482 Visa Requirements: How to Apply for the Skills in Demand Visa

You have a job offer from an Australian employer and they are willing to sponsor you. The question now is whether you actually qualify — and what "applying" actually involves. The 482 Skills in Demand (SID) visa has more moving parts than most applicants expect, because eligibility is not just about you. Your employer must meet separate criteria, and the nomination stage sits between sponsorship and your personal visa application.

Here is a clear-eyed look at who qualifies and how the application actually works.

Core Eligibility Requirements for the Worker

1. Nominated Occupation Must Be Eligible

Your role must either appear on the Core Skills Occupation List (CSOL) (for the Core Skills stream) or have a salary above $141,210 (for the Specialist Skills stream). There is no formal occupation list requirement for the Specialist stream, but the role must fall within ANZSCO Major Groups 1, 2, 4, 5, or 6.

2. Minimum Work Experience

You must have at least one year of full-time (or equivalent part-time) work experience in your nominated occupation or a closely related field within the past five years. This is a recent reduction from the previous two-year requirement under the old TSS framework — it widens the door for early-career professionals who have genuine expertise but limited years in the workforce.

3. English Language Proficiency

You must demonstrate at least Competent English through a recognised test taken within the past three years:

• IELTS: 5.0 overall, minimum 5.0 in each of the four bands
• PTE Academic: 36 overall, minimum 36 in each component
• TOEFL iBT: 35 overall

You are exempt from the English test if you hold a passport from the UK, USA, Canada, New Zealand, or Ireland. An exemption also exists if you have completed at least five years of full-time secondary or higher education taught entirely in English.

4. Skills Assessment (Where Required)

Not all applicants need a formal skills assessment. One is required when:

• Your occupation has a mandatory assessment requirement regardless of nationality (for example, Program or Project Administrator code 511112)
• Your specific nationality and occupation combination triggers an assessment under the current legislative instrument (for example, Vietnamese, Indian, Filipino, and certain other nationalities nominating as Chef, Motor Mechanic, Carpenter, or Electrician must be assessed by TRA — Trade Recognition Australia)
• Your assessing authority is ACS (IT occupations) and your employer or the Department requires confirmation of your "date deemed skilled"

Skills assessments take 8 to 20 weeks depending on the authority. If you need one, starting this process before waiting for a formal job offer is often the right approach.

5. Health and Character

You must undergo a medical examination by a panel physician and provide police clearance certificates from every country where you have lived for 12 months or more in the past ten years. Health requirements are assessed against Australian public health standards.

Employer Requirements

Standard Business Sponsorship

Before your employer can nominate you, they must be approved as a Standard Business Sponsor (SBS). Key requirements:

• Lawfully operating in Australia
• Satisfied record of compliance with immigration and employment laws
• No adverse information held by the Department

SBS approval costs $420 and is valid for five years. An employer who already holds SBS approval skips this stage.

Genuine Position

The role being nominated must be genuine — it must actually exist in the business and be necessary for the business to operate. The Department assesses this by looking at the business's turnover, employee headcount, and business structure. An employer who tries to create a role specifically for visa purposes is at high risk of a nomination refusal.

Salary at Least at the CSIT (or AMSR, if Higher)

The employer must pay the nominated salary at the higher of:

• The Core Skills Income Threshold (CSIT): $76,515 (or SSIT of $141,210 for the Specialist stream)
• The Annual Market Salary Rate (AMSR) for the same role in the same location

Labour Market Testing (LMT)

Unless an exemption applies (such as trade agreement citizenship from countries including UK, USA, Canada, South Korea, Japan, or ASEAN nations), the employer must demonstrate they genuinely tried to hire an Australian worker first. Standard LMT requires:

• At least 28 consecutive days of advertising on at least two national job boards
• Advertising must have occurred within the four months before the nomination is lodged
• The ad must include specific details: role title, duties, required qualifications, employer name, and salary (if below $96,400)

The Three-Stage Application Process

Stage 1: Standard Business Sponsorship Application

The employer lodges the SBS application through their ImmiAccount. Required documents typically include:

• Evidence of lawful operation (ABN, business registration)
• Recent financial statements or tax returns
• Business activity statements

Processing: 2 to 4 weeks for most applications.

Stage 2: Nomination Application

The employer nominates the specific position and the specific worker. This stage requires:

• Labour market testing evidence (or documentation of exemption)
• Position description with ANZSCO code
• Salary evidence confirming it meets CSIT and AMSR
• Evidence the business can pay the nominated salary

The worker does not lodge anything at this stage — the nomination is the employer's application.

Stage 3: Visa Application

Once the nomination is lodged (and often simultaneously), the worker lodges the visa application through their own ImmiAccount. Required documents include:

• Valid passport (colour scan, full personal details pages)
• Birth certificate and evidence of any name changes
• Degree certificates and academic transcripts
• Employment references covering the past five years (employer name, role, dates, duties, salary)
• English test results (or passport exemption evidence)
• Skills assessment result (if required)
• Medical examination results (via HAP ID)
• Police clearances from all relevant countries

Dependants

Your spouse or de facto partner and dependent children can be included in your application as secondary applicants. Adult dependants (18+) pay the same $3,210 visa application charge as you do. Children under 18 pay $805 each. Adult dependants who cannot demonstrate Functional English (IELTS 4.5 equivalent) trigger an additional $4,890 second instalment charge payable before the visa is granted.

Common Reasons Applications Are Refused

• LMT advertising ran for less than 28 consecutive days, or the ads missed required details
• The nominated salary meets CSIT but falls below the verified AMSR
• Skills assessment is expired (older than three years), from the wrong authority, or covers a different occupation code
• Police clearances are missing for past countries of residence
• The role is not genuine — the position description doesn't match the employer's actual business needs

For a complete walkthrough of each stage, including templates for employment references and a step-by-step LMT calendar, see the Australia TSS 482 Visa Guide.

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