482 Skilled Independent Visa

An approved employer sponsors you to work in Australia for up to four years, and after two years it can turn into permanent residency. We run the whole thing, your side and your sponsor's.

check your 482 stream

The subclass 482 Skills in Demand visa is an employer sponsored work visa. An approved Australian business sponsors you to fill a skilled role it cannot fill locally, and you can hold the visa for up to four years. It replaced the old 457 and TSS visas. The one thing it always needs is an employer willing to sponsor you and to meet their own obligations.

A 482 lets you live and work in Australia in your nominated role, and you can bring your family with you. Your partner can generally work here without restriction, and your children can study. It is a temporary visa, but for a lot of people it is the first step toward permanent residency through the 186.

There are two main streams, and your pay decides which one you are in. Core Skills is for most applicants, and comes with an occupation list, a skills assessment and labour market testing. Specialist Skills is for high earners, and skips the list and the assessment. The tool below shows where a salary lands.

The 482 is not a visa you get on your own. An approved employer sponsors you.

The Skills in Demand visa lets an approved Australian employer sponsor you to work here for up to four years. There are two main streams, a salary floor you have to clear, and after two years it can lead to permanent residency. The catch is real: you need an employer who is willing to sponsor you and to meet their own obligations.

2
main streams, Core Skills and Specialist Skills
$79,423
Core Skills income floor (CSIT), or the market rate if higher
$146,576
Specialist Skills income floor (SSIT)
2 yrs
on a 482 before you can move to PR through the 186
1. The two main streams

Which stream you fall into is decided by your pay

The Skills in Demand visa splits into two main streams. Your salary and occupation decide which one applies. A separate Labour Agreement stream exists for specific industry agreements.

Core Skills
Most applicants
  • Your occupation must be on the Core Skills Occupation List
  • You need a positive skills assessment
  • Your employer must do labour market testing
  • Pay at least $79,423, or the market rate for the role if higher
Specialist Skills
High earners
  • Pay at least $146,576, or the market rate if higher
  • No occupation list to be on
  • No skills assessment required
  • Priority processing
2. What your employer has to do

Half of a 482 is the employer's side

A 482 is only possible if your employer becomes a sponsor and meets their obligations. This is often where applications stall.

1
Become an approved sponsor
The business applies for a Standard Business Sponsorship and must show a genuine need for the role.
2
Labour market testing
For the Core Skills stream, the role must be advertised to Australians for at least four weeks in the four months before nomination.
3
Pay the training levy
The employer pays the Skilling Australians Fund levy for each sponsored worker, on top of the visa charges.
Whichever is higher, the income threshold or the market rate for the role, is the salary you must be paid. Both have to be met.
3. It can lead to permanent residency

Two years in, the 482 opens the door to PR

The 482 is temporary, but it is a recognised step toward staying for good.

1
Work for your sponsor for two years
You hold and work on the 482 in the nominated role.
2
Move to PR through the 186
After two years you may qualify for the 186 Temporary Residence Transition stream, usually if you are under 45.

Source: Australian Department of Home Affairs. Income thresholds from 1 July 2026: Core Skills $79,423, Specialist Skills $146,576. Processing order follows Ministerial Direction 119 (by occupation and location). Rules change; this is a guide, not migration advice. Registered Migration Agent MARN 2318121.

482 Salary Threshold, Occupation in Stream Finder

Find your occupation and your 482 stream

Pick your job, then add the salary. Your occupation sets which streams are possible, and the salary decides between Core Skills and Specialist Skills.

Your result
Pick your occupation above
Select your job and add a salary to see whether you are looking at Core Skills or Specialist Skills.
Core Skills vs Specialist Skills

Core Skills is the main stream. Your occupation has to be on the Core Skills Occupation List, you need a skills assessment and labour market testing, and the role must pay at least A$79,423 or the market rate, whichever is higher.

Specialist Skills is the high income fast track. There is no occupation list. It is open to managers and professionals and roles in community and personal service, clerical and sales, that is ANZSCO major groups 1, 2, 4, 5 and 6, where the role pays at least A$146,576. It skips the list and gets priority processing.

It is closed to trades workers and technicians, machinery operators and drivers, and labourers, ANZSCO major groups 3, 7 and 8. For those occupations, Core Skills is the only 482 stream, however high the pay.

This is a guide only, not a formal assessment or migration advice. Thresholds from 1 July 2026: Core Skills $79,423, Specialist Skills $146,576. Specialist eligibility is set by ANZSCO major group and salary; a skills assessment and English still apply where relevant. Lists and rules change. Confirm your exact ANZSCO code, the current list and the market rate with us before you rely on it. Registered Migration Agent MARN 2318121.

482 compared with the 186 and the 189 visa

All three are skilled visas, but only one of them is temporary, and that one is the 482. Here is how it fits with the others, and how it becomes permanent. The 482 is an employer sponsored work visa you can hold for up to four years.

Work in your nominated role for the same sponsor for two years and you may be able to step up to the 186, which is permanent residency through that employer. So for a lot of people the 482 is not the destination. It is the first two years of a 186.

The 189 is different again. It is permanent, but there is no employer involved at all, and you qualify on your own points. If you have an employer ready to sponsor you, the 482 then 186 route is often the most realistic path to PR. If you do not, the 189 or a state nominated visa is where we would look.

If the 482 isn’t right for you, one of these could be

  • 189 Skilled Independent

    Permanent residency on your own points, with no employer or sponsor needed.

  • 190 Skilled Nominated

    Permanent residency with five extra points from a state that nominates you.

  • 186 Employer Sponsored

    Reach PR through your job, not your points

482 visa requirements

Every 482 starts with an approved employer nominating you for a real, skilled role they cannot fill locally.

On your side, you have to be paid properly, which means the income floor for your stream or the market rate for the job, whichever is higher, and you have to meet health and character requirements.

What else you need depends on your stream, and the two streams are in the next card.

On Core Skills you also need your occupation on the Core Skills Occupation List and a positive skills assessment. On Specialist Skills you need neither.

subclass 482

Who the 482 visa is for?

The 482 is for skilled workers who have an Australian employer willing to sponsor them, or who are on the way to finding one. It suits people who want to work in Australia now and build toward permanent residency over time, rather than qualifying on points straight away. If a business needs your skills and cannot find them locally, the 482 is how it brings you in, and for many people it becomes the runway to a 186.

Who the 482 is not for?

The 482 is not for people without an employer to sponsor them, because there is no independent route through it. If no business will sponsor you, the 189 or a state nominated visa is the better path. It also will not work where the role cannot meet the salary tests, or where the occupation does not fit either stream. None of that is necessarily the end of the road, but it changes the plan, and we would rather say so early than lodge something that cannot succeed.

What your employer has to do
(482 sponsor eligibility)

Half of a 482 is the employer's side, and it comes first. The business has to become an approved sponsor through a Standard Business Sponsorship and show a genuine need for the role.

On the Core Skills stream it has to run labour market testing, advertising the job to Australians for at least four weeks in the four months before nominating you.

For every worker it sponsors, the employer pays the Skilling Australians Fund levy on top of the visa charges. Sponsor eligibility is where a lot of applications stall, so we work with the employer from the very start, not after the fact.

482 visa cost

The cost of a 482 comes in parts, not one fee. There is the government visa charge for you and any family included, the sponsorship and nomination charges on the employer's side, and the Skilling Australians Fund levy the employer pays for each worker.

On top of that sit a skills assessment where one is needed, plus health and police checks. The employer's share is separate from yours. Charges move over time, so we set out the full picture for your situation and confirm the current figures before you commit.

Including your family on a 482 visa

You can include your partner and dependent children on the same 482. Your partner can generally work in Australia without restriction while the visa is valid, and your children can go to school.

Everyone you add carries their own visa charge, which we lay out for you up front. And when the time comes to move to the 186, the family can move across with you.

Impact of Ministerial Direction 119 on 482 Visa processing times

Most people get 482 processing time wrong. It is driven more by your occupation than by when you lodge. Specialist Skills applications get priority.

Beyond that, Ministerial Direction 119 ranks applications by occupation and location, and puts health, education and some construction and trades roles nearer the front. So two people who apply on the same morning can wait very different amounts of time.

Published timeframes also move as demand shifts, so a number you read today may not hold in three months. The part you can control is your own file: a complete, decision ready application does not get parked waiting for documents, and keeping it that way is our job.

482 Visa Frequently Asked Questions

  • t is an employer sponsored work visa. An approved Australian business sponsors you to work here for up to four years, and it replaced the old 457 and TSS visas. You work in the nominated role for that employer, and after two years it can open the door to permanent residency.

  • Yes. The 482 only works with an employer behind it. You need an approved Australian business willing to sponsor you for a genuine role, so there is no way to apply on your own without a sponsor.

  • Your pay decides it. Core Skills needs your occupation on the Core Skills Occupation List, a skills assessment and labour market testing, with pay of at least $79,423 or the market rate. Specialist Skills is for roles paying at least $146,576, with no occupation list, no skills assessment, and priority processing.

  • You have to clear two tests. Your pay has to meet the income floor for your stream, $79,423 for Core Skills or $146,576 for Specialist Skills, and it also has to match the market rate for the job. Whichever is higher is what you must be paid.

  • Up to four years. You can generally apply again, and after two years with your sponsor you may be able to move to permanent residency through the 186.

  • Yes. Your partner and dependent children go on the same application. Your partner can generally work in Australia without restriction while the visa is valid, and your children can study.

  • Yes, and for many people that is the point of it. After two years working for your sponsoring employer in the nominated role, you may qualify for the 186 through its Temporary Residence Transition stream, which is permanent residency, usually if you are under 45.

  • The business has to become an approved sponsor through a Standard Business Sponsorship, show a genuine need for the role, run labour market testing for the Core Skills stream, and pay the Skilling Australians Fund levy for every worker it sponsors.

  • For Core Skills, yes, your occupation has to be on the Core Skills Occupation List. For Specialist Skills there is no list, as long as the role pays at least $146,576.

  • It depends on the stream and your occupation more than when you lodge. Specialist Skills gets priority, and Ministerial Direction 119 ranks the rest by occupation and location, so some move faster than others. We tell you where yours is likely to sit before you lodge.

  • The cost comes in parts. There is the government visa charge for you and any family, the sponsorship and nomination charges on the employer's side, and the Skilling Australians Fund levy the employer pays, plus skills assessment, health and police checks where needed. Charges change, so we confirm the current figures for your situation before you commit.