Subclass 186 TRT

The Subclass 186 TRT is a permanent visa.

This is the type of visa that creates generational change and that you can plan a life around.

Once granted, you can live in Australia indefinitely.
Its travel facility runs 5 years from the date of grant, so you can leave and re-enter Australia freely while you settle in.

If a permanent future in Australia is the goal, this subclass is one of the ways the Australian Migration system delivers it.

Visa class

Employer Nomination (Permanent) (Class EN)

Visa subclass

Subclass 186 TRT

01

Temporary Residence Transition stream

For applicants who have held a Subclass 457 or Subclass 482 visa and worked for their nominating employer in the same occupation.

This is a permanent visa - once granted, you can live in Australia indefinitely. The travel facility lasts 5 years from the date of grant: within that period you can leave and re-enter Australia freely. After it expires, a Resident Return visa is needed to re-enter as a permanent resident.

There is no limit on your stay - you can remain in Australia permanently. The 5-year period only matters for re-entering Australia after overseas travel.

Yes. This is an employer driven visa - a nomination is the foundation of the application: the occupation nomination must be applied for first, and the visa application is attached to the nomination.

No Occupation List for Australia applies to the Temporary Residence Transition stream.

In this stream the occupation is fixed by your history, not by a list. The occupation must be listed in ANZSCO, and it must be the same occupation in relation to which your most recently held Subclass 457, Subclass 482 (Temporary Skill Shortage) or Subclass 482 (Skills in Demand) visa was granted.

There must also be no information known to Immigration indicating that you are not genuinely performing the tasks of that occupation as specified in ANZSCO, or it must be reasonable to disregard any such information.

This is different from the Direct Entry stream, where the nominated occupation must be specified in the legislative instrument made for the Subclass 186 visa and the relevant assessing authority is set by that instrument.

While there is no occupation list that applies to the Subclass 186 TRT stream. The occupation must be listed in ANZSCO, and it must be the same occupation in relation to which your most recently held Subclass 457, Subclass 482 (Temporary Skill Shortage) or Subclass 482 (Skills in Demand) visa was granted.

The list that applies for the Subclass 482 (Skills in Demand) visa is the Core Skills Occupation List (CSOL) and it sets out the 456 occupations employers can nominate to sponsor skilled overseas workers, for the subclass 482 Skills in Demand (SID) visa Core Skills stream (and the subclass 186 Direct Entry stream).

Core Skills Income Threshold (CSIT): AUD $79,423

The minimum annual earnings for an occupation nominated in the Core Skills stream of the Subclass 482 (Skills in Demand) visa.

Income thresholds are indexed on 1 July each year.

The Annual Market Salary Rate (AMSR) applies to this visa through the nomination.

The Annual Market Salary Rate is the earnings an Australian citizen or Australian permanent resident earns, or would earn, for performing equivalent work on a full-time basis for a year in the same workplace at the same location.

Your employer's business must have the capacity to employ you for at least 2 years and to pay you at least the Annual Market Salary Rate for the occupation each year.

The Annual Market Salary Rate, excluding any non-monetary benefits, must not be less than the Core Skills Income Threshold, and your annual earnings, excluding any non-monetary benefits, must not be less than the Core Skills Income Threshold.

Your annual earnings must also not be less than the Annual Market Salary Rate determined for the occupation.

The Annual Market Salary Rate is not a published figure. Your employer must determine it in accordance with the method specified in a legislative instrument, and it must not be inconsistent with Australian labour market conditions for the occupation.

Employment conditions other than earnings must also not be less favourable than those that apply, or would apply, to an Australian citizen or Australian permanent resident performing equivalent work at the same location.

This is a permanent visa.

Not applicable - this visa is itself Australian permanent residence.

This visa is for a skilled worker already in Australia on a Subclass 457 or Subclass 482 visa, whose employer wants to keep them permanently in the same occupation.

There is an age limit: at the time of application you must have been under 45, unless you were in a class of persons specified by the Minister.

The nomination comes first. Your employer must be your current 482 sponsoring employer, and must lodge a nomination of the position under regulation 5.19 identifying you, for a Temporary Residence Transition stream visa. The nomination must not be withdrawn, and your visa application must be lodged within 6 months of the nomination approval. The Minister must approve the nomination before the visa application can be approved.

You must have held a Subclass 457, Subclass 482 (Temporary Skill Shortage) or Subclass 482 (Skills in Demand) visa - or an associated bridging visa where one of those was your last substantive visa - for a total of at least 2 years in the 3 years before you apply.

You must have worked for an approved work sponsor in that same occupation for at least 2 years in those 3 years, full-time and in Australia, not counting unpaid leave.

You must have had competent English at the time of application, unless a specified exemption applies.

A skills assessment is not automatic. You must demonstrate your skills only if the Minister requires it, and then in the manner the Minister specifies.

If a licence, registration or professional membership is mandatory in the State or Territory where the position sits, you must hold it or be eligible to hold it at the time of application.

You can be in or outside Australia when you apply, but not in immigration clearance. If you are in Australia you must hold a substantive visa, or a Bridging A, B or C visa.

You and your family must meet the health and character requirements, and applicants 18 or over must sign the Australian Values Statement.

In the 3 years before applying you must not have breached the payment-for-sponsorship provisions of the Migration Act, unless the Minister considers it reasonable to disregard the conduct.

At the time of application you must have had competent English, unless you were in a class of persons specified by the Minister in a legislative instrument made for this requirement.

What competent English means

You have competent English if you sat a specified language test as a visa applicant, the test was taken in the 3 years immediately before the day the application was made (or before the date of an invitation, where you or your partner were invited to apply), and you achieved the specified score.

The scores for competent English are:

Passport holders

You also have competent English, without sitting a test, if you hold a passport of a type specified by the Minister. The specified passports are those of Canada, New Zealand, the Republic of Ireland, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and the United States of America.

Note on exemptions: the instrument that exempts applicants from the age requirement in this stream, LIN 19/216, is made under paragraph 186.221(b) - the age requirement - and not under paragraph 186.222(b), the English language requirement. That instrument provides an English language exemption for the Subclass 187 Temporary Residence Transition stream, but not for this stream.

A skills assessment is not automatically required in the Temporary Residence Transition stream.

The criterion is conditional: if the Minister requires you to demonstrate that you have the skills necessary to perform the tasks of the occupation to which the position relates, you must demonstrate those skills in the manner specified by the Minister.

There is no standing list of occupations or passport countries for which an assessment is mandatory in this stream. That is a feature of other visas - for the Subclass 482 there is a mandatory skills assessment instrument, and in the Subclass 186 Direct Entry stream the skills requirement is a standing criterion with its own exemptions.

What does apply in this stream is your work history rather than an assessment: you must have worked for an approved work sponsor in the nominated occupation for at least 2 years within the 3 years before you apply, full-time and in Australia.

Separately, where a licence, registration or professional membership is mandatory in the State or Territory in which the position is located, you must hold it or be eligible to hold it at the time of application.

Section 48 of the Migration Act applies to a person who is in Australia, does not hold a substantive visa, and has had a visa refused or cancelled since they last entered Australia. While they remain in Australia, a person in that position can only apply for a visa from a short list set out in the Regulations.

Employer Nomination (Permanent) (Class EN) is not on that list. A person affected by the section 48 bar cannot make a valid application for this visa while they are in Australia.

The bar only applies onshore - an application made from outside Australia is not affected by section 48.

Members of the family unit can be included in the application and are granted the visa on the secondary criteria.

Who can be included: a member of your family unit who makes a combined application with you, where you are granted the visa on the primary criteria.

Health: because the primary applicant is in the Temporary Residence Transition stream, secondary applicants must satisfy public interest criterion 4007. Family unit members who are not applicants must also satisfy PIC 4007, unless it would be unreasonable to require them to be assessed.

Character: secondary applicants must satisfy public interest criteria 4001, 4002, 4003, 4003B, 4004, 4010, 4020 and 4021. Those who had turned 18 at the time of application must satisfy PIC 4019, the Australian Values Statement. Those under 18 must satisfy PIC 4017 and 4018.

Special return criteria 5001, 5002 and 5010 must also be satisfied.

Family violence provisions: if you were the spouse or de facto partner of the primary applicant at the time of application, the relationship has since ceased, and you, a member of your family unit, or a dependent child has experienced family violence committed by the primary applicant, you may still meet the secondary criteria - provided you were in Australia when the application was made or entered Australia afterwards. Members of that person's own family unit may also qualify.

Conditions on grant: if a secondary applicant is outside Australia when the visa is granted, condition 8515 may be imposed - that is, not marrying or entering a de facto relationship before entering Australia.

The second instalment of the visa application charge may apply to a secondary applicant who was 18 or over at the time of application and is assessed as not having functional English.

This is a permanent visa. Once granted, you can live, work and study in Australia indefinitely.

You can travel to and enter Australia for 5 years from the date of grant. That is the visa's travel facility. After the 5 years, returning to Australia as a permanent resident requires a Resident Return visa.

You may be in or outside Australia when the visa is granted, but not in immigration clearance.

If you are outside Australia when the visa is granted, you must make your first entry before the date specified by the Minister.

The Visa Application Charge (VAC) for the primary applicant is AUD $6,140

The Visa Application Charge for a Partner (Eligible member of the Family Unit) is AUD $3,070

The Visa Application Charge for each additional applicant (Eligible member of the Family Unit) that is aged 18 and over is AUD $3,070

The Visa Application Charge for each additional applicant (Eligible member of the Family Unit) that is aged under 18, the charge is AUD $1,535

A payment surcharge may also be applied, with the percentage rate dependent on your method of payment.

NB: The Department of Home Affairs can change the VAC without notice, fees shown are current as at 25 July 2026.

The Subsequent Temporary Application Charge (STAC) is a component of the first instalment of the visa application charge. The STAC does not apply to permanent visas.

Primary Applicant Visa Application Preparation and Lodgement Service - Subclass 186 TRT Visa AUD $3000

Partner (Eligible member of the Family Unit) Visa Application Preparation and Lodgement Service - Subclass 186 TRT Visa AUD $1950

Additional Applicant (Eligible member of the Family Unit) that is aged 18 and over Visa Application Preparation and Lodgement Service - Subclass 186 TRT Visa AUD $1950

Additional Applicant (Eligible member of the Family Unit) that is aged under 18 Visa Application Preparation and Lodgement Service - Subclass 186 TRT Visa AUD $1350

While our migration team can give you an estimate of the timeframe, it is not possible to give a definitive timeframe for any visa processing.

The Australian Department of Home Affairs does not commit to any visa processing times.

While the Department may publish guidelines for processing times, it does not mean a visa is going to be decided in that timeframe, the Department is under no obligation to process a visa in a set period of time and frequently changes its own guidelines on visa processing times.

The best advice we can provide is to ensure your visa application is thoroughly and diligently prepared by an Australian Registered Migration Agent to ensure there are no delays once the Department begins to assess your visa application.

This page provides general information only and it is not being provided as immigration assistance, and any reader should not consider it as being provided as immigration assistance.

Your particular circumstances should be examined and assessed by an Australian Registered Migration Agent who can then explain if you satisfy the criteria for this visa before acting.

Every application is assessed on its own merits.

The Department of Home Affairs can change visa application charges, income thresholds and eligibility criteria without notice.

Income thresholds are indexed on 1 July each year.

The figures that apply are those in force on the date the relevant application is lodged, not the date it is decided.

Information current as at 25 July 2026

Look at the amount of criteria on this page.

And that is not even half of it. Behind every criterion sits the evidence to prove it, the documents to prepare and check, and the nomination side of the application - all of it done properly before anything is lodged.

That is what it takes to prepare and lodge a valid, strong and compliant Subclass 186 TRT application.

Australian Department of Home Affairs Visa Application Charges are very expensive, and they are not refunded if the visa application is denied.

So much depends on making sure the migration pathway for you is right, and that every aspect of your situation is reviewed, before an application is even started.

That is why an initial consultation is a must.

We do not start to prepare any visa applications without one.

The initial consultation fee is AUD $399.

We state it here up front - no hidden costs, no surprises.

The fee of AUD$399 can be credited against future professional fees if, within 30 days of your initial consultation, you engage us to prepare and lodge your visa application.

Not only is the money you pay for an initial consultation potentially deducted from our agent fees if you proceed, but it could just be the best money you ever spend.

The consultation is where the migration pathway and plan gets reviewed, from all angles.

Not only is every aspect checked against current legislation, and does your situation and circumstances satisfy all of the criteria on this page. But also whether the Subclass 186 TRT is genuinely the best option for your circumstances and your long-term migration goals.

If you are an employer or a visa applicant, if a different visa serves you better, we will explain which is a better visa option, and why.

Because one visa is rarely the end of the story.

Family reunited in Australia.
Plans for permanent residency.
The long-term goal of Australian citizenship.

We know from our experience that decisions made now affect all of it, so the first step must be an initial consultation.

From there, we are with you every step of the way - during the application preparation, final application checking before lodgement, after the application is lodged, and all through the application stages to the Department's decision and beyond.

We genuinely want to help - people before profit - the reviews left for us by visa applicants are plain to read in their words how they were treated, how their migration goals were met.

Our job is not to sell you anything.

Our job is to listen to you, to really hear you as you tell us what the outcome is that you want.

Our job is to review the evidence you provide and for us to tell you the truth about your best migration option, even if that option is not the visa on this page.

If you want to take the first step you can book an initial consultation below.