Employer Sponsored Migration
Subclass 186 – Employer Nomination Scheme
This visa is a permanent residence visa for skilled workers. It allows you to work in Australia in one of three streams.
- Temporary Residence Transition (TRT) stream
- Direct Entry (DE) stream
- Labour Agreement (LA) stream
Temporary Residence Transition (TRT) stream
This stream may be available if your employer wishes to sponsor you for permanent residence.
You may be eligible under this stream if you hold either of the following:
- Temporary Skill Shortage (TSS) visa (subclass 482)– in the medium-term stream unless transitional arrangements apply
- Temporary Work (Skilled) visa (subclass 457)– not granted under labor agreement arrangements or
- related associated Bridging visa




Direct Entry (DE) stream
If you do not meet the requirements under the TRT stream (for example, because you have never, or only briefly worked in Australia), this stream may then be available if your employer still wishes to sponsor you for permanent residence.
Labor Agreement (LA) stream
This stream may be available if your employer wishes to sponsor you for permanent residence and has entered into a labor agreement with the Department that provides for a permanent residence pathway.
Subclass 187 – Regional Sponsored Migration Scheme
Subclass 482 – Temporary Skill Shortage visa
This visa, referred to as the TSS visa, enables employers to address labour shortages by bringing in genuinely skilled workers where they cannot source an appropriately skilled Australian. It facilitates targeted use of overseas workers to address temporary skill shortages, while ensuring that Australian workers get priority. TSS visa holders can work in Australia in their nominated occupation for their approved sponsor under one of three streams
- the Short-Term stream
- the Medium-Term stream
- the Labour Agreement stream.
Short-term stream
This stream is available if your employer wishes to sponsor you (as an overseas skilled worker) on a temporary basis only in occupations listed on the Short-term Skilled Occupation list (STSOL) for a TSS visa – see lists of eligible skilled occupations. It can be used to fill positions for a maximum of:
- two years or
- four years if an International Trade Obligation (ITO) applies.
Medium-term stream
This stream is available if your employer wishes to sponsor you (as an overseas skilled worker) for periods of up to four years in occupations listed on the Medium and Long-term Strategic Skills List (MLTSSL) or the Regional Occupation List (ROL) for a TSS visa.
Labour agreement stream
This stream is available if your employer wishes to sponsor you (as an overseas worker) and has entered into a labour agreement with the Department.