Subclass 186 — Employer Nomination Scheme
What Is the 186 Visa?
Australia's primary employer-sponsored permanent residency visa — from the three streams and what they mean in practice, through the Direct Entry eligibility requirements in full, the nomination process, and how RedBridge connects experienced professionals with employers willing to nominate directly for PR.
Check My 186 DE Eligibility — FreeWhat Is the Subclass 186 Visa (Employer Nomination Scheme)?
The Subclass 186 Employer Nomination Scheme (ENS) visa is Australia's primary employer-sponsored permanent residency visa. Unlike the 482 Skills in Demand visa — which is a temporary visa that may lead to permanent residency — the 186 grants permanent residency directly. The employer nominates the candidate, and the visa, if granted, gives the holder and their immediate family the right to live and work in Australia permanently.
The 186 is managed by the Department of Home Affairs (DOHA) and sits within the ENS program, part of the broader employer-sponsored migration program. An Australian employer must initiate the process by lodging a nomination — individuals cannot apply for a 186 without a nominating employer. The employer can be the same employer the applicant already works for, or a new employer entirely.
Once granted, all 186 holders receive the same permanent residence rights regardless of which stream they applied through. The stream — Direct Entry, TRT, or Labour Agreement — is relevant only at the application stage.
How it relates to the 482 — the short version
The 482 Skills in Demand visa and the 186 ENS visa are related but separate. The 482 is a temporary employer-sponsored visa for skilled workers; the 186 is the permanent employer-sponsored visa. For many skilled migrants, the 482 is the first step — followed by the 186 Temporary Residence Transition (TRT) stream after 2 years of qualifying employment with the same sponsoring employer.
If you've never held a 482, the 186 Direct Entry stream is the route to consider — provided you meet the 3-year experience requirement, your occupation is on the current list, and you can obtain a positive skills assessment. This page covers Direct Entry in depth.
The Three Streams of the 186
The 186 visa has three streams, each targeting a different applicant profile. Most people will fall into either Direct Entry or Temporary Residence Transition — the Labour Agreement stream is for very specific employer-government arrangements. Understanding which stream applies to you is the first decision in any 186 pathway.
Direct Entry — the focus of this page
The Direct Entry (DE) stream is for applicants who have at least 3 years of recent, full-time work experience in their nominated occupation; a positive skills assessment from the relevant Australian assessing body; and an occupation that currently appears on the Core Skills Occupation List (CSOL). You must also be under 45 years of age at the time of visa application.
Direct Entry applicants do not need to have a prior visa relationship with their nominating employer. The employer can be someone you've never worked for — which is where RedBridge's employer matching service comes in. We find employers in our network who are willing to nominate a new hire directly for permanent residency, which is a different proposition to the 482 employment market.
Because Direct Entry requires a full skills assessment upfront — rather than relying on the employment record with a sponsor as TRT does — the documentary requirements are rigorous. An airtight skills assessment, clear evidence of 3 years of experience, and a nominating employer who understands the permanent visa commitment are all prerequisites before lodgement.
Temporary Residence Transition (TRT) — already have a 482?
The TRT stream is for people who currently hold or recently held a 482 visa and have been employed by their nominating employer in their nominated occupation for at least 2 years. TRT does not require a separate skills assessment — the 2-year employment relationship with an approved sponsor serves as the proxy for occupational competence. If you're on a 482 and planning ahead, TRT is almost certainly your 186 pathway rather than Direct Entry.
Labour Agreement stream
The Labour Agreement stream is for applicants whose employers have a formal Labour Agreement with DOHA — a special arrangement, typically negotiated to address workforce shortages in specific industries or regions. Labour Agreements are employer-specific and not generally accessible through the open market. If you're not sure whether your employer has a Labour Agreement, they would know. This stream is relevant to a small fraction of 186 applicants and is not covered in depth on this page.
186 Direct Entry Eligibility Requirements
Direct Entry has a specific set of eligibility requirements assessed at the time of visa application — not at the time you start preparing. The evidentiary standard is high, and all requirements must be met simultaneously. Here's what each requirement actually means in practice.
Age — under 45 at time of visa application
You must be under 45 years of age at the time the visa application is lodged, not at the time you start preparing or when the nomination is submitted. This is a firm age limit for the Direct Entry stream.
There are a small number of occupation-specific exemptions, but these are narrow and occupation-dependent. Do not assume an exemption applies to your occupation — confirm with a migration agent before relying on it. If you are 43 or 44 and considering a 186 DE application, timing is critical. RedBridge tracks this milestone proactively for every client in this bracket.
Skills assessment — positive, full assessment required
A positive skills assessment from the relevant Australian assessing body is required for Direct Entry. This must be a full assessment — provisional or partial assessments do not satisfy the 186 DE requirement.
The assessing body depends on your ANZSCO occupation: ACS for ICT roles, Engineers Australia for engineering, CAANZ or CPA Australia for accounting, VETASSESS for many other professional occupations, and others depending on your specific code. Your consultant confirms the correct body at the free assessment stage.
If your skills assessment is not yet complete, that doesn't prevent you from starting — but the employer matching and skills assessment submission need to run in parallel. RedBridge coordinates both simultaneously for clients who are otherwise ready.
Occupation — on the Core Skills Occupation List (CSOL)
Your nominated occupation must appear on the Core Skills Occupation List (CSOL) at the time of nomination. The CSOL is a government-published list defining which ANZSCO occupation codes are eligible for employer-sponsored migration. Following the December 2024 Skills in Demand visa reform, the CSOL replaced the Medium and Long-term Strategic Skills List (MLTSSL) as the primary occupation list for this visa category.
Occupation list eligibility is checked at the time of nomination, and lists can change. Your consultant confirms current CSOL eligibility for your specific ANZSCO code at the assessment stage.
English language
English language proficiency is required for 186 Direct Entry. The standard is at least 'vocational English', though 'competent English' is required in many occupations. Accepted tests include IELTS, PTE Academic, TOEFL iBT, and Cambridge C1 Advanced.
Some applicants are exempt — Australian citizens and permanent residents returning from overseas, applicants from certain English-speaking countries, or those meeting occupation-specific exemption criteria. Your migration agent confirms whether an exemption applies at the assessment stage.
What Your Employer Must Do: The Nomination Process
The 186 Direct Entry process has two lodgement steps: the employer's nomination application and the individual's visa application. Both are managed by Insight Idea, RedBridge's licensed migration law firm partner (MARN: 1467870). Here's what's required of the employer.
Standard Business Sponsorship status
Before lodging a nomination, the employer must hold or apply for Standard Business Sponsorship (SBS) approval from DOHA. SBS is the employer's credential that confirms they are a legitimate Australian business, meet sponsorship obligations, and are authorised to sponsor workers under the ENS program.
SBS is employer-specific — it cannot be transferred between businesses. If the employer has previously sponsored 482 workers, they likely hold SBS already. If they've never sponsored before, SBS must be applied for and approved before the nomination can be lodged. Insight Idea manages the SBS application as part of the 186 nomination process.
Market salary rate and minimum thresholds
The employer must pay the nominated worker at or above the market salary rate for the occupation — defined as the salary paid to Australian workers in the same role, at the same seniority level, in the same location. This is a genuine equivalency test, not just a nominal floor.
There is also a minimum income threshold (the Temporary Skilled Migration Income Threshold, or TSMIT) that applies at nomination for Core Skills occupations. The exact TSMIT figure and the Skilling Australians Fund (SAF) levy — a mandatory government charge paid by the employer at nomination — are updated annually and are not reproduced here to avoid publishing outdated figures. Both are publicly available at homeaffairs.gov.au and confirmed for each client at the eligibility assessment stage.
186 Visa Processing Times and Costs
Processing times and government fees are two of the most commonly cited figures in employer-sponsored migration — and two of the most frequently outdated. Here's what's known as of mid-2026, and where to verify the current position.
Processing times and government fees are updated regularly and subject to program-year changes. Always verify current figures at immi.homeaffairs.gov.au and homeaffairs.gov.au before making financial or timing decisions.
Processing times
Direct Entry is currently the most congested 186 stream — Department of Home Affairs data points to roughly 12 months for 50% of applications and 18–19 months for 90% to reach a decision, though some practitioners report cases extending past 20 months given current volumes. Worth noting: the 2025–26 program year has a capped allocation of 44,000 employer-sponsored places; if that's reached before 30 June, finalisation of remaining applications pauses until the new program year opens 1 July — your application stays valid in the queue either way. These figures are indicative only and change monthly; always confirm current timeframes at immi.homeaffairs.gov.au before relying on them.
Government fees
The 186 application involves two main government fees: the employer's nomination fee (paid to DOHA at nomination lodgement) and the visa application charge (VAC, paid by or on behalf of the applicant). The specific fee amounts are set by the Australian government and indexed annually — publishing them here would risk showing outdated figures by the time a reader acts on them.
What's worth knowing without quoting specific dollars: the 186 is one of the higher-cost permanent visa applications in the skilled migration program. The employer is legally required to bear the nomination fee and the SAF levy. Current fees are listed at homeaffairs.gov.au under the Employer Nomination Scheme (Subclass 186) fee schedule.
482 vs 186: Which Applies to Your Situation?
The question isn't which visa is better — both lead to permanent residency. The question is which pathway is open to you right now, and which is faster and lower-risk given your specific situation.
The 186 TRT stream is almost always faster if you're already on a 482 and approaching the 2-year mark with your sponsoring employer. TRT doesn't require a separate skills assessment, the employer relationship is established, and the nomination is a natural next step. If you're on a 482, the better question is almost always 'when should I lodge TRT?' rather than 'should I switch to Direct Entry?'
The 186 Direct Entry stream makes sense in two main situations: you've never held a 482 and have 3 or more years of highly skilled, well-documented work experience in an eligible occupation; or you're on a 482 with a different employer to the one willing to nominate you for permanent residency. In the second case, TRT typically resets because TRT requires the nominating employer to be the same approved sponsor you worked for during the qualifying period.
Direct Entry also applies if your occupation is on the CSOL for 186 purposes but not eligible under the 482 Core Skills stream, or if the employer strongly prefers not to proceed via a 482 first. These cases arise less frequently but do occur in practice.
The practical test: at your free consultation with RedBridge, we confirm which stream you currently qualify for, whether there's a faster route available, and what a realistic timeline looks like. If both streams are theoretically open, we recommend the better option for your situation and explain why — not which one is simpler for us to manage.
RedBridge 186 Direct Entry Service
How RedBridge Handles 186 Direct Entry Applications
Why Most Agents Don't Offer This
The 186 Direct Entry stream is harder to manage than a 482 — higher evidentiary standards, stricter occupation alignment, and a skills assessment that must be airtight. Many consultancies default to 482 even for clients who qualify for DE, because 482 is simpler for the agent — not better for you.
Senior Placement. Permanent Outcome.
RedBridge assesses whether you genuinely qualify for 186 DE before recommending it. If you do, we connect you to employers in our network who are willing to nominate directly for permanent residency — and we manage the process end-to-end through Insight Idea.
The 186 DE Process
01
Eligibility Audit
Occupation check, 3-year experience verification, age assessment (under 45), and skills assessment status review — we confirm the DE stream is your correct path before anything else.
02
Skills Assessment
If your skills assessment is not yet complete, we coordinate ACS, CAANZ, EA, VETASSESS, or TRA submission alongside your employer search.
03
Employer Match for DE Nomination
We identify employers in our network willing to nominate directly for a 186 permanent visa — a different conversation to 482, and one we are prepared for.
04
186 Visa Lodgement
Nomination and visa application lodged and managed by Insight Idea, our MARN 1467870 licensed migration agent partner.
Real Outcome
Senior Software Engineer · 6 years exp · onshore 482
9 months to PR · 482 → 186 DE“I was already on a 482 but my employer wasn't set up for 186 nominations. I didn't want another temporary visa cycle.”
“RedBridge connected me with an employer in their corporate network who was ready to nominate directly for 186. Permanent residency granted nine months after I started.”
Who Qualifies for 186 DE
3 years of recent, full-time experience in your nominated ANZSCO occupation
Completed skills assessment (ACS, AMI, CAANZ, EA)
Occupation on the Core Skills Occupation List (CSOL)
Under 45 years of age at time of visa application
Typical Timeline
12–19 months from completed skills assessment to 186 visa grant (Direct Entry stream; see processing times guide)
Honest note: The 186 DE stream is only appropriate if your skills assessment is complete, your experience is well-documented, and your employer is committed. We will tell you clearly if the TRT stream — via 482 first — is actually the safer route for your situation.
Common Questions
How is 186 Direct Entry different from the 186 TRT stream?
The TRT stream requires you to hold a 482 visa and work with your sponsoring employer for 2 years first. Direct Entry bypasses the temporary visa entirely — you apply for PR directly, provided you have 3 years of qualifying recent experience and a willing employer.
Can I apply from outside Australia?
Yes. The 186 Direct Entry stream can be lodged onshore or offshore. Your location at time of lodgement does not affect eligibility, though processing times may vary.
What if I turn 45 during the process?
The age limit applies at time of visa application, not nomination. If you are approaching 45, we will time the process carefully to ensure lodgement before the cut-off — this is something we monitor proactively.
Does overseas work experience count?
Yes, provided it is in your nominated ANZSCO occupation, full-time or equivalent, within the last 5 years, and properly documented. Overseas experience is accepted — but documentation standards are strict. We audit your records before lodgement.
After This Page
Where to Go Next
The 186 sits alongside other employer-sponsored pathways. These guides cover the most common next questions.
482 to PR: Full Pathway Guide
Already on a 482? This is the complete guide to the Temporary Residence Transition stream — the 2-year rule, what counts as qualifying employment, and a realistic timeline from 482 grant to 186 PR.
Read the guide →Find a 482 Sponsor
Not at the 3-year experience mark yet? Our employer matching service finds verified 482 sponsors for experienced candidates — the first step in building your PR pathway.
See how it works →Real Client Outcomes
See how RedBridge clients have navigated 186 Direct Entry, 482 sponsorship, and other employer-sponsored pathways to permanent residency.
See real outcomes →Common Questions
Quick answers about 186 age limits, processing times, fees, and whether your occupation currently qualifies for Direct Entry.
See all FAQs →