment began before approval.
- Visa timeline: record each grant, the period it was in effect, and any bridging-visa basis.
- Employment timeline: record the employing entity, approved occupation, nomination dates, actual work dates, hours, Australian work location and unpaid leave.
- Attach evidence to each period: grant notices, nomination records, contracts, references, payslips and relevant tax records.
Sources: Migration Regulations 1994: Schedule 2, clauses 186.226, 186.227 and regional visa provisions · Home Affairs: 186 Temporary Residence Transition stream
4. Test your assumptions with a worked example
Illustration only: a worker records 14 months with Sponsor A, then 11 months with Sponsor B. The second period includes one month of unpaid leave. If the other requirements are met, the working history may contain 24 qualifying months; changing employers does not automatically restart the calculation.
But that conclusion changes if some work with Sponsor B occurred before the relevant nomination was lodged, the work was outside Australia, or the period falls outside the rolling three-year window. The visa-holding requirement still needs its own calculation. Use exact dates and documents before deciding when an application could be lodged.
The new 186 nomination also has its own rules. For TRT, the nominator must be the sponsor or agreement party that last identified the worker in an approved nomination. The nominated occupation must match the most recently held relevant 457/482 visa. Historical flexibility does not remove those current requirements.
Sources: Home Affairs: 186 Temporary Residence Transition stream · Migration Regulations 1994: Schedule 2, clauses 186.226, 186.227 and regional visa provisions · Migration Regulations 1994: sponsorship and nomination requirements, including regulation 5.19
5. Check age and evidence before waiting
For 186 TRT and Direct Entry, the usual age requirement is under 45 when applying. Exemptions are defined and differ between streams. The TRT high-income category depends on qualifying sponsored employment and earnings meeting the Fair Work High Income Threshold for each relevant year; a new high salary offer alone is insufficient.
Other TRT categories cover specified academics, scientists, regional medical practitioners and transitional cases. They are not general exceptions for experienced workers or people in shortage industries. Check an exemption before relying on it.
Also review English, assessment validity, licensing and family evidence early. Evidence accepted for a temporary visa may not meet the permanent pathway’s standard. Ask what must exist at application and what can be supplied later, so an expiring result or approaching birthday does not become an avoidable planning gap.
Sources: Migration (LIN 19/216): defined skill, age and English exemptions · Home Affairs: 186 Temporary Residence Transition stream · Home Affairs: 186 Direct Entry stream
6. Treat regional migration as a different plan
A move from 482 to 491 or 494 starts a different visa pathway. For the 191 Regional Provisional stream, an eligible 491 or 494 must have been held for at least three years. Time previously spent on a 482 does not satisfy that visa-holding period.
The 191 stage currently has no minimum income threshold, but requires ATO notices of assessment for three income years out of the five years of the eligible visa and compliance with its conditions. Keep residence, work and tax records from the beginning.
Before switching, consider the household’s realistic work and living arrangements, the designated regional postcodes and restrictions on moving to other permanent pathways. For example, 186 Direct Entry has a general three-year holding requirement for current or most recent regional provisional visa holders, subject to specified exceptions.
Sources: Home Affairs: 191 Regional Provisional stream · Home Affairs: Designated regional areas · Migration Regulations 1994: Schedule 2, clauses 186.226, 186.227 and regional visa provisions
Understand the 494 regional employer pathway →
Read the 191 permanent regional guide →
7. Agree a practical next-step plan
Ask the employer who can approve a permanent nomination, whether the role is expected to continue, and who will coordinate business evidence. Separate willingness to help from a completed assessment. Agree who obtains missing documents, who checks the timeline and when you will revisit changes.
Keep lawful stay and work rights in the plan. An expression of interest is not a visa application and does not provide a bridging visa. A discussion about future sponsorship does not extend the current visa. Before resignation, travel or a move, review the actual visa conditions and the effect on every pathway under consideration.
- Record the preferred pathway and the evidence still needed to assess it.
- Identify dates that require action, including visa expiry and expiring assessments or tests.
- Recheck the plan if employment, location, salary, family circumstances or relevant rules change.
Sources: Home Affairs: Skilled Nominated visa 190 and SkillSelect preparation · Home Affairs: Hiring someone in Australia and checking work rights
How we can help
Ausdirect can assess the position, location and candidate, compare relevant pathways and review the evidence behind your proposed timetable. Where engaged, we prepare and lodge the nomination and visa applications, coordinating the employer and applicant requirements.
Questions to consider
Does two years on a 482 automatically qualify me for PR?
No. Visa holding and eligible sponsored employment are separate TRT checks, and the employer nomination and other visa requirements must also be met. A calendar anniversary is a prompt to review the evidence. Read the 186 visa guide
Must all my qualifying work be with my current employer?
Not necessarily. Eligible work across approved sponsors can count. Check the occupation and nomination history, and whether the current employer meets the TRT nomination requirements.
Should I wait for TRT if Direct Entry may be available?
Compare both against your evidence and employer’s circumstances. Direct Entry has different occupation, experience and assessment requirements. Its name does not promise faster processing.
Will a regional move preserve my 482 time for the 191 stage?
Time on a 482 does not count toward the 191 requirement to hold an eligible 491 or 494 for at least three years. Review the regional commitments and later visa restrictions before changing pathways. Explore the 491 pathway
Your next step
Bring your visa history, employment timeline, current role and the employer’s proposed support to a consultation. Share sensitive records through an agreed secure channel.