The Subclass 482 Skills in Demand visa lets an approved Australian sponsor employ an overseas worker in a nominated occupation for up to four years. The subclass 482 Skills in Demand visa has three streams: Specialist Skills, Core Skills and Labour Agreement. Resource Visa prepares sponsorship, nomination and visa applications for Australian employers, and manages the compliance that follows.
Streams
The three streams
Which stream applies is driven by the occupation and the salary, not by preference.
Core Skills
The Core Skills stream covers occupations on the Core Skills Occupation List. Under either stream, the worker must be paid at least the applicable income threshold and the market rate for the role. Thresholds are indexed every 1 July, and we check the current figures for each nomination. Many engineering, trades and technical roles in the sector sit here; we confirm the occupation against the current list at triage.
Specialist Skills
Labour Agreement stream
Labour agreements, including DAMA: see DAMA for WA Resources Employers.
Specialist Skills
Specialist Skills stream: who it is open to
The Specialist Skills stream is open to most occupations where the salary meets its income threshold. It isn’t available for technicians and trades workers, machinery operators and drivers, or labourers, whatever the salary.
For resources employers, commissioning managers and principal engineers are natural fits. We confirm the occupation at triage.
Under either stream, the worker must be paid at least the applicable income threshold and the market rate for the role. Thresholds are indexed every 1 July, and we check the current figures for each nomination.
Sponsoring a technician or trades role? See the Core Skills stream above, or DAMA for WA Resources Employers.
Not sure which stream?
Your obligations
What your business has to do
- Be an approved sponsor. Standard Business Sponsorship, or a labour agreement where the occupation sits outside standard arrangements.
- Nominate the position. Establish that the role is genuine, correctly classified, and paid at least the applicable income threshold and the market rate for the role.
- Conduct Labour Market Testing where required, to the Department’s specifications.
- Meet the sponsor obligations.
The process
What the process looks like
Three applications, which can in many cases be lodged together:
Sponsorship, your business is approved as a sponsor. Approval generally lasts five years, and renewing it is a new application. It covers multiple nominations.
Nomination, the specific position is approved. This is where genuineness, occupation classification, salary and Labour Market Testing are assessed, and it is where problems often arise.
Visa, the worker’s own application: skills, English, health and character.
The nomination is the part employers underestimate. Getting the occupation classification wrong, or documenting the role loosely, is a common cause of delay.
Labour market testing
Before nominating, most employers must test the Australian labour market: at least two advertisements, each running for at least four weeks, within the four months before the nomination is lodged, unless an exemption applies. We build this into your recruitment so the evidence is there when you need it.
After the grant
What happens after the visa is granted
This is the part that gets forgotten, and it is where sponsors get into trouble.
Sponsor obligations start when you’re approved, and some continue after the sponsorship ends. They include giving equivalent terms and conditions, keeping records, telling the Department about certain changes within 28 days, paying reasonable return travel costs if asked, and cooperating with inspectors. Breaches can lead to sanctions, including bars on sponsoring, cancellation, infringement notices, civil penalties and enforceable undertakings.
If the role changes materially, that may require a fresh nomination. If the worker leaves, that triggers a notification obligation with a deadline attached.
Permanent residence
After the Skills in Demand visa (subclass 482)
The 482 is a temporary visa. Permanent residence is a separate step, usually through the subclass 186 Temporary Residence Transition stream after a qualifying period working for an approved sponsor. For that stream the nomination comes from the sponsoring employer; a Direct Entry nomination doesn’t need sponsorship approval. Either way, the position must be full-time and available for at least two years.
Worth planning early rather than at visa expiry. Retention economics favour it: PR support reduces turnover, removes recurring renewal costs, and in remote and specialist roles the cost of losing an experienced worker substantially exceeds the cost of nominating them.
From 400 to 482
When short-term turns ongoing.
If the role turns out to be ongoing, the 482 is a fresh application with its own sponsorship and nomination. A 400 may carry a ‘No Further Stay’ condition. If it does, the specialist can’t apply for the 482 while in Australia unless the Department first waives the condition. A waiver is discretionary, so the 482 may need to be lodged from outside Australia. We manage the conversion properly — a sponsorship and nomination case that explains the history and establishes the ongoing role on its merits.
When the Skills in Demand visa (subclass 482) is the wrong instrument
If the work is a defined piece of specialised work with an end date, the 482 is heavy machinery for a small job. The 400 is the specialist’s own application. Your business supports it with an invitation and evidence. There’s no sponsorship approval or nomination stage and no sponsorship obligations, but your business must not let anyone work in breach of their visa conditions.
If the occupation does not appear on the relevant list, the 482 is not available in the standard way, a labour agreement or a DAMA may be.
If your business cannot meet the salary threshold for the role, a standard nomination will not meet the requirement. A labour agreement or DAMA concession may, and we will tell you which.
Who we are
Migration advice with a finance background
Resource Visa is a Perth migration practice for resources employers. Immigration assistance is provided by a Registered Migration Agent (MARN 1686595), and your briefing is with a registered agent, not an intake team. Our principal came to migration from corporate finance, so the commercial case behind a mobilisation doesn’t have to be explained to us.
FAQs
Frequently asked questions
On 7 December 2024 the Skills in Demand visa replaced the Temporary Skill Shortage visa. It kept the subclass number 482. The subclass 482 Skills in Demand visa has three streams: Specialist Skills, Core Skills and Labour Agreement.
A 482 can be granted for up to four years.
Yes. Sponsorship, nomination and visa are three separate applications, though in many cases they can be lodged together. Approval generally lasts five years, and renewing it is a new application. It covers multiple nominations.
Before nominating, most employers must test the Australian labour market: at least two advertisements, each running for at least four weeks, within the four months before the nomination is lodged, unless an exemption applies. We build this into your recruitment so the evidence is there when you need it.
Sponsor obligations start when you’re approved, and some continue after the sponsorship ends. They include giving equivalent terms and conditions, keeping records, telling the Department about certain changes within 28 days, paying reasonable return travel costs if asked, and cooperating with inspectors. Breaches can lead to sanctions, including bars on sponsoring, cancellation, infringement notices, civil penalties and enforceable undertakings.
The 482 is a temporary visa. Permanent residence is a separate step, usually through the subclass 186 Temporary Residence Transition stream after a qualifying period working for an approved sponsor. For that stream the nomination comes from the sponsoring employer; a Direct Entry nomination doesn’t need sponsorship approval. Either way, the position must be full-time and available for at least two years. Planning it early is better than addressing it at visa expiry.
There are Departmental charges at sponsorship, nomination and visa stage, plus the Skilling Australians Fund levy, and these are indexed. We set out the full cost picture, ours and the Department’s, in writing at the briefing, current as at that date.
Sponsorship and nomination charges, the Skilling Australians Fund levy and recruitment costs sit with the sponsor. Australian law prohibits passing them to the sponsored worker, directly or through deductions or bonds.
Possibly. Labour agreements and, in designated WA regions, DAMAs exist precisely for occupations that fall outside standard lists. Whether one fits depends on whether the gap is structural or a one-off vacancy.
Reviewed by a Registered Migration Agent (MARN 1686595) · Last reviewed [date]
Keep reading
Related pages
Becoming a Standard Business Sponsor
What Standard Business Sponsorship requires, how long approval lasts, what it commits your business to, and whether you actually need it.
Sponsor Obligations & Monitoring
What sponsorship commits your business to: records, notifications, equivalent terms, and what happens when the Department asks.
Sponsor Compliance Check
Find out where your sponsorship obligations stand before the Department does.
Sponsoring a role that isn’t going away?
Twenty minutes. No obligation. Direct with a Registered Migration Agent. Tell us the role, the site and the date.
Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm AWST