Chef and Cook Visa Sponsorship on a 482: Skills Assessment and Salary

Chef (ANZSCO 351311) and Cook (351411) are on the Core Skills Occupation List, so a chef or cook can be sponsored for the Skills in Demand visa (subclass 482) in the Core Skills stream at a salary of at least $79,423, unless the position is in a limited service restaurant or in mass production in a factory setting. Holders of any of 15 listed passports, including those of India, the Philippines, Vietnam and China, must also have a Trades Recognition Australia skills assessment commenced before the visa application is lodged, or the application is invalid. The worker needs at least 1 year of relevant full-time experience in the last 5 years, and the employer must test the local labour market before nominating.

Are chefs and cooks on the CSOL?

Yes, with two conditions. Chef and Cook are items 386 and 387 on the CSOL, and both carry applicable circumstances 3 and 4. Under section 6(2) of LIN 24/089 on the Federal Register of Legislation, if either circumstance applies to the position, the occupation does not apply to that nomination:

• Circumstance 3: the position is involved in mass production in a factory setting.
• Circumstance 4: the position is in a limited service restaurant.

Section 4 of the instrument defines a limited service restaurant to include five kinds of venue:

1. a fast food or takeaway food service;
2. a fast casual restaurant;
3. a drinking establishment that offers only a limited food service;
4. a limited service cafe, including a coffee shop or mall cafe;
5. a limited service pizza restaurant.

Circumstance 10 (a franchise, a factory or pre-prepared food) attaches to Baker and Pastrycook, not to Chef or Cook. Café or Restaurant Manager (141111) is not on the CSOL at all.

What if the kitchen is a limited service restaurant?

The Core Skills stream is then closed to that position, and the Specialist Skills stream excludes Major Group 3 occupations at any salary. Two routes remain:

• The Restaurant (premium dining) Industry Labour Agreement, which covers chefs and cooks but only at a premium dining restaurant: one that employs highly experienced staff, offers a wine list, has revenue of at least $2 million a year, is not franchised, and needs specialised front-of-house and back-of-house staff, according to the Home Affairs industry labour agreements page.
• A DAMA, where the region’s list includes the occupation. The terms differ by region, as each DAMA’s own list shows.

Do chefs and cooks need a skills assessment?

Yes, for holders of the 15 passports listed in IMMI 18/039 on the Federal Register of Legislation, unless an exemption applies. Trades Recognition Australia is the assessing authority. The assessment must be undertaken or commenced within the 3 years before the visa application, and the Home Affairs Core Skills stream page says it must be commenced before the application is lodged, or the application is invalid.

Section 7 of IMMI 18/039 exempts an applicant who:

1. holds a 457 or 482 visa and is employed in Australia in the nominated occupation;
2. works for a company’s established overseas business in the same or a similar occupation, and is nominated by that company or an associated entity of it;
3. holds a relevant qualification from a course completed in Australia or in a country not on the passport list for the occupation;
4. already holds a licence or registration the occupation requires;
5. has met TRA’s Offshore Skills Assessment Program standards for the occupation.

Applicants with other passports are not required to have an assessment, although Home Affairs can still ask for one. TRA’s program has two pathways, with the fees shown in the card above. The 482 visa skills assessment guide covers the other trades and passports.

How much experience does a chef or cook need?

A chef or cook needs at least 1 year of full-time experience, or the part-time equivalent, in the nominated occupation or a related field within the last 5 years. The experience does not need to be continuous. A related field means tasks that are the same or closely related, at the same ANZSCO skill level.

ANZSCO’s own description of each occupation is a separate statement. It sets out the qualification expected at the occupation’s skill level, or the relevant experience that can take its place, and Chef and Cook sit at different skill levels (2 and 3). That description is not the visa’s experience rule, and the TRA assessment applies its own evidence rules.

What salary must a chef be paid?

A chef or cook must be paid at least $79,423 for a nomination lodged from 1 July 2026, and at least the annual market salary rate for the role. The market rate comes from the applicable award or enterprise agreement, an equivalent Australian worker at the same workplace, or other relevant information, as the 482 visa salary guide explains.

Meals and accommodation provided with the job are non-monetary benefits and do not count toward the threshold. Overtime counts only if the contract guarantees it (regulation 2.57A of the Migration Regulations 1994). A lower floor is possible only under an agreement, such as a DAMA whose list gives the occupation a TSMIT concession.

How do chefs move to PR?

A chef or cook on a 482 has three routes to permanent residence:

The Temporary Residence Transition stream has no occupation list: the 186 nomination must be in the same occupation as the most recent 482 nomination. The other pathways are compared in the guide to the 482 to PR move.

An immigration lawyer makes a chef or cook 482 more likely to succeed by checking the venue against the limited service restaurant definition and confirming the skills assessment is under way before lodging. That matters because a position in a limited service restaurant cannot use the occupation at all, and a mandatory assessment not commenced before lodgement makes the visa application invalid.