Australia’s Skills in Demand (482) visa: a simple guide

What is the 482 visa?

Do you work as a cook, welder, carer or farm worker, and hope to work in Australia? Then this is probably the visa your future employer will use. We will explain it in small parts.

In short. The full name is the Skills in Demand (SID) visa, subclass 482. An Australian business uses it to sponsor a worker from overseas when it cannot find a local worker with the right skills. It is a temporary visa. It lasts for a maximum of 4 years. If you want to stay longer on a 482, your employer must nominate you again and you must apply for a new visa.

The three streams. A "stream" is a separate path inside the visa, with its own rules:

• Core Skills: for jobs on the Core Skills Occupation List (CSOL). Most trade, hospitality and care jobs on our site use this stream.
• Specialist Skills: for highly paid workers in some occupation groups, with a salary at or above the Specialist Skills Income Threshold (AUD 146,576 (as of October 2026, official page)). Trades, machine operators and labourers cannot use it.
• Labour Agreement: for employers that have a labour agreement (a special contract) with the Australian Government. The agreement can have its own rules.

Who can apply?

Most jobs in Australia on our site use the Core Skills stream. Check yourself against these points:

• A sponsor: the business is an approved sponsor, or has applied to become a Standard Business Sponsor. It lodges a nomination for you.
• An occupation on the list: your job is on the Core Skills Occupation List, and the role really needs your skills.
• Fair pay: the salary matches the Annual Market Salary Rate for the job and is not below the Core Skills Income Threshold. For nominations lodged from 1 July 2026 to 30 June 2027, the threshold is AUD 79,423 (as of October 2026, official page). You must also be paid at least what an Australian worker gets for the same job.
• Experience: at least 1 year of relevant work in the nominated occupation or a close field. See the next section.
• English, health and character: you meet these requirements, and you have suitable health insurance for your whole stay.
• Age: there is no age limit for the 482.

Does this sound like you? Look at jobs with sponsorship in Australia.

Your skills and work history

• Experience needed: relevant work in the nominated occupation or a close field, adding up to at least 1 year, within the last 5 years. Gaps between jobs are fine. The total must reach 12 months of full-time work.
• Qualifications: what the occupation asks for, and any Australian licence or registration needed to do the job.
• Skills assessment: needed for some occupations only, usually from VETASSESS or Trades Recognition Australia (TRA). Vietnamese trade and vocational certificates are usually checked again in this way. If you need an assessment, you must have it before you lodge your visa application, or the application is not valid. It must also be dated within the 3 years before you apply.
• No assessment needed? Home Affairs may still ask for proof of your skills, such as certificates, licences, references and your CV.

Tip: keep one folder with all your certificates and their English translations from Vietnamese.

How good must your English be?

For the Core Skills and Specialist Skills streams you must show your English, unless you are exempt. For a test taken on or after 13 September 2025, these are the minimum scores for each part (as of October 2026, official page):

• Your test must be no more than 3 years old when you apply.
• At-home and fully online tests, such as IELTS Online, are not accepted. Take the test at a test centre.
• Other tests are also accepted, for example the Michigan English Test, LANGUAGECERT Academic and CELPIP General. The official page lists their scores.
• Some people are exempt. For example, people with a passport from the United States, the United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland, New Zealand or Canada, and people who studied full-time for at least 5 years at secondary school or higher, mostly in English.
• In the Labour Agreement stream, the agreement may set its own English level.

Tip: look for an IELTS or PTE test centre near you, and book early. Practise listening, reading and writing as well as speaking.

Health, insurance and character

• Health: every person in your application must meet the health requirement. This usually means a medical exam. Results are usually valid for 12 months.
• Health insurance: you need suitable health cover from the day you arrive until the day you leave.
• Character: this is checked for you and for family members aged 16 or older, mostly through police certificates. Look at the last 10 years. You need a certificate from each country where you lived for 12 months or more in total after your 16th birthday. That includes Vietnam, where the certificate is the Judicial Record Certificate No. 2 (Phiếu lý lịch tư pháp số 2).

The steps, in order

1. The employer looks locally first. In most cases the business must try to find a worker in Australia. This is called labour market testing. It means at least 2 job ads, each one online for 4 weeks or more, within the 4 months before the nomination (labour market testing rules).
2. You apply and get an offer. You send your CV, have an interview (often by video) and receive a job offer.
3. The business becomes a sponsor. If it is not approved yet, it applies.
4. The business nominates your job. It then sends you the Transaction Reference Number (TRN), the reference number of that nomination.
5. You prepare your documents. Passport, proof of skills (and a skills assessment if needed), English results, police certificates, employer references and translations.
6. You lodge the visa. Apply in ImmiAccount with the TRN and pay the visa charge.
7. Biometrics and medicals, if Home Affairs asks for them. Biometrics means your photo and fingerprints.
8. The decision. The visa can only be granted after the nomination is approved.
9. You start work. You must begin within 90 days of arriving in Australia (or of the grant, if you are already there).

Waiting times and costs

Current waiting times from the Home Affairs processing-time tool (as of October 2026, official page):

These numbers change often, and your own case may be faster or slower. Also count the time before you lodge. The job search, sponsorship and nomination, a skills assessment, an English test and police certificates can each take weeks.

Government charge (as of October 2026, official page): AUD 4,015 for the main applicant and for each family member aged 18 or older, and AUD 1,005 for each family member under 18. You also pay your own costs, such as the English test, medical exams, police certificates and biometrics. Since 1 July 2026, eligible citizens of Pacific Island countries and Timor-Leste pay a lower charge.

Life on the visa: rules and rights

• Your employer: you work only for your sponsor (or sometimes an associated entity), and only in your nominated occupation.
• Start date: within 90 days.
• If your job ends: you have up to 180 days to find a new sponsor or prepare to leave Australia.
• Costs: your sponsor pays the sponsorship, nomination and recruitment costs. It is not allowed to make you pay them (sponsor obligations). Sponsored workers have the same workplace rights as other workers in Australia; read about your rights at work.

Your partner and children

• Who: your partner and dependent children (your own or your partner's) can be included in your application.
• Their rights: they can live, work and study in Australia.
• The nomination: each family member must be covered by the nomination, or your sponsor must agree in writing to sponsor them.
• Plan ahead: after you lodge, no one can be added. A family member who comes later must apply separately, as a "subsequent entrant".
• Charges and checks: each family member pays a visa charge (see the costs section). Each must meet the health requirement, and the character requirement from age 16.

Staying for good: subclass 186

Many sponsored workers want to make Australia their home. The permanent visa for this is the Employer Nomination Scheme (subclass 186). People on a 482 usually use its Temporary Residence Transition (TRT) stream. In general (as of October 2026, official page), you must show that:

• you hold a subclass 482 or 457 visa now, or an eligible bridging visa;
• you worked a total of 2 years in eligible sponsored work during the 3 years before you apply;
• the employer nominating you is the one that last sponsored you full-time on your 482 or 457 visa, and that employer had a nomination for you approved in the 6 months before you apply;
• you are under 45 when you apply, in most cases;
• you have at least Competent English, for example IELTS 6 in each of listening, reading, writing and speaking (Competent English explained). This stream has no English exemption.

The charge for the 186 visa starts at AUD 6,140 (as of October 2026, official page). Rules for permanent residence change often. Read the official page before you make plans.

Getting ready in Vietnam or in another country

You do not have to be in Australia to get ready. Most of this work can happen at home in Vietnam, or in Japan, Taiwan, South Korea or any other country where you work today. The list below is based on the general rules of the Department of Home Affairs, the Australian government department that decides visas. Treat it as your plan, then check the official pages for your own situation.

1. Your passport. Make sure it is valid. Will it run out soon? Home Affairs suggests renewing it before you apply, so the passport in your application is the same one you travel with.
2. Police certificates. Think back over the past 10 years. In which countries did you live for 12 months or more in total, after you turned 16? Each of those countries must give you a police certificate. For Vietnam, the document is the Judicial Record Certificate No. 2 (Phiếu lý lịch tư pháp số 2). Did you work in Japan, Taiwan, South Korea or somewhere else for that long? Then you need a certificate from that country too. Home Affairs keeps a country-by-country guide to police certificates, and Vietnam is included. In general a certificate is accepted for 12 months from its issue date (the Home Affairs character rules).
3. Qualifications and licences. Find your degree, college diploma or vocational certificate, and any trade certificate or licence. Vietnamese qualifications are usually assessed again in Australia. If your occupation needs a skills assessment (an official check of your skills by an Australian assessing body), begin early. It can be slow.
4. Letters from employers. Ask each past employer for a reference letter on company letterhead. It should give the writer's name, job title and contact details, plus your position and your start and end dates. Home Affairs also asks for a CV that covers at least the last 5 years. Write it in English, in short lines: job title, dates, main duties.
5. An English test. Many people choose IELTS or PTE. You must sit the test in person at a test centre. A fully online test is not accepted. Keep your results somewhere safe.
6. Translations. Anything written in Vietnamese needs an English translation. The translator can live outside Australia and does not need accreditation. Still, each translation must show the translator's full name, address and phone number, and their qualifications and experience.
7. Names and scans. Scan every page in colour. Then compare your name and date of birth across all your papers. Vietnamese names are sometimes written with accents and sometimes without, or in a different order. Try to make them match, and explain any difference early.

Before you leave, look at official Vietnamese government sources for any rules on citizens going to work overseas. Deal only with licensed organisations and real employers. Never pay an unlicensed broker, or anyone who asks for money upfront to "secure" a job or a visa.

Avoid scams and common mistakes

Most visa problems begin with a promise that sounds too good. Learn these rules and you will notice the warning signs quickly.

• Nobody can promise you a visa. Home Affairs says no one can guarantee an Australian visa. Australia also does not sell "work permits" or visa stickers. If someone offers you one, walk away.
• You cannot buy sponsorship. Your sponsor pays its own sponsorship, nomination and recruitment costs and cannot pass them on to you. Giving, asking for or accepting money or any other benefit for sponsorship breaks the rules. If you did this in the last 3 years, you may not be able to get a 482 visa.
• Only registered helpers may charge. In Australia, a registered migration agent (RMA) or an Australian lawyer is the only person who can legally charge you for visa help. Search for the agent on the OMARA register before you pay anything (how to choose a migration agent).
• Pay the government in ImmiAccount. ImmiAccount is the official online account for Australian visas. Your visa charge is paid there, and there is no extra government fee to issue the visa.
• Mistakes we see often: an occupation that your real work history does not match; an English result or police certificate that has expired; a family member left out of the application (you cannot add them after you lodge); and names or dates that are different across your documents.

Learn more from Home Affairs: visa scams and what you need to know about scams.

Frequently asked questions

How long can I stay on a 482 visa?

Up to 4 years. To stay longer, your employer must lodge a new nomination and you must lodge a new visa application.

How many years of experience do I need?

At least 1 year of relevant work in the nominated occupation or a close field, within the last 5 years. Breaks are fine if the total reaches 12 months of full-time work.

Which IELTS score is needed?

For a test taken on or after 13 September 2025, you need at least 5.0 in each IELTS part (as of October 2026), unless you are exempt. Scores for other tests, such as PTE Academic, OET and TOEFL iBT, are on the Home Affairs English page.

Is there an age limit for the 482?

No, the Skills in Demand visa has no age limit. But the permanent subclass 186 visa (TRT stream) usually requires you to be under 45.

How much is the 482 visa?

As of October 2026: AUD 4,015 for you and for each family member aged 18 or older, and AUD 1,005 for each child under 18. You also pay for your own tests, medical checks and police certificates. See the Home Affairs page for details.

What happens if I lose my job?

You have up to 180 days to find a new sponsor or to prepare to leave Australia.

Can the 482 lead to permanent residence?

Yes, it can. After 2 years of sponsored work in the last 3 years, you may be able to use the TRT stream of the Employer Nomination Scheme (subclass 186). Your employer must nominate you, and you must meet the age and Competent English rules.

How do I get a police certificate in Vietnam?

For Vietnam, the police certificate is the Judicial Record Certificate No. 2 (Phiếu lý lịch tư pháp số 2). Home Affairs has a list for every country that explains how to get police certificates, including in Vietnam.