Australia · Work authorisation

Employer Nomination Scheme visa (subclass 186) — Direct Entry stream

Issued by Department of Home Affairs. It is checked against conditions rather than scored, so the question is whether you meet each one, not how many points you gather.

Basis
Checklist
Steps
5
Possible outcomes
2
Last checked
2026-08-09

Conditions

What this permit
asks of you.

Which desk decides

The authority, exactly

The Department decides both the employer's nomination and the visa. A second stream, Temporary Residence Transition, exists for people who already hold a subclass 457 or 482 visa: instead of the Direct Entry conditions below, it requires having held that visa while working for the sponsor full time for usually at least 2 years, plus a nomination the Department approved in the 6 months before the application — the Department's page for that stream does not state a separate age limit. Where a skills assessment is required, it is issued by the occupation's own assessing authority, not by the Department.

2026 figure

Salary floor

AUD 79,423 a year

The Core Skills Income Threshold (CSIT) applies to Employer Nomination Scheme nominations lodged on or after 7 December 2024, at the same figure as the Skills in Demand visa's Core Skills stream. AUD79,423 is the figure in force for nominations lodged between 1 July 2026 and 30 June 2027; it is indexed every 1 July, so check the figure in force on the date of nomination. Your pay must also meet the Annual Market Salary Rate for the role if that figure is higher.

A figure without the year it belongs to and the condition attached to it is how someone rules themselves out of a permit they qualify for. Both are above.

Qualification

What it wants from your degree

At least 3 years of relevant work experience, unless you are exempt, and a positive skills assessment from the occupation's assessing authority before you lodge, unless you are exempt.

The procedure

5 steps,
in the order they happen.

Prepare your documents

  1. Secure a nomination from an employer approved as a sponsor, for an occupation on the Core Skills Occupation List.
  2. Be under 45 years old on the date you lodge your application, unless you are exempt, and have at least 3 years of relevant work experience, unless you are exempt.

Get your qualification assessed

  1. Obtain a positive skills assessment before you lodge, unless you are exempt, from the assessing authority the Department lists against your occupation.For ICT-related occupations that authority is ACS; for most other occupations it is a different body — check the Department's own directory rather than assuming.
  2. Meet the Department's minimum standard of English language proficiency, plus its health and character requirements.

Register and start working

  1. Once the Department approves the nomination, lodge the visa application.

Cost and time

What it costs,
and how long the authority says it takes.

Fees

Visa application charge
From AUD6,140.00 — concessions apply in limited circumstances; use the Department's Visa Pricing Estimator for your own figure

Timeframes

Processing time
Not published as a single national figure — the Department publishes a visa processing time guide tool instead
Visa validity
Permanent

Published processing times, not a prediction about your case.

Both halves together

Guides that use this permit.

Each one takes a profession into Australia and runs the recognition branch and the authorisation branch side by side, including what your country of qualification adds.

Evidence

Every claim on this page, and where it came from.

5 official pages, each with the jurisdiction it speaks for and the date a human last opened it. The oldest is 2026-08-09, and that is the date this page is only as fresh as.

Is this the right permit for you?

That depends on where you qualified.

The planner compares every route Australia opens to your country of qualification, and adds the recognition branch when your profession has one.

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