The 482 Nomination: What the Employer Lodges and Proves

A 482 nomination is the employer’s application for Home Affairs to approve one position for one named worker, and it costs $330 plus the Skilling Australians Fund levy of $1,200 or $1,800 for each year nominated. Home Affairs approves it only if the position is genuine and full-time, the occupation fits the stream, the salary meets both the annual market salary rate and $79,423 (Core Skills) or $146,576 (Specialist Skills), and the labour market has been tested unless an exemption applies (Migration Regulations 1994, regulation 2.72; Migration Act 1958, section 140GBA). The employer lodges it in ImmiAccount before or at the same time as the worker’s visa application, and it must be approved before the visa can be granted; half of recent nominations were decided within 57 days and 90% within 9 months, as published on 24 September 2026.

Is the position genuine?

Yes, if it passes the three factors the Home Affairs Core Skills stream page lists for the genuine position test in regulation 2.72(10):

1. The duties are consistent with the tasks and skill level of the ANZSCO occupation nominated.
2. The position fits the nature of the business: within the scope of its activities and its scale.
3. The position was not created to help the nominee get a visa or stay in Australia.

The position must also be full-time, which means 38 hours a week, or 32 to 45 hours set by an award or agreement. Home Affairs can disregard the full-time rule where it is reasonable to do so (regulation 2.72(10A)). The nomination is the second of the three approvals in employee sponsorship, after the sponsorship itself.

Is the occupation eligible?

The stream is fixed by the occupation and the salary, not chosen by the employer. Under regulation 2.73(6), a position in an eligible ANZSCO group paid at or above $146,576 must be nominated in the Specialist Skills stream; otherwise a CSOL occupation goes into Core Skills.

Core Skills stream

The occupation must be on the Core Skills Occupation List in LIN 24/089 on the Federal Register of Legislation: 456 occupations, each with its ANZSCO 2022 code. The duties must match the tasks in that ANZSCO code. Every listed occupation can be searched in the 482 visa occupation list.

Specialist Skills stream

Any six-digit ANZSCO occupation in Major Group 1, 2, 4, 5 or 6 qualifies if guaranteed earnings are at least $146,576. Major Groups 3 (technicians and trades workers), 7 (machinery operators and drivers) and 8 (labourers) are excluded, whatever the salary.

Labour Agreement stream

The occupation must be one the labour agreement names, and the nomination must fall within the agreement’s yearly cap (regulation 2.72(19)).

Caveats that exclude a position

Section 7 of LIN 24/089 attaches caveats to some occupations. If a caveat applies to the position, the occupation is not available. Examples:

1. The position is involved in mass production in a factory setting.
2. The position is in a limited service restaurant, such as a fast food or takeaway service.
3. The position is in a frontline retail setting or a call centre that needs no significant technical product knowledge.
4. For some professional and management occupations, the business has an annual turnover under $1,000,000 or fewer than 5 employees.
5. The position predominantly involves low-skilled tasks.

Under section 8 of the instrument, the same caveats bind a Specialist Skills nomination for that occupation.

What salary must the position pay?

Regulation 2.72(15) sets three salary tests:

1. Work out the annual market salary rate using the method in IMMI 18/033.
2. Guaranteed earnings, excluding non-monetary benefits, must be at least that market rate.
3. The market rate and the guaranteed earnings must each be at least $79,423 (Core Skills) or $146,576 (Specialist Skills).

At $250,000 a year or more, these tests do not apply.

How is the market rate worked out?

The method is set by IMMI 18/033, as amended by LIN 26/038 from 25 March 2026:

• An equivalent Australian worker exists: the enterprise agreement or other industrial instrument, or that worker’s employment documents if they are not lower than the instrument.
• No equivalent worker: the industrial instrument, or information not lower than it, such as Jobs and Skills Australia occupation profiles, national job ads in English with a salary, advice from a union or employer association, or reputable remuneration surveys.

The Home Affairs salary requirements page warns that a nomination supported only by generic market data or surveys may be refused.

Which threshold applies?

The threshold in force on the day the nomination is lodged applies. It is indexed each 1 July; the $79,423 and $146,576 figures apply to nominations lodged from 1 July 2026. A later indexation does not affect nominations already lodged or workers already holding the visa (Home Affairs news item 1416).

The business must also have the capacity to employ the nominee for the whole nomination period and to pay at least the market rate each year (regulation 2.72(17A)). How the thresholds and the market rate interact is set out under 482 visa salary rules.

Do you need to test the labour market?

Yes, for Core Skills and Specialist Skills nominations, unless an international trade obligation or an alternative-evidence case applies. The rules in LIN 18/036:

• at least 2 advertisements, in English;
• applications accepted for at least 4 weeks;
• all within the 4 months before the nomination is lodged;
• the salary shown if annual earnings are below $96,400.

Labour agreement nominations need testing only where the agreement requires it. Who is exempt, and what counts as evidence, is covered under labour market testing exemptions.

What does the nomination cost?

The nomination fee is $330. The levy is $1,200 a year where turnover is under $10 million and $1,800 a year otherwise, for each year of the nominated period. Both are paid in full at lodgement. The levy applies to every nomination, including one lodged so a 482 holder can change employer or occupation (Home Affairs cost of sponsoring page), and none of it can be passed to the worker. Turnover tiers and refund cases are on the Skilling Australians Fund levy page.

How long is a nomination valid?

An approved nomination lasts 12 months from approval, unless a visa application made on it is still undecided at that point (regulation 2.75). It ends earlier on any of these events:

1. The sponsor withdraws it in writing.
2. The worker is granted the 482 visa.
3. The sponsorship ends without a pending renewal, or is cancelled.
4. The labour agreement ends, for a Labour Agreement stream nomination.
5. A visa application on the nomination is finally decided or withdrawn after the 12 months.

Once the visa is granted, the worker must start work within 90 days of arrival or grant. A new nomination is needed for a new employer, a new occupation or a new visa.

What if the nomination is refused?

The refusal letter gives the reasons and says whether the decision can be reviewed. The sponsor, not the worker, can apply to the Administrative Review Tribunal within 28 days of being notified, for $3,727. The levy is not refunded after a refusal, and the visa cannot be granted without an approved nomination. The options and deadlines are set out under employer nomination refused.

A migration lawyer makes approval more likely here because the salary evidence, the ANZSCO task match and the labour market testing are each judged against a legislative instrument, and a nomination refused on any one of them keeps the levy. No adviser can promise an approval.

Supplementary: the worker’s visa application

The nomination approves the position; the worker’s visa application then proves the person:

1. At least 1 year of relevant full-time experience within the last 5 years.
2. English: IELTS 5.0 in each component or an equivalent score, unless exempt.
3. A skills assessment where IMMI 18/039 requires one.
4. Health, character and adequate health insurance.
5. The $4,015 visa application charge for the main applicant.

The worker’s criteria in full are set out in the 482 visa requirements.