Employer Nomination Scheme Visa (Subclass 186)

Employer Nomination visa enables skilled workers, who are nominated by their Australian employers to live and work in Australia permanently.

Employer Nomination Visa has 3 streams

• Temporary Residence Transition Stream
• Direct Entry Stream
• Labour Agreement Stream

There are 2 stages for each of the above streams

1. Nomination Application (by the employer) – must be lodged before or at the same time as the nominee’s visa application
2. Visa Application (by the Nominee) – can apply for exceptional circumstances if they don’t meet age, skills or English requirements

For Temporary Residence Transition (TRT) Stream the applicant must:

• Be under 45 years of age
• Meet English requirement
• Be nominated by the employer who sponsored your temporary work visa
• Sponsored by your current employer for whom you have worked full-time on Subclass Subclass 482 visa for at least 3 of the 4 years prior to nomination for Subclass 186 visa. Since Subclass 457 visa has now been removed the grandfathering provisions apply – therefore if you held (or had applied for and were later granted) a Subclass 457 visa on or before 18 April 2017, your employer must have sponsored you to work full-time for at least 2 years prior to nominating you for this visa.
• Have required skills – the Department may ask you to obtain a skills assessment to demonstrate that you have the skills.

For Direct Entry (DE) Stream the applicant must:

• Be under 45 years of age

• Meet English requirement

• Be employed in the nominated occupation for at least 3 years on a full-time basis, where nominated occupation is listed in the Medium to Long Term Skill Shortage List (MLTSSL) or the Regional Occupation List (ROL) which is for employers located in the regional areas of Australia.
• Be nominated by an approved Sponsor/employer
• Have a skills assessment 

For Labour Agreement Stream the applicant must:

• Be under 45 years of age
• Meet suitable English language skills as per the Labour agreement
• Currently work or will work for an employer under the Labour agreement
• Be nominated by an approved Australian sponsor/employer
• Must hold a 457 or 482 visa under the Labour Agreement if in Australia

Advantages of Subclass 186 visa

• Permanent residency in Australia
• Unrestricted entry and departure for 5 years
• Enrol in Medicare
• Apply for Australian Citizenship when eligible
• Work and study in Australia
• Sponsor eligible relatives

The nomination takes around 4-6 weeks for approval and processing time for a visa application is around 5-7 months if the application is “Decision Ready” i.e. the Migration Agent has lodged all the relevant documents to the Department for assessment with your application.