Condition 8607 requires a 482 visa holder to work only in the nominated occupation, only for the sponsor or (for an Australian sponsor) its associated entity, and to start work within 90 days of arriving, or of the grant if already in Australia. Home Affairs imposes the condition on every primary Skills in Demand visa (subclass 482) under Schedule 8 of the Migration Regulations 1994, and it lets the holder stop sponsored work for up to 180 days at a time and 365 days in total while finding a new sponsor. To check it on your own visa, compare the occupation and employer in your grant letter or VEVO record with the job you actually do, then use the table below for the common situations.
What condition 8607 allows
| Situation | While you work for your sponsor | During a break after sponsored work stops (180 days at a time, 365 days in total) | Rule |
|---|---|---|---|
| Full-time work for the sponsor in the nominated occupation | Allowed | Not applicable | 8607(1)–(2); full time is generally 38 hours a week, or 32 to 45 hours set by an award or agreement |
| Work for an associated entity of an Australian sponsor | Allowed | Allowed | 8607(2)(c) |
| Work for a related company of an overseas business sponsor, or for anyone but the nominator on a Labour Agreement stream visa (including a DAMA) | Not allowed | Allowed | 8607(2)(a)–(b) |
| A second job with a different employer | Not allowed, unless the occupation is exempt | Allowed, in any occupation | 8607(2), (3)(a); news item 1213 |
| Contract or ABN work | Not allowed | Not published whether it counts as work “for other employers”; a risk | 8607(2) |
| Rideshare or delivery driving through an app | Not allowed | Not published, as for ABN work | 8607(2) |
| Working in your own business that is not the sponsor | Not allowed | Not published, as for ABN work | 8607(2) |
| Part-time hours | Not allowed, unless the occupation is exempt or “limited circumstances” apply | Not applicable | Change-in-situation page |
| Working out a notice period with the old employer | Allowed | Not applicable | 8607(3)(b) |
| Starting with a new employer before its nomination is approved | Not allowed | Not allowed with that employer | Change-in-situation page |
| A promotion into new duties or a new occupation | Only after a new nomination and a new visa | Not applicable | Change-in-situation page; 8607(1) |
| A partner or child working anywhere | Allowed: 8607 binds only the primary holder | Allowed | cl 482.611 |
| An exempt occupation (36 listed, such as Chief Executive or Managing Director 111111 and General Practitioner 253111) working outside the sponsor’s business | Allowed; the occupation limit still applies | Allowed | 8607(3)(a) |
What does condition 8607 say?
Condition 8607 is a work condition in Schedule 8 of the Migration Regulations 1994, and clause 482.611 requires it on every 482 granted to a primary applicant. It has six parts:
- Occupation: only the occupation nominated for your most recent 482 (8607(1)).
- Employer: only the sponsor’s business, plus an associated entity’s unless the sponsor is an overseas business sponsor; on a Labour Agreement stream visa, only the nominator (8607(2)).
- Start date: within 90 days of arrival (visa granted outside Australia) or of the grant (visa granted in Australia) (8607(4)).
- Breaks: no more than 180 days in a row and 365 days in total across the visa, since 1 July 2024 (8607(5)).
- Licence or registration: held within 90 days and kept to (8607(6)).
- Notice period: work for a former employer to give notice required by an industrial relations law is allowed (8607(3)(b)).
| Item | Amount | Applies from | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Time to start work after arrival or grant (condition 8607) | 90 days | current | Migration Regulations 1994, Sch 8 cond 8607 |
| Longest single break from sponsored work (condition 8607) | 180 days | 1 July 2024 | Migration Regulations 1994, Sch 8 cond 8607 |
| Total break from sponsored work allowed across the visa (condition 8607) | 365 days | 1 July 2024 | Migration Regulations 1994, Sch 8 cond 8607 |
| Time a sponsor has to notify Home Affairs that employment ended | 28 days | current | Home Affairs: sponsor obligations |
| Time to hold a mandatory licence or registration after arrival or grant (condition 8607) | 90 days | current | Migration Regulations 1994, Sch 8 cond 8607(6) |
Time limit
Start work within 90 days of arrival or grant. Breaks from sponsored work: no more than 180 days in a row and 365 days in total across the visa.
Condition 8607 applies to the primary holder only. Condition 8501, adequate health insurance, applies to everyone on the visa, including partners and children (cl 482.611–482.612).
Can you work for another employer?
No, not while you work for your sponsor, with four exceptions:
- an associated entity of a sponsor that is not an overseas business sponsor (8607(2)(c));
- an exempt occupation: the 36 occupations on the Home Affairs 482 exempt occupations page are free of the employer limit, not the occupation limit;
- a break after sponsored work stops, when holders “can work for other employers”, including in other occupations (Home Affairs news item 1213);
- a new employer whose own nomination for you is approved, which makes it your sponsor.
The steps, fee and levy for moving sponsors are set out under 482 visa change employer.
Second jobs, ABN work and rideshare
Each answer turns on whether you still work for your sponsor.
Can you work part time or take a second job?
No, while you work for your sponsor. The position must be full time, generally 38 hours a week, or 32 to 45 hours set by an award or agreement, unless the occupation is exempt or “limited circumstances apply” (Home Affairs 482 change-in-situation page), and a second employer is outside 8607(2). During a break, a second job with any employer, in any occupation, is allowed (news item 1213).
Can you work on an ABN or drive for a rideshare app?
No, while you work for your sponsor: both are work outside the sponsor’s business. During a break, Home Affairs says holders “can work for other employers” but has not published whether self-employed contracting or rideshare driving counts. This guide treats it as a risk.
Can you start a business on a 482?
Condition 8607 limits work, not ownership. While sponsored, you must not work in a business you own unless it is your sponsor (8607(2)). Whether owning a business or shares without working in it matters is not addressed by 8607 or the Home Affairs pages: not published.
Licences and registration within 90 days
If the nominated occupation needs a licence, registration or membership where you work, condition 8607(6) adds five duties:
- hold it within 90 days of arrival (visa granted outside Australia) or of the grant (visa granted in Australia);
- keep holding it while you work in the occupation;
- tell Home Affairs in writing, as soon as practicable, if an application for it is refused;
- comply with its conditions and do no work inconsistent with it;
- tell Home Affairs in writing, as soon as practicable, if it ceases or is revoked or cancelled.
The inconsistent-work rule continues during a break (news item 1213).
What if your job ends?
When sponsored work stops, the break allowance of 180 days at a time and 365 days in total starts to run, and the sponsor must tell Home Affairs within 28 days that the employment ended (482 change-in-situation page). Before the break runs out, Home Affairs expects the holder to:
- be nominated by another approved sponsor, with the nomination approved;
- be granted a different visa; or
- leave Australia.
Days away from sponsored work before 1 July 2024 do not count (news item 1213). If you have lost your job on a 482 visa, that guide counts the days with a calculator and worked examples.
How do employers check your work rights?
- The sponsor keeps you in the nominated occupation (Home Affairs sponsor obligations page). Since 7 December 2024, that duty ends when your employment with the sponsor ends (news item 1274).
- Any employer must take reasonable steps. Allowing a visa holder to work in breach of a work-related condition contravenes section 245AC of the Migration Act 1958 unless the employer took reasonable steps, such as checking a prescribed computer system (s 245AC(2)(a)). That system is VEVO.
- You show your conditions to any employer through VEVO.
The VEVO check for employers explains what the record shows for a 482 holder.
What happens if you breach 8607?
- Breach of a condition is a ground on which Home Affairs may cancel the visa (Migration Act s 116(1)(b)).
- Where the breach is linked to workplace exploitation, Home Affairs must consider a certifying entity’s certificate and the holder’s written commitment (reg 2.43A), and in the regulation 2.43B circumstances must not cancel.
- A holder in Australia has 5 working days to answer a notice of intention to consider cancellation (reg 2.44).
- Cancelling the primary visa under section 116 also cancels family members’ visas (s 140(1)).
- A re-entry ban of up to 3 years can follow (Home Affairs re-entry ban page).
- A later 482 applied for in Australia needs substantial compliance with earlier visa conditions (cl 482.211).
Common mistakes
- A second job, ABN contract or rideshare work while still employed by the sponsor. Only the sponsor’s business, or an Australian sponsor’s associated entity, is allowed (8607(2)), unless the occupation is exempt.
- Treating an overseas sponsor’s related company as an associated entity. An overseas business sponsor’s nominee works in that business only (8607(2)(b)).
- Starting work more than 90 days after arrival or grant (8607(4)).
- Working before a mandatory licence is held, or not telling Home Affairs when it is refused or cancelled (8607(6)(a), (c), (f)).
- Accepting a promotion into new duties without a new nomination and a new visa (482 change-in-situation page).
- Counting the break wrongly. The limits are 180 days in a row and 365 days in total, and days before 1 July 2024 are excluded (8607(5); news item 1213).
- Believing the employer can cancel the visa, or threaten it to force extra work. Only Home Affairs cancels visas (Cancelling a visa), and coercing a visa holder into work that breaches a work-related condition is an offence (Migration Act s 245AAA).
When a breach leads to cancellation
Cancellation for a breach of 8607 starts with a written notice that sets out the ground, and a holder in Australia has 5 working days to answer it. A migration lawyer is more likely to keep the visa safe when a second role, an ABN arrangement or a move to a related company is proposed, because they check it against the exact wording of 8607(2) and the sponsor’s nomination before any work starts, and a breach remains a cancellation ground under s 116(1)(b) even after the extra work stops.
The notice, the response and the review rights are set out under 482 visa cancellation.
Unregistered agents
An unregistered agent who gives immigration assistance on a sponsorship, nomination or visa is breaking the law (Migration Act 1958 s 280). They also carry no professional indemnity insurance, so if their mistake leads to a refusal, lost fees or a closed pathway, the worker or employer has no insurer to claim against. A practising Australian lawyer must carry that insurance.
In this section
Questions people ask
What does 8607 mean?
It is the Schedule 8 condition on every primary 482 visa. It limits work to the nominated occupation and the sponsor's business, requires work to start within 90 days, and allows breaks from sponsored work of up to 180 days at a time and 365 days in total.
Can I work a second job on a 482 visa?
Not while you work for your sponsor, unless your occupation is one of the exempt occupations. During a break after sponsored work ends, Home Affairs says you can work for other employers, in any occupation.
Can a 482 visa holder work part time?
The position must generally be full time. Home Affairs allows part-time work only in an exempt occupation or in the limited circumstances it mentions on its 482 change-in-situation page.
Is there an exemption from condition 8607?
Yes, for 36 listed occupations, such as Chief Executive or Managing Director and General Practitioner, which may work outside the sponsor's business. They must still work in the nominated occupation.
Does a 482 visa have an 8501 condition?
Yes. Condition 8501, which requires adequate health insurance, is imposed on every 482 holder, including partners and children, under clause 482.612 of the Migration Regulations 1994.
Can I drive Uber on a 482 visa?
Not while you are employed by your sponsor. During a break after sponsored work stops, Home Affairs has not published whether app-based contracting counts as working for another employer.