If you hold a Subclass 482 visa and want permanent residency in Australia, the main pathway is the Subclass 186 Employer Nomination Scheme (ENS) visa through the Temporary Residence Transition (TRT) stream. The core requirement is two years of full-time sponsored work in the three years before you apply, plus a willing employer prepared to nominate you again for the permanent role. Moving from a 482 visa to permanent residency is a joint process: you and your employer both lodge applications, and neither can be granted without the other.
Who Can Use the TRT Stream
You must hold a Subclass 482 (or the older Subclass 457) visa when you apply, or hold an eligible bridging visa granted after your 482 expired while your permanent residency application is pending.1Australian Government – Department of Home Affairs. Employer Nomination Scheme (Subclass 186) Temporary Residence Transition Stream
One quirk works in your favor: the TRT stream has no occupation list of its own. Your eligibility rests on the occupation from your most recently held temporary skilled visa.2Australian Government – Department of Home Affairs. Skilled Occupation List If your 482 was granted for a software engineer role, that occupation carries through. You don’t need to recheck the current skilled occupation list at the time you lodge for PR.
The Two-Year Work Requirement
You need at least two years of full-time work in eligible sponsored employment during the three years immediately before you apply. That work must have happened in Australia, while holding a 482 or 457, in the occupation you were approved for.1Australian Government – Department of Home Affairs. Employer Nomination Scheme (Subclass 186) Temporary Residence Transition Stream
Time with a previous sponsor can count if an approved nomination was lodged for that role before you started. Multiple 482s in different approved occupations during the three-year window are also acceptable.1Australian Government – Department of Home Affairs. Employer Nomination Scheme (Subclass 186) Temporary Residence Transition Stream The Department expects you to work for your nominating employer for at least two years, so switching sponsors right before you apply causes problems.
Age Limit and Exemptions
You generally need to be under 45 when you lodge. The exemptions are narrow:1Australian Government – Department of Home Affairs. Employer Nomination Scheme (Subclass 186) Temporary Residence Transition Stream
- Academics at Academic Level A through E nominated by an Australian university.
- Scientists and researchers at ANZSCO skill level 1 or 2 nominated by an Australian scientific government agency or university.
- Doctors who worked in a designated regional area for at least two of the three years before applying while on a 457 or 482, whose nominated position is also in a regional area.
- High-income earners whose guaranteed annual earnings met or exceeded the Fair Work High Income Threshold for at least two of the three years before applying. For 2025–2026 the threshold is $183,100.
A transitional rule pushes the age cap to 50 if you held or had applied for a Subclass 457 visa on 18 April 2017.1Australian Government – Department of Home Affairs. Employer Nomination Scheme (Subclass 186) Temporary Residence Transition Stream
English Language Requirement
As the main applicant you generally need competent English. The usual way to show this is a test score from IELTS, PTE Academic, TOEFL iBT, or Cambridge C1 Advanced taken within three years of applying. A valid passport from the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, New Zealand, or the Republic of Ireland also satisfies the requirement.3Australian Government – Department of Home Affairs. Competent English
Family members included in the application need only functional English, which can be proven with at least five years of secondary education taught entirely in English, or shorter periods of university study in English.4Australian Government – Department of Home Affairs. Functional English A dependent who cannot meet even the functional standard triggers a second instalment charge of AUD 2,065 for that person.
If You Don’t Qualify for TRT: the Direct Entry Stream
If you haven’t accumulated two years of sponsored work, the Direct Entry stream of the same Subclass 186 visa may still work. It doesn’t require prior work with the nominating employer, but you must obtain a positive skills assessment from the relevant assessing authority before lodging.5Australian Government – Department of Home Affairs. Employer Nomination Scheme Visa (Subclass 186) Direct Entry Stream The under-45 rule still applies, and your occupation must be on the relevant skilled occupation list at the time of nomination.
What Your Employer Has to Do
Before you can lodge your visa application, your employer submits a nomination application. The nomination and your visa application run in parallel, but the nomination must be approved before your visa can be granted.6Department of Home Affairs. Employer Nomination Scheme Visa
The Skilling Australians Fund Levy
The employer pays the Skilling Australians Fund (SAF) levy when lodging the nomination. For the ENS visa it’s a one-off amount that depends on business size:7Department of Home Affairs. Cost of Sponsoring – Section: Skilling Australians Fund Levy
- Small business (annual turnover under $10 million): AUD 3,000.
- Other business (annual turnover of $10 million or more): AUD 5,000.
Employers cannot pass the SAF levy on to you. It’s a sponsorship obligation, not an employee cost.
Salary Rules
The nominated position must be full-time and permanent. The salary has to meet two benchmarks. It cannot fall below the annual market salary rate, meaning what an equivalent Australian worker would earn in the same role and location. And both that market rate and your actual pay must meet or exceed the Temporary Skilled Migration Income Threshold (TSMIT), which is AUD 76,515 for nominations lodged between 1 July 2025 and 30 June 2026.8Australian Government – Department of Home Affairs. Salary Requirements to Nominate a Worker Nominations that pay below what an equivalent Australian worker would earn are refused.
Lodging, Documents, and Fees
Everything goes through ImmiAccount, the Department’s online portal, where you upload documents, pay fees, and track status. The main applicant visa application charge runs several thousand dollars, with additional charges for each dependent, and figures are updated on 1 July each year.9Australian Government – Department of Home Affairs. Current Visa Pricing Your employer pays a separate nomination application fee on top of the SAF levy. Fees are generally non-refundable, so budget the full picture before you lodge.
Every applicant, including dependents, needs a health examination by a Department-approved panel physician. Results are submitted through eMedical. If a Medical Officer finds a condition that could cost the Australian community more than the significant cost threshold (currently $86,000 over ten years), the applicant will likely fail the health requirement, and one family member failing can sink the whole application. A health waiver is possible in some cases but not routine, and conditions requiring scarce resources such as organ transplants or ongoing dialysis can trigger a failure regardless of your financial capacity.
Character requirements can also be involved. You may be asked for police certificates from every country where you have lived for 12 months or more in the past 10 years since turning 16.10Australia in the USA. Visa Requirements Some countries take months to issue these, so start early.
Bridging Visa and Travel While You Wait
When you lodge the 186 application onshore, a Bridging Visa A is generally granted automatically. It activates only if your 482 expires before a decision is made, keeps you lawfully in Australia, and usually carries work rights (with conditions depending on your circumstances).11Australian Government – Department of Home Affairs. Subclass 010 Bridging Visa A (BVA)
The BVA does not permit international travel. If you need to leave Australia while the application is pending, you have to apply separately for a Bridging Visa B, which grants a limited travel window. Don’t book non-refundable flights before the BVB is granted. Leaving Australia without a BVB after your 482 has expired means your bridging visa ceases, and you may not be able to return.
How Long It Takes
Processing is not fast. Recent data shows roughly half of TRT applications finalised within 13 to 14 months, and about 90 percent decided within 18 to 19 months. The Department publishes estimates through its online tool, but those are based on recently decided cases and don’t guarantee your timing.12Department of Home Affairs. Global Visa Processing Times
During processing, a case officer may issue a Request for Further Information. These come with fixed deadlines, and missing one can mean a decision is made on whatever the Department already has. Check ImmiAccount regularly.
If You Want to Change Employers
Your 482 conditions require you to work in your nominated occupation for your sponsoring employer. To change employers, the new employer must be an approved sponsor, lodge a new nomination for your role, and get it approved before you lawfully start. You’re allowed a gap of up to 180 consecutive days without working in your nominated occupation or for your sponsor, with a total of no more than 365 days outside approved employment across the life of the visa.
For the PR pathway, if you switch close to lodging your 186, the new employer becomes your nominator. Time with the previous employer can still count toward the two years, but only where an approved nomination existed for that earlier role. Poorly timed employer changes are one of the most common reasons TRT applications run into trouble.
What Permanent Residency Gets You
Once the 186 is granted, you’re no longer tied to a specific employer. You can work for anyone, change careers, or start a business. You gain access to Medicare, and your children are treated as domestic students at public universities, though permanent residents generally cannot defer tuition through HELP loans and typically pay upfront.
PR also starts the clock on citizenship. To apply for Australian citizenship by conferral, you generally need four years of lawful residence in Australia, with at least the final 12 months as a permanent resident, absences of no more than 12 months total across that period, and no more than 90 days in the year before you apply.
Permanent resident status itself doesn’t expire, but the travel facility on the visa does. A 186 visa typically includes a five-year travel facility. After it expires, you need a Resident Return Visa to leave and re-enter as a permanent resident. If you plan extended overseas trips, keep that deadline in view.