From 482 to Permanent Residency: The 186 TRT Pathway in 2026

The short version

If you hold a Skills in Demand (subclass 482) visa — any stream — and you have worked full-time in Australia in your nominated occupation for two of the last three years, your employer can nominate you for permanent residence through the subclass 186 Employer Nomination Scheme, Temporary Residence Transition (TRT) stream.

Two years, not three. Any stream, including the old Short-Term stream. No standing skills-assessment requirement. Those three facts changed on 25 November 2023, and a large share of what is published online still describes the rules that existed before that date.

What actually changed on 25 November 2023

The Migration Amendment (Expanding Access to Temporary Residence Transition Stream) Regulations 2023 (F2023L01543) rewrote the qualifying rules:

• The qualifying period dropped from three years to two years of full-time sponsored employment, counted within the three years immediately before the visa application
• The Short-Term stream exclusion was removed. Before this date, 482 holders in the Short-Term stream had no TRT pathway at all unless a COVID-era concession caught them. Now the Department's own words are that you must hold a "subclass 457 visa (any stream)" or "subclass 482 visa (any stream)"

If you were told in 2022 or 2023 that your Short-Term 482 was a dead end for permanent residence, that advice is out of date. Re-check your position.

The two-year rule, precisely

The employment that counts must be:

• Full-time
• Undertaken in Australia — overseas work for the same employer does not count
• Done while holding a subclass 457, a 482, or an eligible bridging visa (a bridging visa linked to a 457/482/186/187 application where your last substantive visa was a 457 or 482 — so time on a bridging visa is not automatically lost)
• In an occupation you were granted the 457/482 to perform

And it must total two years within the three years immediately before the day you apply.

Changing employers does not reset the clock

This is the point most people get wrong, and until recently our own website stated it too tightly. The rule is:

• Time with an earlier sponsor inside the three-year window still counts toward the two years
• But the employer who nominates you must be your most recently approved sponsor
• If you moved employers and started work while the new nomination was still pending, employment counts from the date the nomination was lodged, where you started before approval

So a 482 holder who did fourteen months with employer A and eleven months with employer B can be nominated by B — provided B is the most recently approved sponsor.

TRT versus Direct Entry — the comparison that decides strategy

The surprise in that table is English: TRT is the stream with no exemptions, not Direct Entry. A nominee who would be exempt under Direct Entry still needs Competent English test results — no more than three years old — to use TRT.

Age: under 45, with real exemptions

You must be under 45 when you apply. The exemptions that matter in practice:

1. High-income earners — at least two of the three years before applying in eligible sponsored employment with earnings in each of those years at or above the Fair Work High Income Threshold (check the current figure on the Fair Work Ombudsman's site)
2. Regional medical practitioners — worked as a medical practitioner on a 457/482 in a designated regional area for at least two of the last three years, with the nominated position also regional
3. Academics nominated by an Australian university, and scientists, researchers and technical specialists (ANZSCO skill level 1 or 2) nominated by an Australian university or government scientific agency
4. Legacy 457 holders — if you held (or had applied for and were later granted) a 457 on 18 April 2017, the limit is under 50

What it costs, and who pays what

The SAF levy point is not a courtesy: passing it to the worker is prohibited. The salary must meet the Annual Market Salary Rate and at least the Core Skills Income Threshold — $79,423 for nominations lodged from 1 July 2026. From that date a lower visa charge also applies to eligible Pacific Island and Timor-Leste passport holders.

What the employer must show

• Approved standard business sponsor status (or party to a labour agreement), actively and lawfully operating in Australia
• A genuine need for a paid employee in a skilled position — full-time, ongoing for at least two years, with a contract that does not limit the position to two years
• The nominated occupation the same as your most recent approved nomination (ANZSCO code changes through the 2022 update do not disadvantage you)
• Labour market testing is not a 186 nomination requirement — it belongs to the 482 and 494
• One deadline that catches employers: the visa application must be lodged within six months of nomination approval, or the nomination lapses

If the business has restructured or changed ABN since your 482, the temporary sponsorship must reflect that before the 186 is lodged.

Where 482→186 plans fall apart

1. Counting overseas time. Two years means two years in Australia
2. The occupation drifted. Promoted into a different ANZSCO occupation without a new nomination — the employment may no longer count as time in the occupation you were sponsored to perform
3. English left to last. No TRT exemptions, results must be under three years old, and test bookings take time
4. Turning 45 mid-plan. The age test applies at application; a 45th birthday during the qualifying period needs the timeline built around it or an exemption confirmed early
5. The six-month lapse. Nomination approved, visa application delayed, nomination gone
6. Old advice. Decisions made on the pre-November-2023 rules — the three-year version, or the Short-Term exclusion — that no longer exist

Planning the pathway — Australia-wide

Migration Vision advises 482 holders and their employers across Australia on the TRT timeline: when the two years actually complete, whether an age or income exemption applies, the English evidence, the nomination and SAF levy on the employer side, and what a job change mid-pathway really does to the count. Online consultations in English, Hindi, Urdu and Punjabi.

Frequently asked questions

How long do I need to work on a 482 before applying for the 186?

Two years of full-time sponsored employment in Australia in your nominated occupation, within the three years immediately before you apply. The period was reduced from three years on 25 November 2023.

Can Short-Term stream 482 holders get permanent residency?

Yes. The Short-Term stream exclusion was removed on 25 November 2023 — the TRT stream now accepts holders of a subclass 457 or 482 in any stream. Advice given before that date may say otherwise and is out of date.

Do I need a skills assessment for the 186 TRT stream?

It is not a standing requirement — the Department says it might ask for one. The Direct Entry stream is different: there a valid skills assessment issued within the last three years is required for most applicants.

What English level is needed for 186 TRT?

Competent English, with test results no more than three years old. Since 16 November 2019 there are no exemptions in the TRT stream — the exemptions that exist apply to the Direct Entry stream.

Can I change employers and still qualify?

Yes. Time with an earlier sponsor inside the three-year window counts toward the two years, but the employer nominating you must be your most recently approved sponsor.

How long does the 186 take to process?

On the Department's processing times tool, queried 22 August 2026: the Transition Pathway at 50% in 11 months and 90% in 15 months; the Direct Entry Pathway at 50% in 10 months and 90% in 14 months.

How much does the 186 cost in 2026?

$6,140 for the main applicant, plus $3,070 per additional applicant 18 or over and $1,535 per child. The employer pays the $540 nomination fee (nil for regional positions) and a one-off SAF levy of $3,000 or $5,000 depending on turnover — which cannot be passed on to you.

Reviewed by Dr Asad Muhammad Khan, Registered Migration Agent, MARN 2619525. Updated 22 August 2026 — qualifying-period and stream rules verified against the Department of Home Affairs 186 TRT and Direct Entry pages and the Migration Amendment (Expanding Access to Temporary Residence Transition Stream) Regulations 2023 (F2023L01543) on legislation.gov.au; charges against the Home Affairs visa pricing estimator and cost-of-sponsoring pages; CSIT against the Home Affairs salary-requirements page; processing times against the Home Affairs global visa processing times tool queried on that date (the tool publishes no data-currency date). This page is general information, not migration advice for your circumstances.