186 Employer Nomination Scheme (TRT)

The usual route is the Employer Nomination Scheme (subclass 186), Temporary Residence Transition (TRT) stream. You must have worked in the nominated occupation for at least two years with an approved work sponsor, while holding a 482 (or predecessor TSS or 457) visa, and the employer that nominates you must be your current sponsoring employer. From 29 November 2025, under subclauses 186.227(1) and (2) of Schedule 2 to the Migration Regulations 1994, as amended by the Migration Amendment (Skilled Visa Reform Technical Measures) Regulations 2025, work undertaken during any period when the employer was not an approved work sponsor does not count towards the two years, even where the work was lawful, full time and in the correct occupation. A great deal of published material still describes the old position.

No skills assessment is required in the TRT stream, unlike the Direct Entry stream. The standard age requirement is under 45 at the time of application, with exemptions for certain applicants including high income earners, regional medical practitioners and senior academics.

Beware of advice describing a general under 50 age limit. That applies only to transitional arrangements for certain people who held or had applied for a subclass 457 visa on or before 18 April 2017.

This information is current as at 28 July 2026.

This answer is general information only and is not advice about your individual circumstances. Read the full disclaimer.

It is worked, not employed, and the difference decides the date you become eligible.

The Temporary Residence Transition stream requires at least 2 years of work in the nominated occupation with an approved work sponsor. The criterion counts work actually performed. Being on the payroll for 2 years is not the same as having worked for 2 years, and the regulations expressly exclude any period of unpaid leave from the calculation.

For example, a worker employed continuously for 25 months who was away from work for 2 of those months has not accrued 2 years of work in the nominated occupation. Their eligibility date is not their employment anniversary; it is the date on which the work itself reaches 2 years. Applying on the employment anniversary is a straightforward way to have an application refused.

Two related points that catch people out. The work must have been undertaken while the employer was an approved work sponsor, so periods when the sponsorship had lapsed do not count even if the work was lawful and in the correct occupation. And the employer that nominates you for the subclass 186 visa must be your current sponsoring employer.

Keep records that evidence the work, not merely the employment: payslips, timesheets, position descriptions and a statement of service that identifies periods of leave. If you are close to the 2 year mark, have the date checked before you lodge rather than after; see how to move from a 482 visa to permanent residence, or book an initial consultation.

This information is general in nature and is current as at 28 July 2026.

This answer is general information only and is not advice about your individual circumstances. Read the full disclaimer.

Member of the family unit (MOFU) is a legal definition, not a general description of your family. It is defined in section 5(1) of the Migration Act 1958 and regulation 1.12 of the Migration Regulations 1994, and it decides who can be included in your visa application as a secondary applicant.

For most visas, a member of the family unit of the primary applicant (the family head) is:

• a spouse or de facto partner of the family head; or
• a child or step-child of the family head, or of their spouse or de facto partner, who is not engaged to be married and does not have a spouse or de facto partner, and who is either under 18, or aged 18 to under 23 and dependent on the family head or their partner, or aged 23 or over and dependent because of a disability as defined in the Regulations; or
• a dependent child of a child who meets the description above.

Points that catch people out: parents, siblings, aunts, uncles, cousins and other relatives are not members of the family unit for most visas, no matter how close the family is or whether they live in the same household. A child who marries or enters a de facto relationship stops being a member of the family unit. Dependency is a test that must be evidenced, not assumed, and it is assessed against the definition in the Regulations rather than what the family regards as dependency.

The definition is not identical for every visa. Some visa classes have their own version of the rule, for example student visas, and protection, refugee and humanitarian visas use a broader definition that can include other relatives. Always check the definition that applies to the visa you are applying for.

Because family members must meet this definition at the time of application and, for many visas, at the time of decision, changes in your family circumstances during processing can affect who can be granted the visa with you. If you are not certain whether a family member meets the definition, book an initial consultation before you lodge.

This information is general in nature and is current as at 28 July 2026.

This answer is general information only and is not advice about your individual circumstances. Read the full disclaimer.

A visa condition is a specific rule or restriction that sometimes MUST be imposed and sometimes CAN be imposed upon a visa holder, depending upon the class and subclass of visa. Each visa condition has a four-digit number.

Examples of visa conditions are:

• 8607 Must only work in nominated occupation
• 8503 No further stay
• 8105 Work limitation

Please note that visa conditions can vary from brief in nature and compliance requirement, through to complex with very careful consideration required to ensure compliance with the visa conditions.

Breaching a visa condition is a ground for visa cancellation under section 116 of the Migration Act 1958, and a visa breach or visa cancellation history can seriously affect future applications.

Most visa breaches are not deliberate; the visa holder simply did not know the visa condition existed or assumed it was a guideline rather than a legally required obligation to comply with.

Visa conditions are listed in all visa grant notifications, and visa conditions can be checked by a visa holder at any time in VEVO.

If you have been granted a visa for Australia, read your visa grant notification, make sure you know which visa conditions apply to your visa, and if any condition is unclear, get professional advice from an Australian Registered Migration Agent before acting rather than after.

This answer is general information only and is not advice about your individual circumstances. Read the full disclaimer.

VEVO (Visa Entitlement Verification Online) is a free online system provided by the Australian Department of Home Affairs.

It allows visa holders, employers, and other registered organisations to check current Australian visa status, expiry dates, and visa conditions like work or study rights.

VEVO can only provide current visa information about visa holders whose details are available in the Department of Home Affairs systems. You may not have a searchable record if you migrated to Australia before 1990 and have not travelled out of Australia. If this applies to you, you may need to request an electronic record of your permanent visa from the Department.

This answer is general information only and is not advice about your individual circumstances. Read the full disclaimer.

A skills assessment for migration purposes is a formal assessment of your qualifications and experience carried out by the relevant assessing authority specified for your occupation under Australian migration law, such as Trades Recognition Australia, VETASSESS, Engineers Australia or the Australian Computer Society. The outcome is used to satisfy a visa criterion: the points tested visas require one before points can be claimed, and some employer sponsored applicants need one, for example under the mandatory skills assessment rules for the 482 visa.

Any other assessment of your skills is not a skills assessment for migration purposes. Employer skills testing, recognition of prior learning, qualification recognition for study or work, and trade licensing assessments do not satisfy a visa criterion that requires a skills assessment, no matter how thorough they are, unless they were carried out by the specified assessing authority under the migration program. Holding an Australian qualification or an Australian licence does not by itself satisfy that criterion.

The reverse is also true, and catches many people. A positive skills assessment for migration purposes is not a licence to work in your occupation. Licensed and registered occupations, such as electricians, plumbers, teachers and health practitioners, still require registration or licensing in the State or Territory where you will work. Migration skills assessment and occupational licensing are separate systems run by different bodies, and you may need both.

Each occupation has its own specified assessing authority, different visas and streams can require different assessment types or none at all, and for the points tested visas the assessment must generally be no more than 3 years old, or any shorter period the authority specifies. Confirm the authority and the assessment type required for your visa before you pay for any assessment; see also who is required to undergo a skills assessment for a 482 visa, or book an initial consultation if you are not certain which requirement applies to you.

This information is general in nature and is current as at 28 July 2026.

This answer is general information only and is not advice about your individual circumstances. Read the full disclaimer.

Citizenship is governed by the Australian Citizenship Act 2007. Under the general residence requirement you must have been living in Australia on a valid visa for the four years immediately before applying, and have held a permanent visa for the last 12 months of that period.

You must not have been absent from Australia for more than 12 months in total across the four years, nor more than 90 days in the 12 months immediately before applying. The 12 months as a permanent resident, rather than the four year rule, usually sets the earliest application date, so count from the grant of permanent residence, not from arrival. Most applicants aged 18 to 59 must also pass the citizenship test and meet the good character requirement.

This answer is general information only and is not advice about your individual circumstances. Read the full disclaimer.

Only a Registered Migration Agent (RMA), an Australian legal practitioner, or an exempt person may lawfully provide immigration assistance under Part 3 of the Migration Act 1958. Providing immigration assistance while unregistered is an offence.

RMAs are regulated by the Office of the Migration Agents Registration Authority (OMARA) and are bound by a Code of Conduct. Australian legal practitioners practise under their legal practising certificate and are not required to hold a MARN.

Be cautious of consultants and education agents who offer visa advice without being registered or admitted; counselling on visa options can cross into unlawful immigration assistance.

This answer is general information only and is not advice about your individual circumstances. Read the full disclaimer.

Home Affairs does not commit to processing timeframes. It publishes a global processing guide showing how quickly recently decided applications were finalised, and that guide is expressly a guide only, not a prediction for any individual application.

No migration agent can lawfully guarantee a processing time, so treat any guaranteed timeframe in marketing as a red flag. Complete, accurate and well documented applications are decided faster; missing documents and incorrect information cause delay and can lead to refusal.

This answer is general information only and is not advice about your individual circumstances. Read the full disclaimer.

No, not for all visas, and the answer depends on the visa you hold and the conditions attached to it rather than on any single rule.

Many temporary visas carry visa condition 8501, which requires the holder to maintain adequate arrangements for health insurance for the whole of their stay in Australia. Where that condition is attached, health insurance is a legal obligation, and letting cover lapse is a breach of a visa condition rather than simply a personal risk. Your conditions are listed in your visa grant notification and can be checked in VEVO; see also what a visa condition is and what it is for.

Some common positions, always subject to the conditions on your own visa:

• Student visa holders are generally required to hold Overseas Student Health Cover (OSHC) for the duration of their student visa, with limited exceptions.
• Temporary skilled workers, including Skills in Demand (subclass 482) visa holders, are generally required to maintain adequate health insurance while in Australia.
• Visitors are not usually subject to a health insurance condition, but they have no access to Australia public health system and travel insurance is strongly advised.
• Permanent residents can enrol in Medicare, and a permanent visa does not carry a private health insurance condition. Private cover remains a personal and tax decision rather than a visa obligation.

Australia has reciprocal health care agreements with a number of countries, which can give visitors from those countries limited access to Medicare for medically necessary treatment. Being covered by such an agreement does not automatically satisfy a visa condition that requires health insurance, so check both questions separately.

Do not confuse health insurance with the health requirement. The health requirement is about medical examinations and whether a condition would result in significant costs to the Australian community; see can I be refused a visa because of a medical condition. Health insurance is a separate obligation about maintaining cover while you are here.

If you are not certain whether a health insurance condition applies to you, read your visa grant notification, check your conditions in VEVO, and book an initial consultation if anything is unclear. This information is general in nature and is current as at 28 July 2026.

This answer is general information only and is not advice about your individual circumstances. Read the full disclaimer.