Employer sponsored visas

Three approvals, not one

Employer sponsored visas confuse people because they are not a single application. Three separate approvals have to line up, and two of them belong to the business rather than the worker:

1. Sponsorship — the employer is approved as a sponsor. This sits with the business and, once granted, covers future nominations.
2. Nomination — the specific position is approved, including what it pays and whether it is genuine.
3. The visa — the worker is assessed on skills, English, health and character.

A refusal at any stage stops the whole thing. In practice most problems appear at the nomination stage, which is also the stage employers most often underestimate.

Which visa fits the situation

• Subclass 482 — Skills in Demand. Temporary. Three streams: Core Skills, Specialist Skills and Labour Agreement. The usual starting point when a business needs someone now.
• Subclass 186 — Employer Nomination Scheme. Permanent. Three streams: Direct Entry, Temporary Residence Transition and Labour Agreement. Temporary Residence Transition is how many 482 holders eventually convert.
• Subclass 494 — Skilled Employer Sponsored Regional. Provisional, for regional employers, with a pathway to permanent residence.

The income thresholds move every July

A nomination has to meet the relevant income threshold, and those thresholds are indexed annually. For nominations lodged between 1 July 2026 and 30 June 2027:

• Core Skills Income Threshold — AUD 79,423. It was AUD 76,515 in 2025–26, and AUD 73,150 from December 2024 to June 2025.
• Specialist Skills Income Threshold — AUD 146,576, up from AUD 141,210 the year before.

This catches employers out more than any other single thing. A salary agreed months ago may no longer clear the threshold that applies on the day the nomination is lodged. If a role was scoped and priced earlier in the year, check it again before lodging.

What it costs in 2026–27

These are the Department’s visa application charges. They are separate from the sponsorship and nomination costs, and separate again from any levy payable by the business.

• Subclass 482 — AUD 4,015, the same across all three streams.
• Subclass 186 — AUD 6,140, the same across all three streams. Each additional adult AUD 3,070, each child AUD 1,535.

The 482 carries a trap worth knowing before you plan a family move. Unlike almost every other visa, its additional applicant charge for anyone aged 18 or over is also AUD 4,015 — the same as the primary applicant, not half. Adding a spouse doubles the visa charge. Children are AUD 1,005.

Where employer sponsored applications come unstuck

• The position is not convincingly genuine. A role invented around a particular person, or one that does not match the size and activity of the business, is the most common nomination refusal.
• The salary sits under the threshold that applies at lodgement. See above. It moves every 1 July.
• The occupation and the duties disagree. The nominated occupation has to match what the person will actually do, described in the business’s own words.
• Sponsorship obligations are treated as paperwork. They continue after the visa is granted, and monitoring is real.

If you are the employer

We act for businesses as well as workers. If you are sponsoring for the first time, the useful conversation happens before the job is advertised — not after you have made someone an offer you may not be able to deliver.