Working in Australia from Malaysia: the Skills in Demand (482) visa

What this visa is

If you are a Malaysian chef, electrician, welder, aged care worker or engineer, this is the visa an Australian employer would use to hire you. The short version:

The Skills in Demand (SID) visa, subclass 482, lets an Australian business sponsor a skilled worker for a job it cannot fill with a suitably skilled Australian. It is temporary and lasts up to 4 years. To keep going on a 482 after that, your employer has to nominate you again and you have to apply again.

It has three main streams:

• Core Skills: occupations on the Core Skills Occupation List (CSOL). Most of the trade, hospitality and care jobs we list belong here.
• Specialist Skills: better-paid roles in certain occupation groups, where the salary meets the Specialist Skills Income Threshold (AUD 146,576 (as of October 2026, official page)). Trades, machinery operators and labourers cannot use this stream.
• Labour Agreement: workers nominated by an employer that has signed a labour agreement with the Australian Government, which may set its own requirements.

Do you qualify?

For the Core Skills stream you need every item below.

• A sponsor and a nomination. Your employer is an approved sponsor, or has applied to become a Standard Business Sponsor, and has nominated you for the role.
• An occupation on the list. The job appears on the Core Skills Occupation List, and it genuinely needs your skills.
• Fair pay. You receive the Annual Market Salary Rate, which can never be lower than the Core Skills Income Threshold: AUD 79,423 for nominations lodged from 1 July 2026 to 30 June 2027 (as of October 2026, official page). You must not earn less than an Australian doing the same job.
• Experience. At least 1 year of relevant work in the nominated occupation or a closely related one (more on this below).
• English, health and character. You meet each one and hold adequate health insurance for your whole stay.
• Age. There is no age limit for the 482.

Next step: compare yourself with the sponsored jobs open in Australia.

Work history, qualifications and skills assessments

• How much experience: at least 1 year in the nominated occupation or a related field within the past 5 years. It need not be continuous, as long as it adds up to 12 months or more of full-time work.
• Qualifications: the ones the occupation calls for, plus any Australian licence or registration you need to do the job.
• Skills assessment: required for some occupations, usually through VETASSESS or Trades Recognition Australia (TRA). Malaysian trade qualifications such as the SKM are generally assessed again for Australia. Where an assessment applies, it must already be under way when you lodge, or the application is invalid, and it must date from the 3 years before you apply. Book it early.
• No assessment for your occupation? Home Affairs can still ask for certificates, licences, employer references and your CV as proof of your skills.

English requirement and scores

Both the Core Skills and Specialist Skills streams require English unless you are exempt. The minimum in each component, for tests taken on or after 13 September 2025 (as of October 2026, official page):

• How recent: you must have taken the test in the 3 years before you apply.
• Where: at a test centre. IELTS Online and other at-home or fully online tests are not accepted.
• Other tests: CELPIP General, the Michigan English Test, LANGUAGECERT Academic and others are accepted, each with its own scores on the official page.
• Who is exempt: holders of a passport from the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, New Zealand or the Republic of Ireland, and people who completed at least 5 years of full-time study at secondary level or above, taught mostly in English. Using English at work every day is not an exemption by itself.
• Labour Agreement stream: the agreement can set its own English level.

Health, insurance and character

• Health: every person in the application has to meet the health requirement, usually through health examinations. Results generally stay valid for 12 months.
• Insurance: keep adequate health cover from the day you arrive until the day you leave.
• Character: you and each family member aged 16 and over must meet the character requirement. In practice that means a police certificate from every country, Malaysia included, where you have spent 12 months or more in total during the last 10 years since turning 16. From Malaysia, that is the PDRM Certificate of Good Conduct.

Step by step, from advert to arrival

1. Local advertising. Before nominating, the employer normally has to advertise the job in Australia at least 2 times, each advert running for 4 weeks or more, within the 4 months before the nomination (labour market testing).
2. Selection. You apply, are interviewed (usually by video) and receive an offer.
3. Sponsor approval for the employer, if it is not already an approved sponsor.
4. Nomination. The employer lodges it and sends you the Transaction Reference Number (TRN).
5. Your documents. Passport, evidence of skills (and a skills assessment where needed), English score, police certificates, employer references and translations.
6. Visa application. Lodge it in ImmiAccount with the TRN and pay the visa charge.
7. Biometrics and health checks, if Home Affairs asks for them.
8. Decision. The visa cannot be granted before the nomination is approved.
9. Start work. You must begin within 90 days of arriving in Australia, or of the grant if you are already there.

How long it takes and what it costs

Processing times (as of October 2026, official page), as published by the Home Affairs processing-time tool:

These figures move often, and your own application may be quicker or slower. Before you lodge there is also the job search, sponsorship and nomination, any skills assessment, the English test and the police certificates, and each of those can take weeks.

Visa charge (as of October 2026, official page): AUD 4,015 for the main applicant and for each family member aged 18 or over; AUD 1,005 for each family member under 18. You pay separately for the English test, health checks, police certificates and biometrics. A lower charge applies from 1 July 2026 to eligible citizens of Pacific Island countries and Timor-Leste.

Living and working on the visa

• You can only work in the occupation you were nominated for, and only for your sponsor (or, sometimes, an associated entity).
• Your job must start within 90 days.
• If your job with the sponsor ends, you have up to 180 days to find another sponsor or make plans to leave Australia.
• The sponsor carries the costs of sponsorship, nomination and recruitment and may not recover them from you (sponsor obligations). As a sponsored worker you also have the same workplace rights as anyone else in Australia: see worker rights.

Bringing your family

• Who: your partner, and the dependent children of either of you.
• What they can do: live, work and study in Australia.
• Nomination: each family member is included in the nomination, or the sponsor agrees in writing to sponsor them.
• Decide before lodging: nobody can be added once the application is in. Family who join later must apply on their own as subsequent entrants.
• Each person needs: their own visa charge (see above), to meet the health requirement and, from age 16, the character requirement.

From temporary to permanent: subclass 186

The Employer Nomination Scheme visa, subclass 186, is a permanent visa, and 482 holders normally reach it through the Temporary Residence Transition (TRT) stream. The main requirements (as of October 2026, official page):

• Your visa now: a subclass 482 (or 457) visa, or an eligible bridging visa.
• Time with your sponsor: at least 2 years of eligible sponsored work in the 3 years before you apply.
• Your employer: the last employer who sponsored you full-time on a 482 or 457 visa, with a nomination for you approved in the 6 months before you apply.
• Age: generally under 45 when you apply.
• English: at least Competent English, such as IELTS 6 in listening, reading, writing and speaking (Competent English). This stream has no exemption.

The 186 visa charge starts at AUD 6,140 (as of October 2026, official page). Permanent residence rules change regularly, so check the official page before you count on them.

Preparing from Malaysia

Kuala Lumpur, Penang, Kuching or a work pass in Singapore: wherever you are now, the Australian paperwork is the same. Go down this list from the top. It follows the general Department of Home Affairs requirements.

• Your passport. Look at the expiry date today. If it runs out soon, Home Affairs suggests renewing before you apply, so your application shows the same details as the passport you will travel on.
• Police clearance. Australia asks for one from every country where you have spent 12 months or more in total during the last 10 years since you turned 16. For most of our readers that means Malaysia, where the Royal Malaysia Police (PDRM) issue a Certificate of Good Conduct, plus Singapore or any other country where you have worked that long. The Home Affairs list of police certificates by country has a Malaysia entry that explains how to apply. Home Affairs normally treats a certificate as valid for 12 months after it was issued (character requirements).
• Certificates and licences. Collect your degree or diploma, your SKM or other trade papers, and any licence your trade needs. Trades are usually assessed again for Australia, so if your occupation needs a skills assessment, open that file early.
• Employer letters. Ask every employer for a letter on company letterhead that gives the signer's name, position and contact details, your job title and the dates you started and finished. Home Affairs also wants an English CV covering at least your last 5 years of work.
• English score. Even if English is your everyday working language, the visa may still call for IELTS, PTE or another accepted test. Sit it at a test centre, since fully online versions are not accepted, and save the score report.
• Translations and copies. Documents in Bahasa Malaysia, or any language other than English, need an English translation. A translator based overseas does not need Australian accreditation, but the translation must show their full name, address, phone number, qualifications and experience. Keep certified copies of the originals too.
• Digital files. Scan or photograph every page in colour, and check that your name and date of birth are spelt the same way on all of them.

Working in Singapore or elsewhere right now? Keep your job and your work pass until Australia has decided your visa, and find out how much notice your contract asks for.

Scams and slip-ups to avoid

• Nobody can promise you the visa. Home Affairs is clear that no one can guarantee a grant. Australia also does not put visa labels in passports or sell "work permits", so an offer of either is a scam.
• Paying for sponsorship can cost you the visa. Sponsors may not pass on what it costs them to sponsor, nominate or recruit you. Asking for, offering or paying a benefit in return for sponsorship breaks the rules, and having done it in the last 3 years can stop a 482 visa from being granted.
• Check before you pay for advice. In Australia only registered migration agents (RMAs) and Australian lawyers can legally charge for immigration help. Look the person up on the OMARA register first (choosing a migration agent).
• Pay the visa charge in ImmiAccount. The government adds no separate fee for issuing the visa.
• Common slip-ups: choosing an occupation your real work history does not support; an English result or police certificate that has expired; leaving family off the application, since nobody can be added after lodgement; names or dates that change from one document to the next.

Official warnings: visa scams (Home Affairs) and what you need to know (Home Affairs).

Frequently asked questions

How long can I stay on a 482 visa?

Up to 4 years. To stay on a 482 after that, your employer has to lodge a new nomination and you have to lodge a new visa application.

How much experience do I need for the 482?

At least 1 year in the nominated occupation or a related one, within the past 5 years. Gaps are fine if the total comes to 12 months or more of full-time work.

What IELTS or PTE score does the 482 ask for?

Unless you are exempt, and for tests taken on or after 13 September 2025 (as of October 2026): IELTS 5.0 in each component, or PTE Academic 33 for listening, 36 for reading, 29 for writing and 24 for speaking. Other accepted tests and their minimums are on the Home Affairs English page. Using English every day at work does not replace the test.

Which police certificate does Australia want from Malaysia?

Usually a Certificate of Good Conduct from the Royal Malaysia Police (PDRM). You need one from each country where you have spent 12 months or more in total in the past 10 years since age 16. The Home Affairs country list explains the Malaysian process.

Is there an age limit for the 482?

No, the Skills in Demand visa has no age requirement. The permanent subclass 186 (TRT stream), though, usually requires you to be under 45.

What does the 482 cost?

As of October 2026: AUD 4,015 for the main applicant and each family member aged 18 or over, and AUD 1,005 for each child under 18. English tests, health checks and police certificates cost extra. See the Home Affairs page.

What if my sponsored job ends?

You have up to 180 days to find a new employer to sponsor you, or to arrange to leave Australia.

Can a 482 lead to permanent residence?

It can. After 2 years of sponsored work in the past 3 years, you may be able to apply for the Employer Nomination Scheme (subclass 186) TRT stream, if your employer nominates you and you meet the age and Competent English requirements.