TRA Skills Assessment for a 482 Visa: Trades, OSAP and Passport Rules

A TRA skills assessment is mandatory for a 482 visa in 23 trade occupations, including chef, cook, carpenter and electrician, when the worker holds a passport that IMMI 18/039 lists for that trade and no exemption applies. The assessment must be started before the visa application is lodged, and within the 3 years before it, or the application is invalid and will not be processed. The assessment is carried out through a registered training organisation (RTO) for TRA, and its first stage, documentary evidence, costs $1,120.

An Australian migration lawyer can confirm whether a TRA assessment is mandatory for a given passport and occupation before the worker starts.

The 24th occupation on the mandatory list, program or project administrator (511112), is assessed by VETASSESS for holders of every passport, not by TRA (IMMI 18/039, section 5 item 21 and section 6).

When does a 482 need a TRA assessment?

A 482 needs a TRA assessment when all three tests in the Migration (IMMI 18/039: Mandatory Skills Assessment—Subclass 482 Visa) Instrument 2018 on the Federal Register of Legislation are met:

1. the nominated occupation is one of the 23 trades in section 5;
2. the worker holds a passport that section 6 lists for that trade;
3. the worker is not an exempt applicant under section 7.

The rule applies to the primary applicant in the Core Skills and Specialist Skills streams, through Schedule 1 item 1240(3)(g) of the Migration Regulations 1994. A Labour Agreement stream nomination follows the skills terms of its own agreement instead. The assessment must have been undertaken or started within the 3 years ending immediately before the day the visa application is made (IMMI 18/039, section 5(2)(d)).

Which trades and passports are listed?

The table above lists all 23 trades and the passports that trigger the assessment for each. The test is the passport the worker holds, not the country where they live or trained. Chefs and cooks have the longest list, 15 passports, and it is the only list that includes Bangladesh, Nepal and Pakistan. The guide to the 482 visa chef route covers the rest of that occupation’s rules, including salary and experience.

Who is exempt?

Section 7 of IMMI 18/039 makes a worker an exempt applicant, with no mandatory TRA assessment, in five cases:

1. The worker holds a 457 visa, a Temporary Skill Shortage 482 or a Skills in Demand 482, met the primary criteria for it, and is employed in Australia in the nominated occupation (section 7(1)(a)).
2. The worker is employed in the same or a similar occupation by a company running an established business overseas, and that company or an associated entity is the standard business sponsor nominating them (section 7(1)(b)).
3. The worker holds a qualification commensurate with the one ANZSCO specifies for the occupation, gained through study or training in Australia or in a “permitted foreign country”, meaning any country not listed for that trade (sections 7(2)(a) and 7(3)).
4. The occupation needs a licence, registration or membership, and the worker has been granted it (section 7(2)(b)).
5. The worker has met the standards TRA sets under the Offshore Skills Assessment Program for the nominated occupation (section 7(2)(c)).

Home Affairs’ Core Skills stream page points applicants to section 7 to claim an exemption. Whether one applies turns on the worker’s own documents.

When must it be started?

A required TRA assessment must be started before the visa application is lodged. Home Affairs states on the Core Skills stream page that an application lodged without the mandatory assessment commenced is not valid and will not be processed, and the application form asks for the skills assessment reference number. Starting the assessment is enough for a valid application, but Home Affairs encourages applicants to finish it before lodging to reduce processing delays.

Can Home Affairs ask for one anyway?

Yes. Home Affairs can ask for a skills assessment in writing as part of processing, even where IMMI 18/039 does not make one mandatory (Core Skills stream page).

How does the TSS Skills Assessment Program work?

The Temporary Skills Shortage (TSS) Skills Assessment Program is the TRA program a 482 worker in a listed trade uses. The visa has been the Skills in Demand visa since 7 December 2024, but the program keeps its TSS name, and section 5 of IMMI 18/039 accepts either a “SID Skills Assessment” or a “TSS Skills Assessment”. TRA’s Temporary Skills Shortage Skills Assessment Program page sets out the stages and fees:

Which pathway applies depends on the applicant’s training and licences, and TRA’s program page sets out who uses each one.

How does OSAP work?

The Offshore Skills Assessment Program (OSAP) is a separate TRA program. Its link to the 482 is an exemption: a worker who has met TRA’s OSAP standards for the nominated occupation does not need the mandatory 482 assessment (IMMI 18/039, section 7(2)(c)). TRA’s Offshore Skills Assessment Program page sets out who can use it, and gives two figures:

• Cost: up to $5,320 on Pathway 1 and $2,020 on Pathway 2.
• Timing: an average of 15 weeks in July 2026.

What does TRA cost and how long does it take?

A TRA assessment under the TSS program costs up to $5,320 on Pathway 1 and $2,020 on Pathway 2, charged stage by stage (TRA, TSS Skills Assessment Program page).

OSAP lists the same totals: up to $5,320 on Pathway 1 and $2,020 on Pathway 2. TRA reported average processing of 9 weeks for the TSS program and 15 weeks for OSAP in July 2026, counted from the date all documentary evidence is in.

TRA’s fees are separate from the 482 visa application charge of $4,015 for the main applicant. Home Affairs’ Skills assessment page states that each assessing authority has its own procedures, timeframes and charges.

How does VETASSESS differ?

VETASSESS covers one occupation on the 482 mandatory list, while TRA covers the other 23.

The guide to the VETASSESS DAMA skills assessment sets out when a program or project administrator, a DAMA nomination or a labour agreement nomination needs VETASSESS.

Supplementary: the 482 skills-assessment rule and the worker’s total cost

A skills assessment is one of the worker’s own 482 criteria, alongside 1 year of relevant work experience, English, and the health and character checks. The guide to the 482 visa skill assessment covers every assessing authority and what applies to occupations outside the mandatory list. TRA’s fees add to the $4,015 visa charge and to any English test and health examination costs, which the 482 fees guide totals for the worker and the employer.

An Australian migration lawyer makes a 482 more likely to succeed here because whether the TRA assessment is mandatory turns on three legal tests at once (the ANZSCO occupation in the nomination, the passport the worker applies on and the exemptions in section 7 of IMMI 18/039), and a visa application lodged before a required assessment has been started is invalid and will not be processed. Whether an exemption applies depends on the worker’s own documents, which the enquiry form below lets an immigration lawyer check.