Employer sponsored visas · Australia
There is no single "sponsorship visa". There are four sponsored visas, plus agreements that can open up jobs the normal lists leave out. Each one has different rules on age, English, work history and where the job is. What is right for a business is not always what is right for the worker, so the two sides start in different places.
Choose the one that describes you
MARN 1800859
Registered Migration Agents
8+ years
As a Registered Migration Agent
1,000+
Applications lodged
300+
Five star Google reviews
482 / 186 / 494
All pathways assessed
Australia wide
Metro and regional
Any size
Family business to $100m turnover
★★★★★
"I had a great experience working with Nationwide Migration and Education on my Subclass 482 visa. They were professional, knowledgeable, and clear throughout the process. Communication was timely, and everything was handled efficiently. Thanks to their expertise, my visa was successfully approved. I highly recommend their services for visa and immigration matters."
★★★★★
"Thank you so much to Suman and the team for supporting me in successfully obtaining my SC 482 visa. I highly recommend Nationwide Migration to anyone looking for expert advice on work visas. They guided me professionally throughout the entire process, starting from my skills assessment. The journey was hassle-free, and I couldn't have done it without you. Highly recommended!"
★★★★★
"I'm incredibly grateful to Nationwide Migration for their outstanding support throughout my 482 visa process. From the initial consultation to the final grant notice, their team was consistently professional, responsive, and thorough. Their expertise and dedication truly made a difference."
Reviews are published as the client wrote them, shortened only for length. Every application is decided by the Department of Home Affairs on its own facts, and no outcome can be guaranteed.
Recent grants
Four real files: a 186, a 494 and two 482s. Tap any notice to see it full size.
Subclass 186 · Granted
Subclass 494 · Granted
Subclass 482 · Granted
ANZSCO 421111
Subclass 482 · Granted
These are past outcomes for individual clients. Every application is decided by the Department of Home Affairs on its own facts. Processing times are set by the Department, they vary case by case, and no registered migration agent can influence, prioritise or speed them up. Nothing here predicts your result and no outcome can be guaranteed.
How it works
No guesswork and no surprises. Here is exactly what happens, in order.
Pick the side that describes you, choose a time and pay online. Thirty minutes with a Registered Migration Agent, not a salesperson.
The business, the position and the person, checked against every employer sponsored pathway and the regional and industry agreements beyond them.
The pathway that fits, the gaps, the government charges, a realistic timeline and our fee. You decide with the numbers in front of you.
Sponsorship, nomination and visa, including the advertising the law requires, the contracts and the evidence.
Every sponsorship, nomination and visa decision is made by the Department of Home Affairs on the evidence in front of it. Processing times are theirs, they vary case by case, and no registered migration agent can influence, prioritise or speed them up. What we control is that your case is put together properly the first time.
The facts
Every line below comes from the Australian Government's own website. Job lists, pay levels and rules change without warning, so always check the current version at immi.homeaffairs.gov.au.
482
TemporaryA business brings in a skilled worker for a job it cannot find a suitably skilled Australian to fill. This is the most common one. There are three ways in, and the one you use changes the job list and the pay rule.
186
PermanentPermanent residence, granted from the start. The business puts the worker forward and the worker stays for good. Two normal ways in, and they ask for very different things.
494
Country areasThe same idea as the 482, but only for jobs in a designated regional area. If the business sits outside the big cities, this is often the better fit.
407
TrainingThis one is not a work visa. It is for real, structured training at a workplace. People mix it up with the 482 constantly, and that mix up is where a lot of refusals come from.
Source: Department of Home Affairs, immi.homeaffairs.gov.au, checked 7 September 2026. This is general information only. It is not advice about your own situation, and there are more exemptions than a page like this can list.
When the normal lists do not reach your job
If the job is not on a list, that is not always the end of it. There is a second route, and most people have never heard of it.
LA
Labour agreementA deal made directly with the Australian Government. It is for approved businesses that can show a real need the Australian job market cannot meet, where the normal temporary or permanent visa programs are not available to them.
DAMA
A type of labour agreementA DAMA is one kind of labour agreement. It is a deal between the Australian Government and a state, territory or regional body, and it gives that region access to more jobs than the standard skilled migration program.
Source: Department of Home Affairs labour agreements pages, immi.homeaffairs.gov.au, checked 7 September 2026.
How it works
Most people think this is one application. It is three, and each one can be refused on its own. A problem spotted at step one costs far less than the same problem found at step three.
STEP 01
The Department approves the business to sponsor workers. Or, if a labour agreement or a regional DAMA suits the business better, that agreement is negotiated instead.
STEP 02
The business puts the actual job forward. Before it does, it has to advertise the job in Australia and meet the pay and employment requirements.
STEP 03
The worker applies for the visa itself. Work history, skills assessment, English, health and character.
For most 482 Core Skills, 482 Specialist Skills and 494 Employer Sponsored nominations, the Department requires this before the job is put forward:
There are exemptions, including under Australia's international trade agreements. Getting this stage wrong is one of the most common reasons a nomination is refused.
Source: Department of Home Affairs, labour market testing page, checked 7 September 2026.
Worth clearing up
These come up on almost every call. Getting them out of the way early saves people a lot of money.
Who you are dealing with
Most people looking at sponsorship have already been given advice by someone who is not allowed to give it. Here is what we are, and what we will not do.
Suman Dua
Registered Migration Agent · MARN 1800859
Registered with the Office of the Migration Agents Registration Authority and bound by the Migration Agents Code of Conduct. The register is public. You are welcome to check the registration before you speak to anyone you are thinking of paying, including us.
Suman was featured in
We act for employers as well as workers, so we see both sides of every sponsorship.
Every fee is quoted in writing before you engage us.
We do not take money for applications that cannot succeed.
We do not find you a job, we do not have a list of sponsors, and we will never sell you a sponsorship.
If we think a pathway is not realistic, we say so rather than lodge something that cannot succeed.
Where we act for both the business and the worker, we put the conflict of interest to each side in writing first.
Straight answers
The same questions come up from both sides of the table. These are the honest answers.
Tap a question to open the answer
No. The Department says any legally established and operating business can apply to be a sponsor. Size is not the test. What matters is that the business is lawfully operating, the job is genuine, and you can pay the market salary rate for that job.
No. We are migration agents, not a recruitment agency. We assess whether you can qualify and we run the visa process once you have an employer. Be very careful with anyone who offers to sell you a sponsorship. The rules are written specifically to stop employers taking a financial benefit in return for sponsoring someone.
No, and this is the misconception that stops the most people. The business does not have to be an approved sponsor already. Becoming one is the first step of the process, not something that has to be done before you start.
Then you have saved yourself a lot of money and possibly years. You also get the specifics: what is missing, and what would have to change. Some people close that gap and come back later.
Your partner and dependent children can be included. On the 482, a partner or dependent who holds the visa can live, work and study in Australia while the visa is valid. Family members can also apply separately later to join the main visa holder.
Often yes. The Department says you can sponsor a skilled worker who is living overseas, living in Australia on a visa that does not allow work, or already living and working here on another visa. The visa the person holds right now changes the timing and sometimes the options, so it needs checking early.
For most sponsored nominations, yes. For 482 Core Skills, 482 Specialist Skills and 494 Employer Sponsored, the Department generally requires two advertisements, each running at least four weeks, within the four months before the nomination is lodged. There are exemptions, including under Australia's international trade agreements. A small number of occupations are exempt.
A Designated Area Migration Agreement is a deal between the Australian Government and a particular region. It opens up occupations the standard lists do not cover, and it can carry easier rules on things like age, English or salary.
Important: those easier rules are set occupation by occupation, not across the board. Two jobs sitting next to each other on the same regional list can have completely different concessions, and some have none at all. It has to be checked against your actual occupation and your actual region.
There are two separate costs. The Government's charges, which include the sponsorship, the nomination, the Skilling Australians Fund levy and the visa fee. And the professional fee for the agent.
The levy is a legal requirement for employers, it runs into the thousands, and it depends on turnover and how many years the position is nominated for. Some of these costs are the sponsor's by law and cannot be passed to the worker.
It depends on the visa, the occupation and whether the business is already an approved or accredited sponsor. The Department of Home Affairs publishes current processing times for every visa, and those figures move. No migration agent can influence, prioritise or speed up how long the Department takes.
The 186 is permanent from the start. The 482 may lead to the 186 later. The 494 may lead to permanent residence through the subclass 191, which needs three years on the visa, compliance with its conditions, and taxable income at or above a set level for three years.
Whether any of them apply depends on the occupation, the business and the person. The decision is always the Department's.
No. No migration agent can guarantee a visa outcome or a processing time, and anyone who tells you otherwise is breaking the rules they work under. All decisions are made solely by the Department of Home Affairs. What we can do is prepare the sponsorship, the nomination and the visa carefully, make sure the evidence answers what the Department actually asks for, and tell you honestly when a pathway is not realistic.
Answers above reflect Department of Home Affairs information checked on 7 September 2026. Rules, occupation lists, income thresholds and processing times change without notice. Always check the current position at immi.homeaffairs.gov.au.
Your next step
Pick whichever one you are. From there we take you through the options that fit your side of the table.
If you are the employer
If you are the worker
We do not find, provide or arrange employers or sponsors. An employer sponsored visa needs a genuine job offer from a business that already exists.
Which one are you
Your consultation is with Suman Dua, Registered Migration Agent, MARN 1800859. Choose your side and we will show you the options that apply to you.
Rather talk first? Call +61 7 3726 5183 or message us on WhatsApp.
