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Do you have work experience in certain occupation and have an Australian business willing to sponsor you for the same skilled work?
Skills in Demand (subclass 482) and Employer Nomination Scheme (subclass 186)
Skills in Demand (subclass 482)
- Core Skills stream: for occupations on the Core Skills Occupation List
- Specialist Skills stream: for specialist roles with a higher salary threshold
- The Labour Agreement stream
- Stay of up to 4 years (up to 5 years for Hong Kong passport holders)
- You have been nominated for a job position by an Australian employer that wants to recruit you to work for them
- You have the relevant skills and qualifications for your occupation
- You have at least 1 year of relevant work experience in your nominated occupation or a related field
- You meet the minimum English language standard, unless you are exempt
- You can satisfy DHA requirements for good character and health
- If you are in Australia, you have a substantive visa, or a bridging visa A, B, or C and you have complied with your visa condition.
Employer Nomination Scheme (subclass 186)
- This visa involves a two-step process; a nomination by an approved Australian employer and a visa application by the skilled overseas worker.
- Applicants can be in or outside Australia when they apply for this visa. Applicants must have a valid visa or a bridging visa A, B, or C to apply for this visa in Australia.
The Employer Nomination Scheme (subclass 186) is a permanent residency visa that requires the sponsorship of a nominating employer. In summary:
- You must be nominated for an occupation on the Core Skills Occupation List
- English language requirements are IELTS (or equivalent test) score of 6 in each component.
- Applicants for the Direct Entry and Temporary Residence Transition streams must usually be under 45 (exemptions apply). A limited transitional rule allows under 50 for some people who held a subclass 457 visa on 18 April 2017.
- Integrity: A range of amendments have been introduced to enhance the integrity of the ENS visas, including through requiring the nominated position to be genuine.
Three Streams:
The Temporary Residence Transition stream is for 457 or 482 visa holders who have usually worked full time for at least 2 years in eligible sponsored employment, while holding a subclass 457 or 482 visa, with the employer who is nominating them and who wants to offer them a permanent position.
The Direct Entry stream is for applicants who are nominated for an occupation on the Core Skills Occupation List, are under 45 (exemptions apply), have at least 3 years of relevant work experience and a positive skills assessment, and meet the Competent English requirement.
The Labour Agreement stream is for applicants sponsored by an employer through a labour agreement.
Regional Visa - 494
Skilled Employer Sponsored Regional (provisional) visa (subclass 494)
- Skilled Employer Sponsored Regional (provisional) visa (subclass 494): replaced the Direct Entry stream of the Regional Sponsored Migration Scheme (subclass 187), which is now closed to new applications (the 187 Temporary Residence Transition stream remains for certain 457 and 482 visa holders), and commenced November 16, 2019.
- The 494 visa has 10,000 places allocated per year. It requires employer sponsorship from a regional employer and the position must be likely to exist for 5 years.
- It has a 45 year age limit (exemptions apply), competent English, RCB advice and must meet the AMSR. Visa applicants must have a suitable skills assessment and at least 3 years’ skilled employment.
Regional areas are defined as any area excluding Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. Important change: Perth and Gold Coast are classified as regional areas.
Holders of the new provisional visas will also be unable to apply for most other skills based visas in Australia unless they have completed at least three years in a designated regional area, unless exceptional circumstances exist. Additionally, similar to current arrangements for the subclass 457 and 482 visa program, holders of the new provisional visas can be negatively impacted by sponsor non-compliance.
The permanent visa pathway is:
- Permanent Residence (Skilled Regional) visa (subclass 191): To meet the requirements of the permanent visa (from November 2022) applicants must have held a subclass 491 or 494 visa for at least 3 years, have complied with the conditions on that visa and provide Australian Taxation Office notices of assessment for three income years out of the five years of that visa. There is no minimum income requirement. Your partner can also be the main applicant for the 191 visa if they can demonstrate this criteria.