The Subclass 482 visa has several requirements: a nominated occupation, relevant qualifications, English proficiency, work experience, and employer sponsorship.

Nominated Occupation —The nominated occupation must appear on the Subclass 482 occupation list, which is very broad and covers the vast majority of roles. The nominated occupation may affect your future pathway to the Subclass 186 permanent residency:Currently, occupations on the Short-term Skilled Occupation List cannot lead to a Subclass 186 visa, while those on the Medium and Long-term Strategic Skills List can.

***However, there are current reports that, in order to address the labour shortages brought on by the pandemic,occupations on the short-term list will also be granted a pathway to permanent residency — the government is in the process of finalising this.Please contact or follow the author of this article for the latest list and updates.

Relevant Qualifications —Applicants must hold relevant qualifications. ANZSCO sets the baseline requirements for each occupation in Australia and New Zealand, and applicants must meet the qualification level stipulated under ANZSCO.For example, accounting generally requires a bachelor’s degree or above, while some trade occupations require Certificate III or above. Some specific occupations also require a formal skills assessment, though most do not.

English Proficiency —Applicants must hold an English language test result obtained within the past three years,with short-term list occupations requiring an overall IELTS score of 5 with no band below 4.5, and medium and long-term list occupations requiring at least 5 in each band,which is considerably lower than the English requirements for most other visa subclasses.

Work Experience —Applicants must havecompleted the relevant qualificationsand then2 years offull-timework experience.The following points should be noted regarding work experience requirements, as a general rule:only post-graduationexperience counts towards the requirement; full-time is defined as38 hours per weekof work, with part-time hours to be pro-rated;only paid employmentcan be counted towards the experience requirement.

Employer Nomination and Sponsorship —Applicants must be nominated and sponsored by a company in order to be eligible to apply for the visa. The basic requirements for the sponsoring company include:a genuine ability to provide the nominated position, a sound operating record, healthy finances, and a reasonable organisational structureamong others. When nominating certain specific positions, employers face more detailed requirements. For example,companies nominating an accounting positionmust have a turnover of at least AUD 100, employ five or more staff, and ensure the nominated role does not involve only low-level duties.

There are three key points to keep in mind:occupation alignment, meeting the duration requirements, and confirming company eligibility.

Occupation Alignment →

This requiresyour educational background to be closely related to your current role, and your actual duties to closely match your job title.This minimises the risk of your work experience being deemed non-compliant. For example, if an applicant nominating as an accountant has been working primarily in business analysis, there will be a mismatch between the nominated occupation and work experience, which could affect the nomination and visa outcome.

Meeting the Duration Requirements → Two Dimensions

First,aim to ensure full-time hours of 38 hours per week, and if working part-time, pay close attention to the pro-rating; casual employment requires extra caution.

Second, aim to ensure your total work experience reaches 2 years,noting that the updated Subclass 485 has been extended from 1.5 and 2 years to 2 and 3 years respectively, offering new graduates considerably more flexibility.For those who already have some work experience but not yet 2 full years of full-time equivalent,you may need to build up the remaining experience under another visa before applying for the Subclass 482.

The final and most important point isthat the sponsor — namely the employer — must confirm whether they are genuinely able to provide sponsorship for the employee.The company must not only meet the minimum sponsorship criteria,but must also carefully consider the question of reasonableness. This includes whether the company’s core business is related to the nominated position, whether the role is newly created or already existing, whether the company’s financial position can support the nomination, and even the ratio of Australian citizens and permanent residents to temporary visa holders within the company.

If the sponsoring company is unsure whether it meets the requirements to sponsor a nomination, please contact usfor an assessment — Newstars has an extensive portfolio of successful cases and considerable experience.