457 Visa: What Replaced It (the 482) and What It Means for Former 457 Holders

The 457 visa (Temporary Work (Skilled) visa, subclass 457) closed to new applicants on 18 March 2018, when the Temporary Skill Shortage visa (subclass 482) replaced it, and the Skills in Demand visa (subclass 482) has replaced the TSS since 7 December 2024. A person who held a 457 can still reach permanent residence through the 186 Temporary Residence Transition stream, and anyone who held, or had applied for and was later granted, a 457 on 18 April 2017 can apply for that stream while under 50. An employer who once sponsored 457 workers now sponsors on the Skills in Demand visa, whose rules the table below compares with the 457.

What was the 457 visa?

The 457 visa was Australia’s temporary employer-sponsored work visa before 2018: it let a skilled worker come to Australia and work for an approved business sponsor, according to the Home Affairs Temporary Work (Skilled) visa page. Its main attributes:

• Length: up to 4 years if the occupation was on the Medium and Long-term Strategic Skills List, or up to 2 years for other eligible occupations; 18 months if the sponsor was a start-up or had traded in Australia for less than 12 months; 4 years under a labour agreement unless the agreement set a shorter period.
• Work condition: mandatory condition 8107, under which the holder worked only in the nominated occupation and only for the sponsor (or an associated entity of an Australian standard business sponsor).
• Family: family members could be included if the sponsor agreed in writing, either in the nomination or in a letter attached to the visa application.

It is closed to new applications. Holders’ visas ran to the expiry date in their grant letter, which VEVO also shows.

What replaced the 457?

The Temporary Skill Shortage (TSS) visa, subclass 482, replaced the 457 on 18 March 2018, and the Skills in Demand visa replaced the TSS on 7 December 2024 under the same subclass number. The dates in order:

1. 18 April 2017: the Prime Minister and the Minister for Immigration announced that the 457 would be abolished and replaced by the TSS (Home Affairs 457 page).
2. 17 January 2018: nominations lodged from this date used the last 457 occupation instrument, IMMI 18/004 (457 page).
3. 3 March 2018: every sponsorship approved from this date is valid for 5 years (457 page).
4. 18 March 2018: the TSS visa (subclass 482) replaced the 457; later rules still refer to 457 criteria “as in force before 18 March 2018” (Migration Regulations 1994, regulation 2.72(6)).
5. 1 July 2024: 457 and 482 holders whose employment ends can stop working for up to 180 days at a time and 365 days in total (457 page; Home Affairs news item 1213).
6. 6 December 2024: TSS applications closed.
7. 7 December 2024: the Skills in Demand visa started, with Specialist Skills, Core Skills and Labour Agreement streams (Home Affairs news item 1272).

The TSS had short-term, medium-term and labour agreement streams; what it was, and what its holders keep, is on the Temporary Skill Shortage visa page. The Skills in Demand visa is the version employers sponsor on now.

457 vs 482: the comparison table

The three columns compare the 457, the TSS 482 and today’s Skills in Demand 482. Figures for closed visas are fixed and carry their dates.

From the 457 to the TSS, the occupation list decided the stream and the length of stay: short-term or medium-term. From the TSS to the Skills in Demand visa, the salary floor changed: the TSMIT gave way to the Core Skills and Specialist Skills income thresholds, indexed each 1 July. Work experience also fell, from 2 years under the TSS to 1 year under the Skills in Demand visa (news item 1272).

Can former 457 holders still get PR?

Yes. The 186 TRT stream accepts a primary 457 holder in any stream, or the holder of a bridging visa linked to a 457, 482, 186 or 187 application if the last substantive visa was a 457 or 482 (Schedule 2 clause 186.226; Home Affairs TRT page). The conditions for a former 457 holder are the same as for a 482 holder:

1. Full-time sponsored employment for 2 years in the last 3. Time on a 457 counts if it falls within the 3 years before the 186 application.
2. A person who held several 457 or 482 visas in those 3 years counts employment in any occupation approved on them (TRT page).
3. The nomination comes from the most recent approved sponsor, for the same occupation as the most recently approved nomination.
4. Competent English, and the age rule in the next section.

The 187 Regional Sponsored Migration Scheme, which some 457 holders once used, closed in 2019 except for limited transitional groups (news item 1273).

Does the under-50 age rule still apply?

Yes, for one group. A person who held a 457 on 18 April 2017, or had applied for one then and was later granted it, can apply for the 186 TRT while under 50 at the time of application (Home Affairs TRT page, “Transitional arrangements”). Everyone else must be under 45 unless another exemption applies, such as the academic, researcher, regional medical practitioner or high-income exemption. How those exemptions work is on the 482 visa age limit page.

A former 457 holder who relies on the under-50 rule must show they held or had applied for a 457 on 18 April 2017, and an immigration lawyer who confirms that visa history and the 2-in-3 count from VEVO and grant records before the 186 is lodged makes a grant more likely.

Supplementary: the 482 today

The Skills in Demand visa is what an employer sponsors now: three streams, a Core Skills floor of $79,423 and a visa charge of $4,015 for the main applicant, all set out in the guide to the 482 visa. A worker on a 482 moves to permanent residence through the TRT, as explained on the PR after 482 visa page.