Australia work visa from Pakistan: the Skills in Demand (482) visa

The Skills in Demand visa in short

Electricians, cooks, welders, aged care workers, engineers: for Pakistani workers in fields like these, the Skills in Demand visa is how an Australian employer brings you over. The essentials:

Subclass 482, officially the Skills in Demand (SID) visa, lets an Australian business sponsor a skilled worker for a vacancy no suitably skilled Australian can fill. It is temporary, with a maximum stay of 4 years. Want to stay longer on a 482? Your employer lodges a fresh nomination and you lodge a fresh visa application.

Three main streams:

• Core Skills. Occupations on the Core Skills Occupation List (CSOL). Most trade, hospitality and care jobs on this site fall here.
• Specialist Skills. Higher-paid roles in selected occupation groups, with a salary at or above the Specialist Skills Income Threshold (AUD 146,576 (as of October 2026, official page)). Not open to trade, machinery-operator or labourer occupations.
• Labour Agreement. Workers nominated by an employer that has a labour agreement with the Australian Government; the agreement can set its own requirements.

Eligibility checklist

Core Skills stream: tick every box below.

• Approved sponsor, nomination lodged. Your employer is an approved sponsor, or has applied to be a Standard Business Sponsor, and nominates you for the job.
• Listed occupation. The role is on the Core Skills Occupation List and genuinely requires your skills.
• Market-rate pay. Salary at the Annual Market Salary Rate, and never below the Core Skills Income Threshold. For nominations lodged 1 July 2026 to 30 June 2027 that threshold is AUD 79,423 (as of October 2026, official page). You cannot be paid less than an Australian in the same position.
• Experience. 1 year or more of relevant work in the nominated occupation or a related field (details in the next section).
• English, health, character. Each requirement met, plus adequate health insurance for your whole stay.
• Age. Not a factor: the 482 has no age requirement.

Match yourself against live vacancies: sponsored jobs in Australia.

Experience, qualifications and skills assessment

• Work history: 1 year or more in the nominated occupation or a related field, gained in the past 5 years. Breaks are fine; the total must equal 12 months or more of full-time work.
• Qualifications: whatever the occupation requires, including any Australian licence or registration needed to work in it.
• Skills assessment: some occupations require one, usually through VETASSESS or Trades Recognition Australia (TRA). Where it applies, you must have started it before lodging (otherwise the application is invalid), and it must be from the 3 years before you apply. Start early.
• No assessment in your occupation? Home Affairs may still request qualification certificates, licences, employment references and your CV to prove your skills.

English test scores

Unless an exemption applies, both the Core Skills and Specialist Skills streams require English. Minimum score per component for tests sat on or after 13 September 2025 (as of October 2026, official page):

• Validity: the test date must fall within the 3 years before your application.
• Format: IELTS Online and other fully online or at-home tests do not count. Sit the test at a centre.
• Other tests: CELPIP General, the Michigan English Test, LANGUAGECERT Academic and more are accepted at their own scores (see the official page).
• Exemptions: passport holders of New Zealand, Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom or the Republic of Ireland; or applicants with 5 years or more of full-time study at secondary level or higher, taught mainly in English.
• Labour Agreement stream: the agreement may set its own English requirement.

Health, insurance and police checks

• Medical checks: everyone in the application must satisfy the health requirement, usually by attending health examinations. Expect results to stay valid for 12 months.
• Insurance: hold adequate health cover from arrival to departure.
• Police checks: you, and every family member aged 16 or older, must satisfy the character requirement. That normally means a police certificate from each country (home country included) where your combined time in the past 10 years, counted from age 16, adds up to 12 months or more. In Pakistan, ask for a police character certificate.

The process, in order

1. Employer advertises locally. Generally required before nomination: 2 or more advertisements in Australia, each live for 4 weeks or longer, placed within the 4 months before the nomination (labour market testing).
2. You are selected. Application, interview (normally by video) and a job offer.
3. Employer gets sponsor approval, where it does not have it yet.
4. Employer lodges the nomination and gives you its Transaction Reference Number (TRN).
5. You assemble documents: passport, skills evidence (plus a skills assessment if needed), English result, police certificates, employment references, translations.
6. You apply in ImmiAccount, quoting the TRN and paying the visa charge.
7. Biometrics and medicals, when requested.
8. Outcome. No visa grant until the nomination has been approved.
9. Arrival. Your start date must fall within 90 days of entering Australia (or of the grant, if you are already onshore).

Processing times and costs

Processing benchmarks (as of October 2026, official page), from the Home Affairs processing-time tool:

Benchmarks change frequently, and individual applications vary. Also budget time for the pre-lodgement stages (job search, sponsorship and nomination, skills assessment, English test, police certificates), any of which can run to weeks.

Visa application charge (as of October 2026, official page): main applicant and each family member 18 or older, AUD 4,015; each family member under 18, AUD 1,005. Costs you meet separately: English test, medicals, police certificates and biometrics. From 1 July 2026, a reduced charge applies to eligible citizens of Timor-Leste and Pacific Island countries.

Rules once you are working

• Work only in your nominated occupation, and only for your sponsor (or, in some cases, an associated entity).
• Start date: within 90 days.
• Employment with your sponsor ends? You get up to 180 days to secure a new sponsor or arrange your departure from Australia.
• Sponsorship, nomination and recruitment costs stay with the sponsor and cannot be recovered from you (sponsor obligations). Australian workplace rights cover sponsored workers as well; read worker rights.

Partner and children

• Who can be included: your partner, and dependent children of you or your partner.
• Rights in Australia: included family can live, work and study there.
• Nomination: each family member must be in the nomination, or the sponsor must agree in writing to sponsor them.
• Timing: no additions after lodgement. Family who come later apply separately as subsequent entrants, so settle who is coming before you lodge.
• Requirements: a visa charge per person (above), the health requirement for everyone, and the character requirement from age 16.

Permanent residence through subclass 186

Subclass 186, the Employer Nomination Scheme visa, is permanent. The usual route for 482 holders is its Temporary Residence Transition (TRT) stream. Key requirements (as of October 2026, official page):

• Current visa: subclass 482 (or 457), or an eligible bridging visa.
• Work history: 2 years in total of eligible sponsored employment within the 3 years before you apply.
• Employer: the last employer to sponsor you full-time on a 482 or 457 visa, with a nomination for you approved within the 6 months before you apply.
• Age: usually under 45 when you apply.
• English: Competent English or better, e.g. IELTS 6 in each of listening, reading, writing and speaking (Competent English). No exemption is available in this stream.

Charge: from AUD 6,140 for the 186 visa (as of October 2026, official page). Permanent residence rules are revised often. Check the official page before relying on them.

Applying from Pakistan

Lahore, Karachi, Peshawar or a worksite in Saudi Arabia, the UAE or Qatar: the preparation is the same. This list summarises general Department of Home Affairs requirements. Use it to organise your file; it is not advice on your own case.

• Passport first. Check the expiry date. Renewing soon? Home Affairs recommends doing it before you apply, so your application carries the same details as the passport you travel on.
• Police certificates. Required from each country where your combined time in the past 10 years, counted from age 16, reaches 12 months or more. For most readers that means Pakistan, where the usual document is the police character certificate, and, if you have worked there, the Gulf country you live in now. Home Affairs publishes a country-by-country page on obtaining police certificates, with an entry for Pakistan. Expect a certificate to be accepted for 12 months from its issue date (character requirements).
• Qualifications and licences. Collect your degree, diploma and trade certificates and any licence or registration your occupation needs. If a skills assessment applies, start it early.
• Work references. Each one on company letterhead, showing the referee's name, title and contact details, the job you held and your start and end dates. Home Affairs also asks for a CV covering the most recent 5 years or more; write it in English.
• English test. Book IELTS, PTE or another accepted test at a test centre. Fully online tests do not count. Keep a copy of your result.
• Translations. Anything in Urdu or another language needs an English translation. Translators based outside Australia need no accreditation, but each translation must state the translator's full name, address, phone number, qualifications and experience.
• Scans. Colour scans or photos of every document. Your name and date of birth should be written identically throughout.

Already working in the Gulf? Do not resign or cancel your residence permit until your Australian visa is decided, and check what your current contract says about notice.

Before you fly: Pakistani nationals going abroad for work normally complete emigration formalities before departure, such as registration with the Protector of Emigrants. Requirements can change, so confirm the current process with the Bureau of Emigration & Overseas Employment through official government sources.

Scams and mistakes to avoid

• Red flag: a "guaranteed" visa. Home Affairs says no one can guarantee you an Australian visa. Australia also issues no visa labels and no "work permits". Any offer of either is a scam.
• Red flag: money for a job or sponsorship. A sponsor may not pass sponsorship, nomination or recruitment costs to the worker. Requesting, offering or paying a benefit for sponsorship is a breach, and doing so within the past 3 years can block a 482 visa grant.
• Paid advice must be registered. Only registered migration agents (RMAs) and Australian legal practitioners may lawfully charge for immigration assistance in Australia. Search the OMARA register before paying anyone (choosing a migration agent).
• Visa charge: ImmiAccount only. There is no additional government fee for issuing the visa.
• Mistakes to avoid: an occupation not backed by your real experience; an expired English result or police certificate; family left off the application (no additions after lodgement); inconsistent names or dates across documents.

Read more: Home Affairs visa scams page and what Home Affairs says you need to know.

Frequently asked questions

What is the maximum stay on a 482?

4 years. Beyond that, staying on a 482 needs a new nomination from your employer and a new visa application from you.

What work experience does the 482 require?

A minimum of 1 year in the nominated occupation or a related field, gained in the past 5 years. Breaks are allowed as long as the total equals 12 months or more of full-time work.

Which IELTS or PTE scores does the 482 need?

For tests sat on or after 13 September 2025: IELTS 5.0 per component, or PTE Academic scores of 33 (listening), 36 (reading), 29 (writing) and 24 (speaking), as of October 2026, unless you are exempt. Other accepted tests have their own minimums on the Home Affairs English page.

Which police certificate do I need from Pakistan?

Normally a police character certificate. Australia wants a certificate from each country where your combined time in the past 10 years, from age 16, reaches 12 months or more. The Home Affairs country list explains how to get one for Pakistan.

Does age matter for the 482?

No age requirement applies to the Skills in Demand visa. Note that the permanent subclass 186 (TRT stream) usually needs you to be under 45.

How much is the 482 visa charge?

As of October 2026: AUD 4,015 per main applicant and per family member 18 or older; AUD 1,005 per child under 18. Tests, medicals and police certificates are extra. Details on the Home Affairs page.

My sponsored job ended. What now?

You have a maximum of 180 days to find a new sponsoring employer or to arrange to leave Australia.

Can I move from a 482 to permanent residence?

Possibly. With 2 years of sponsored work in the past 3 years, the Employer Nomination Scheme (subclass 186) TRT stream may be open to you, if your employer nominates you and you meet the age and Competent English criteria.