How to get an employer sponsored visa in Australia, step by step. A registered migration agent in Brisbane explains sponsorship, nomination and the visa stages.
An employer sponsored visa works in three linked parts, and you need all three to line up. First, an Australian business becomes an approved sponsor. Second, that business nominates a specific position for you. Third, you apply for the visa itself and show you have the skills, experience, and background the role requires. The most common route is the Skills in Demand visa (subclass 482), which replaced the old TSS visa, and there are permanent options such as the Employer Nomination Scheme (subclass 186). You can’t apply on your own without a sponsoring employer, so the real first step is having a genuine job offer from a business willing and able to sponsor. Here’s how the whole process fits together and where people get stuck.
Employer sponsorship isn’t one application. It’s a sequence, and each part has its own requirements:
1. Sponsorship. The employer applies to become an approved standard business sponsor. They have to show they run a genuine, lawful business and can meet their sponsor obligations. This approval can then cover multiple nominations. 2. Nomination. The employer nominates a specific occupation and position for you. The role usually has to match an eligible occupation, meet a minimum salary, and be a genuine need in the business. 3. Visa application. You, the worker, apply for the visa. You show your skills, work experience, qualifications, English ability, health, and character.
These can sometimes be lodged together, but they’re assessed as separate hurdles. A weak nomination can sink an otherwise strong visa applicant, so the employer’s side matters just as much as yours.
Skills in Demand visa (subclass 482). This is the workhorse temporary visa, formerly known as the TSS. It lets an approved employer bring in a skilled worker to fill a position they can’t readily fill locally. It has streams tied to the applicable occupation lists, and for many workers it’s the first step toward permanent residency.
Employer Nomination Scheme (subclass 186). This is a permanent residence visa. It suits workers whose employer wants to keep them long term, and it can be reached directly or after time on a temporary sponsored visa. See our Employer Nomination Scheme page for detail.
Which one fits depends on the occupation, the business, and whether the goal is temporary work now or permanent residency.
Assuming you already have an employer willing to sponsor you, here’s the shape of it:
1. Confirm the occupation is eligible. The role needs to sit on the applicable list, and the occupation drives which stream and pathway are open. 2. Employer becomes an approved sponsor. If they aren’t already, they lodge the sponsorship application and meet their obligations. 3. Employer lodges the nomination. They nominate your position, confirm the salary meets the threshold, and show the role is genuine. 4. You lodge the visa application. You provide your skills assessment where required, your work references, English results, and health and character documents. 5. You wait on a decision, on a bridging visa if needed. If you’re onshore and your current visa is ending, a bridging visa usually keeps you lawful while it’s decided. 6. Grant, then compliance. Once granted, both you and the employer have conditions to keep, and for temporary holders the next question is usually the permanent pathway.
On your side: a suitable occupation, the required skills and work experience, competent English, a skills assessment if your occupation needs one, and clean health and character. Your experience has to genuinely match the nominated role.
On the employer’s side: a lawfully operating business, a genuine position, a salary that meets the minimum and is in line with the Australian market for the role, and a commitment to meet sponsor obligations. Employers also need to meet training and labour-market requirements that apply at the time.
This is the part no visa process can do for you. Sponsorship starts with a real job offer, so the practical work is landing a role in an occupation that qualifies, with an employer who’s willing to sponsor and eligible to. Some tips from experience: target industries and regions with genuine shortages, be upfront early that you’d need sponsorship, and make sure the occupation on the ad actually matches an eligible occupation before you count on it. We can tell you quickly whether a given job offer can realistically support a sponsored visa.
Employer sponsorship is one of the areas where a registered migration agent earns their keep, because two parties and three applications have to align. It’s worth getting help when the occupation is borderline, when the business is small or newly established, when there’s any doubt about the salary or the genuineness of the role, or when a previous nomination or visa was refused. We act for both employers and workers and make sure each side’s application supports the other.
You need a genuine job offer in an eligible occupation from a business willing and able to sponsor. There’s no application that creates a sponsor for you. Focus on roles in genuine shortage and confirm the occupation qualifies before you rely on it.
It’s the subclass 482 employer sponsored temporary visa that replaced the TSS visa. It lets an approved employer bring in a skilled worker to fill a position, and for many holders it leads toward permanent residency.
Yes. The Employer Nomination Scheme (subclass 186) is a permanent option, and time on a temporary sponsored visa can count toward it. The permanent pathway has its own requirements, so it’s worth planning early.
It depends on your occupation and the stream. Some occupations require a positive skills assessment, others don’t. We check this at the start because it affects your timeline.
An approved sponsor has ongoing duties, including paying the agreed salary, keeping records, and cooperating with monitoring. These obligations continue for the life of the sponsorship, and breaching them has consequences.
It depends on the stream, the occupation, and whether the sponsorship and nomination are already in place. Because processing times change, we give you a realistic estimate for your case rather than a fixed number.
There are rules about working only in your nominated occupation and about changing sponsors, and getting this wrong can breach your visa. If your job situation changes, speak to us before you act.
A refusal can sometimes be reviewed, often with strict time limits. Don’t let the deadline pass. We can review what went wrong and whether there’s a path forward.
Yes. The role has to meet a minimum salary and be paid in line with the Australian market rate for that occupation. If the pay is too low, the nomination won’t be approved.
Often yes, but a smaller or newer business has to work harder to show it’s genuine and can meet its obligations. We help these employers put a solid case together.
Whether you’re a worker with a job offer or an employer wanting to keep good staff, we’ll tell you honestly whether a sponsored visa stacks up and how to get it right. Learn more on our Employer Sponsored Visas page, then book a consultation with a registered migration agent in Brisbane. Call 0434 893 901 or contact us online.
