482 Visa Requirements

• Be nominated by an approved sponsor

• Have an occupation in the relevant skilled occupation list

• Have at least 1 year of work experience in the relevant field

• Have a positive skill assessment if the occupation requires.

• Meet the English language requirement (IELTS 5.0 overall)

The Skills in Demand Visa SC 482 has 3 streams from which you can apply through. They are:

1. Specialist Skills stream

2. Core Skills stream

3. Labour agreement stream

It’s important that you select the correct stream depending on your circumstances for a successful visa outcome.

In addition to the general eligibility criteria there are specific requirements to be fulfilled for the respective streams.

• Core Skills stream
  • Have an occupation in the Core Skills Occupation List (CSOL)
  • Be paid a salary at or above the Core Skills Income Threshold  (CSIT) or the market salary rate if it is above CSIT which fo r the year 2025-2026 is AUD 76,515
• Specialist Skills stream
  • Have an occupation in the general skilled occupation list that is not in the trades: machinery operators, drivers, and laborers.
  • Earn at least AUD 141,210 (Specialist Skills Income Threshold, SSIT)
• Labour Agreement stream
  • This stream is for skilled workers whose employers have entered into a labour agreement with the Australian government.
  • The requirements for this stream is not stringent as for the other two streams due to the requirements being based on the agreement which are negotiated by the sponsoring employers.

An Australian business can become a standard Business Sponsor that is approved by the Department of Home Affairs to sponsor skilled workers under the Subclass 482 visa.

• The business must be a business which is legally established and currently lawfully operating in Australia

• The business can also be an overseas business that is established in Australia

• The business should not have any adverse information

• Have demonstrated commitment to employing local labour and not engage in discriminatory recruitment

Labour Market Testing is a mandatory requirement for the medium and short term streams of the SC 482 visa. The LMT involves advertising the nominated occupation to demonstrate that there are no suitably skilled and experienced Australian residents to fill the the nominated occupation position.

Advertising requirements

The advertisement must include:

• Title or description of the position
• Job tasks and duties
• Skills and experience required
• Name of the sponsoring employer
• Salary details, particularly if the annual earnings for the position are lower than AUD 96,400​​.
  • Furthermore, to meet the requirements for the SC 482 visa, the nominee must be paid at the CSIT /SSIT or higher. The current CSIT value is  AUD76,515 and the SSIT value is AUD 141,210 for the year 2025-2026.

Advertising Platforms

The manner of advertising is crucial in meeting LMT requirements.

• Firstly, the job advertisement must be in English.
• Secondly, a minimum of two advertisements must be published on platforms with a national reach (e.g recruitment website, print media or radio). These websites could be Jora, Seek, Indeed, etc.

Duration of advertisements

• The vacancy for the nominated occupation must be advertised for at least 4 weeks
• The position should have been advertised within 4 months prior to the submission of the nomination application

Applicant

• Identity documents

• Skill and occupation documents

  • CV or resume

  • Previous employer references or employment contracts

  • Payslips

  • Qualification certificates (professional and educational)

  • Skill assessment documents (only if required)

  • Any licenses or registrations

• English language proficiency documents

  • IELTS/PTE/TOEFL etc

• Health insurance documents

  • Overseas Visitor Health Cover or

  • Have any reciprocal healthcare agreements

• Character documents

  • Police certificates from each country you've resided in for 12 months or more during the past 10 years.

  • Australian Federal Police certificate (if you have resided in Australia for over 12 months in total)

• Family documents

  • Marriage certificate or de facto registration certificate

  • Passports of your spouse/de factor partner and children

  • Birth certificates of your children

Sponsor (Employer)

• Identification documents

  • Company incorporation certificate

  • ASIC historical extract

  • ABN history

• Company financial documents

• Contract of employment for the nominee

• Proof that the nominee will be paid the Annual Market Salary Rate (AMSR)

• Labour Market Testing (LMT) evidence

• Evidence that the position is genuine

• ITO evidence, in the event that the LMT is not required

This visa also allows applicants to include eligible family members in the application to accompany them while they are on the 482 visa.

While you are on this visa you can prepare yourself for permanent residency visas by obtaining the relevant work experience. Depending on the occupation that you hold, you can also obtain other professional and academic qualifications that would enable you to get permanent residency.

Once you are a 482 visa holder, the next visa that you can explore is the SC 186 Employer Nomination Scheme Visa, which is also an employer sponsored permanent residency visa. You can also apply for skilled migration visas while you are on your 482 visa which would lead you to PR.