Specialist Skills Stream of the 482 Visa: Who Qualifies

The Specialist Skills stream of the Skills in Demand visa (subclass 482) is for a worker nominated in an ANZSCO occupation outside Major Groups 3, 7 and 8 at guaranteed annual earnings of at least $146,576, for nominations lodged from 1 July 2026. There is no occupation list for this stream. The occupation must be a 6-digit ANZSCO 2022 occupation in Major Group 1, 2, 4, 5 or 6, the position must not fall within an applicable circumstance in LIN 24/089, and the worker needs at least 1 year of relevant experience. Specialist Skills applications are the second processing priority under Ministerial Direction 121, and on 24 September 2026 Home Affairs was deciding those lodged in July 2026.

Who qualifies for the Specialist Skills stream?

Seven conditions decide who qualifies for the Specialist Skills stream:

1. The occupation is a 6-digit ANZSCO 2022 occupation in Major Group 1, 2, 4, 5 or 6 (regulation 2.72(8)(a) of the Migration Regulations 1994), and the employer certifies that the position’s tasks include a significant majority of its ANZSCO tasks (regulation 2.73(14A)).
2. The worker’s guaranteed annual earnings, excluding non-monetary benefits, are at least $146,576 and at least the annual market salary rate for the role.
3. No applicable circumstance in LIN 24/089 applies to the position.
4. The employer is an approved standard business sponsor and has tested the Australian labour market before lodging the nomination.
5. The worker has at least 1 year of full-time experience, or the part-time equivalent, in the occupation or a related field within the last 5 years.
6. The worker has IELTS 5.0 in each of the four components, or an equivalent score in another accepted test, unless exempt.
7. The worker holds any mandatory skills assessment the occupation and passport require.

The worker and any family members who apply also meet the health and character requirements and hold adequate health insurance. The Home Affairs Specialist Skills stream page sets out each criterion in full.

Which Specialist Skills occupations need a mandatory skills assessment?

Only one. Of the 24 occupations in the mandatory skills assessment instrument, IMMI 18/039 on the Federal Register of Legislation, Program or Project Administrator (511112) is the only one in an eligible major group. It needs a VETASSESS assessment for applicants of every nationality unless they are exempt, and the assessment must be commenced before the visa application is lodged, within the 3 years before it.

Section 7(4) exempts a Program or Project Administrator who holds a qualification commensurate with the ANZSCO level, will earn at least $180,000 and is nominated by an accredited sponsor. The other 23 occupations in IMMI 18/039 are Major Group 3 trades, which this stream excludes.

Which occupations are excluded?

Three ANZSCO major groups are excluded from the Specialist Skills stream at any salary:

1. Major Group 3, Technicians and Trades Workers;
2. Major Group 7, Machinery Operators and Drivers;
3. Major Group 8, Labourers.

Section 8 of LIN 24/089 also removes an occupation from a particular nomination when an applicable circumstance applies to the position. Circumstance 1 shows how this works: a Chief Executive or Managing Director (111111) or Corporate General Manager (111211) whose nominated earnings are below $180,001 cannot be nominated, even though that salary is above the Specialist Skills Income Threshold. The exception is an intra-corporate transfer covered by an international trade obligation. In the same way, Accountant (General) (221111) is unavailable in a business with an annual turnover below $1,000,000 or fewer than 5 employees (circumstances 11 and 13).

There is no separate Specialist Skills occupation list. An occupation that is not on the Core Skills Occupation List can still be nominated in this stream if it sits in an eligible major group. Nurse Manager (254311), for example, is not on the CSOL but is in Major Group 2, so a nomination at $146,576 or more is possible.

What salary must a Specialist Skills nomination pay?

A Specialist Skills nomination must pay guaranteed annual earnings of at least $146,576, for nominations lodged from 1 July 2026, and at least the annual market salary rate for the role. The threshold rose by 3.8% on 1 July 2026, and the date the nomination is lodged decides which amount applies:

Some comparison tables still give $135,000 as the threshold, but that amount applied only to nominations lodged from 7 December 2024 to 30 June 2025. Amounts that circulated before 1 July 2026 as projections are not the published figure; the published amounts are on the Home Affairs salary requirements page.

Under regulation 2.57A, commissions, incentive payments, bonuses, overtime that is not guaranteed and superannuation guarantee contributions do not count as earnings. A salary package that reaches the threshold only with a bonus does not meet it. The minimum salary for 482 visa guide explains how the market salary rate is evidenced. Where earnings are $250,000 or more, the market-rate and threshold tests do not apply (IMMI 18/033 s 5).

How does the Specialist Skills stream differ from the Core Skills stream?

Regulation 2.73(6) of the Migration Regulations 1994 makes the Specialist Skills stream compulsory, not optional: where the occupation is in Major Group 1, 2, 4, 5 or 6 and the nominee’s earnings are at least the Specialist Skills Income Threshold, the nomination must be made in this stream. Below that salary, a listed occupation goes to the Core Skills stream.

The two streams differ in four ways:

1. There is no occupation list in the Specialist Skills stream, only the major-group rule.
2. The salary floor is higher: $146,576 against $79,423.
3. Specialist Skills applications are the second priority group under Ministerial Direction 121, while the Core Skills stream has no tier of its own.
4. Everything else is the same: 1 year of experience, the same English standard, a stay of up to 4 years and a visa application charge of $4,015 for the main applicant.

A Major Group 3 trade paid above $146,576 stays in the Core Skills stream, because the Specialist Skills stream excludes it and the Core Skills stream has no upper salary cap.

How fast is the Specialist Skills stream processed?

Specialist Skills visa applications took 15 days for 50% and 45 days for 90% to be decided, as published in the Home Affairs processing-time guide on 24 September 2026. Under Ministerial Direction 121, which took effect on 19 September 2026, Home Affairs was processing Specialist Skills applications lodged in July 2026. Only applications relating to the priority sectors (construction, healthcare, teaching, agriculture, aquaculture, fishing, resources, and law enforcement and defence) come before them, as the skilled visa processing priorities page sets out.

Ministerial Direction 121 orders visa applications. The employer’s nomination is decided separately, and 50% were decided within 57 days and 90% within 9 months. The nomination is lodged before or at the same time as the visa application, and it must be approved before the visa can be granted. The full queue for all streams is on the 482 processing time page.

The Migration Strategy of December 2023 committed to a median service standard of 7 days for the Specialist Skills pathway. That is a policy target, not a published processing standard or a guarantee, and the Regulations set no cap on the number of Specialist Skills visas.

An Australian migration lawyer makes a Specialist Skills nomination more likely to be approved by checking the ANZSCO major group, the applicable circumstances in section 8 of LIN 24/089 and which pay items count as guaranteed earnings before lodging. That matters because a Specialist Skills nomination for a trade occupation, or one that counts bonuses toward the threshold, is refused, and the Skilling Australians Fund levy is refunded only in the limited cases Home Affairs lists.