Employer-sponsored temporary work visa — replaced the TSS 482 in December 2024
Core Skills is the main path under the 482. It applies to jobs on the Core Skills Occupation List (CSOL), which replaced the older occupation lists when the Skills in Demand reforms took effect in December 2024.
Nominations under this stream have to pass two salary tests. The job has to pay at least the Annual Market Salary Rate (AMSR) for that occupation in that local labour market, AND at least the Core Skills Income Threshold (CSIT). The CSIT is updated every 1 July in line with wage growth (Annual Weekly Ordinary Time Earnings). For the current dollar figure, check IMMI's salary-check tool.
Once granted, Core Skills holders can work for the sponsoring employer or for an associated entity (a subsidiary or related business of the sponsor). After 2 years working in the nominated job for the same sponsor, holders can apply for permanent residence through the Temporary Residence Transition stream of the 186.
These are the published requirements for the 482. Check each one applies to your situation.
Plenty of people check the Core Skills Income Threshold (CSIT) and call it done. That's only half the test.
Core Skills has two salary checks. One is the CSIT, the national floor. The other is the Annual Market Salary Rate (AMSR), which is what your job actually pays in your local market. For skilled trades and professional roles in major cities, the AMSR is often well above the CSIT. A salary that clears the CSIT but falls short of the AMSR will fail.
The catch is timing. This gets checked when your sponsor lodges the nomination, not when you lodge the visa. So if there's an AMSR problem, you usually only find out after the sponsor's nomination is queried or refused. By then months of momentum can be lost.
The 482 itself has no age cap. You can be granted one in your 50s or 60s if everything else lines up.
The catch is what comes next. The Employer Nomination Scheme (subclass 186) is the standard PR pathway from a 482, and the 186 has a hard cap. You generally have to be under 45 on the day you lodge the 186 application. There are a few exemptions, but they're narrow.
A lot of 482 holders assume PR is locked in once they're sponsored. Then they hit their second 482 renewal in their early 40s and discover the 186 age cliff. If you're approaching 40, the timing of your PR plan stops being optional. It becomes the plan.
Specialist Skills is restricted to ANZSCO Major Groups 1 (Managers), 2 (Professionals), 4 (Community and Personal Service Workers), 5 (Clerical and Administrative Workers), and 6 (Sales Workers).
Major Groups 3 (Technicians and Trades Workers), 7 (Machinery Operators and Drivers), and 8 (Labourers) are out. No exceptions, no salary override.
This catches a lot of high earners off guard. A welder pulling top dollar, a long-haul truck driver, or a head chef on a senior salary all sit in Groups 3 or 7. None of them can use Specialist Skills, regardless of how far above the SSIT they earn. Their options are Core Skills (if their job is on the CSOL) or a Labour Agreement. The SSIT is necessary for Specialist Skills, but it isn't enough on its own.
If you're laid off or your employment with the sponsor ends, you get up to 180 days from the day work ended.
In those 180 days you can either find a new approved sponsor and lodge a new nomination plus a new 482, or arrange to leave Australia. Your visa stays valid through the window, and the standard 482 work conditions still apply.
A common misread: people think the existing visa carries over to a new employer. It doesn't. The new employer has to lodge a fresh nomination, and you have to lodge a new 482 application. There's no transfer. The 180 days is breathing room to find a new sponsor, not a free pass to work for anyone.
