The 186 Employer Nomination Scheme (TRT): permanent residence after your 482

Where the TRT stream fits

For most people on an employer-sponsored visa, permanent residence is not a fresh start, it is the next step on the same path. You are sponsored on a Skills in Demand (482) visa, you work, and after two years your employer nominates you for the 186 through the Temporary Residence Transition stream. It is the most predictable PR pathway Australia has, because the hard parts, a real job and an approved sponsor, are already in place. This is the 482-then-186 route that carries a large share of skilled permanent migration.

The two-year rule, and what changed in November 2025

The core requirement is two years of full-time work in your nominated occupation, completed in the three years before you apply. Two details matter more than any other.

First, the two years no longer has to be with a single employer. Periods with different approved sponsors can be added together, which protects you if you change jobs partway through.

Second, from 29 November 2025 that work must have been for an approved sponsor the whole time. Any period you spent working for an employer who was not an approved standard business sponsor does not count toward the two years, even if it was in the same occupation. Applications lodged before that date are not affected. If you have moved between employers, it is worth mapping exactly which months count before you lodge.

What else you need

Four requirements sit alongside the work history. You generally need to be under 45 at the time you apply, though exemptions exist for certain high-income earners, some academics, and specified medical practitioners and occupations. You need Competent English. Your occupation must still be one the visa accepts through this stream. And the nomination has to reflect a genuine, ongoing need for the role in the business, which is the employer's side of the application.

TRT or Direct Entry?

The 186 has a second stream, Direct Entry, for people without the sponsored work history, an offshore professional being recruited, for example. It asks for a suitable skills assessment and at least three years of relevant experience, and the occupation rules are stricter. If you qualify through TRT, it is almost always the easier route, because it leans on time you have already served rather than a fresh skills assessment.

	Temporary Residence Transition	Direct Entry
Who it's for	Current 482 / SID (or 457/TSS) holders	Applicants without the sponsored work history
Key test	2 years' work for an approved sponsor	Skills assessment + 3 years' experience
Skills assessment	Not usually required	Required

What it costs

From 1 July 2026 the visa application charge is $6,140 for the primary applicant, with lower additional charges for a partner or children included in the application. On the employer's side there is a nomination fee and the Skilling Australians Fund levy, $1,200 a year for a small business or $1,800 a year for a larger one. Those employer costs are the sponsor's by law and cannot be passed on to you.

General information only, current at 18 July 2026. Not immigration assistance or advice for your circumstances. Visacorp Pty Ltd — MARN 0317382 · 1799004 · 0104178.