From 482 to Permanent Residency: The TRT Pathway Explained

A 482 visa leads to permanent residency through the Employer Nomination Scheme (subclass 186), Temporary Residence Transition (TRT) stream. You qualify once you have worked full-time in Australia for 2 years out of the last 3, in the occupation your 482 was granted for, and your current sponsor nominates you. The government fee is $6,140.

Half of TRT applications are now decided within 21 months and 90 per cent within 25 months, according to the Home Affairs processing-time guide (updated 29 September 2026). You must be under 45 when you apply unless an exemption applies, and have competent English. No skills assessment is normally required.

How does a 482 visa lead to PR?

Three routes exist. The TRT stream is the one built for 482 holders and the only one that needs no skills assessment as a standard requirement.

• 186 Temporary Residence Transition (TRT) — 2 years of full-time sponsored work in your 482 occupation, nominated by your current sponsor. This article covers this route.
• 186 Direct Entry (DE) — open to anyone with a positive skills assessment and 3 years of relevant work experience, without waiting the 2 years. Our 186 visa requirements guide compares the two streams.
• Regional and points-tested visas — the subclass 494 (regional employer sponsored, leading to the permanent 191) and the points-tested 189, 190 and 491 visas run separately from your 482 and depend on your occupation, age and points score.

Can you apply for PR after 2 years on a 482 visa?

Yes, if two clocks have both reached 2 years within the 3 years before you apply. The first is the visa clock: you must have held a 482 (or 457), or a bridging visa linked to a 482 or 186 application, for at least 2 of those 3 years.

The second is the work clock: at least 2 years of full-time work in Australia, employed by an approved sponsor, in an occupation your 482 was granted for. Unpaid leave does not count.

What counts towards the 2 years, and what does not?

This is where most 482 holders miscount. Home Affairs applies the rule to the exact days, and a shortfall of a few weeks at lodgement means a refusal, not a delay.

What counts:

• Work for more than one sponsor — since 7 December 2024, full-time work with any approved sponsor counts, as long as it was in an occupation a 482 was granted to you for.
• Paid leave — annual leave, paid parental leave and paid sick leave count. The rule excludes unpaid leave only.
• Time on a bridging visa — a bridging visa granted while a further 482 or a 186 application is pending counts towards the visa clock, if your last substantive visa was a 482.
• A new employer, from nomination lodgement — if you started with a new sponsor before its 482 nomination was approved, the time counts from the date that nomination was lodged.

What does not count:

• Part-time work — unless your occupation is on the short list where part-time counts: chief executives, corporate general managers, and medical practitioners such as general practitioners, resident medical officers, anaesthetists, specialist physicians, psychiatrists and surgeons (clause 186.227(2), instrument LIN 19/212).
• Work outside Australia — the rule requires the employment to be undertaken in Australia.
• Work in a different occupation — a job outside the occupation your 482 covers does not count, even with the same employer.
• Unpaid leave — excluded day for day.
• Time before your first 482 — work on a student, graduate or working holiday visa is not sponsored employment.

What must your employer do?

Your employer lodges a 186 nomination in the TRT stream. The law requires the nominator to be the sponsor who last nominated you for your 482 (regulation 5.19(5)(h)), for the same occupation (regulation 5.19(5)(b)), and for a full-time position expected to last at least 2 years.

The salary must be at least the annual market salary rate for the position and at least the Core Skills Income Threshold, $79,423 for nominations lodged from 1 July 2026. Our CSIT explainer and annual market salary rate page cover how that is tested.

There is no labour market testing for a 186 TRT nomination. The employer pays a $540 nomination fee and the Skilling Australians Fund levy, $3,000 if turnover is under $10 million or $5,000 if not, when the nomination is lodged. The levy is the one cost the law fixes on the employer (regulation 5.19(2)(fa)).

The visa application must be lodged within 6 months of the nomination being approved. In practice the two are lodged together, and Home Affairs usually decides the nomination first.

What must you show?

• Age — under 45 on the day you apply.
• Age exemptions — university academics; scientists, researchers and technical specialists nominated by a university or government science agency; medical practitioners with 2 years of regional 482 or 457 work, nominated for a regional position; and 482 holders paid at least the Fair Work high income threshold ($190,100 from 1 July 2026) in each qualifying year.
• English — competent English: IELTS 6.0 in each component, or the equivalent in another approved test, taken in the 3 years before you apply. Passport holders of the UK, USA, Canada, New Zealand and Ireland meet it without a test. There has been no other exemption in this stream since 16 November 2019.
• Skills — Home Affairs may ask you to show you have the skills for the occupation (clause 186.225) but does not require a skills assessment as a standard TRT criterion. If your state makes licensing or registration mandatory for the occupation, you must hold it or be eligible for it when you apply.
• Visa — you must hold a 482 (any stream), a 457, or a bridging visa linked to a 482 or 186 application, on the day you apply.
• Health and character — for you and every family member on the application, and Home Affairs may ask about family members who are not applying.

How much does it cost to go from a 482 visa to PR?

Source: Home Affairs current visa pricing table, 21 September 2026; Arta visa fees and thresholds page.

The law fixes the levy on the employer. The visa application charge and professional fees can be shared by agreement, but an employer who recovers its own costs from you after the fact risks breaching the Migration Act’s rules against receiving a benefit for sponsorship. Put any arrangement in writing before lodgement.

How long does it take from 482 to PR?

21 months for half of TRT applications and 25 months for 90 per cent (Home Affairs guide, updated 29 September 2026). Direct Entry currently shows the same figures. Those figures have lengthened sharply since August, when the guide showed 9 and 14 months for TRT.

Add the 2-year work period at the front. From the day your first 482 is granted, a straightforward case reaches permanent residence in about 4 years: 2 years of work, a few weeks to prepare the nomination, then the processing time.

Processing order follows Ministerial Direction 122, in force since 19 September 2026. Construction, healthcare, teaching, agriculture, aquaculture, fishing and resources jobs, and law enforcement and defence interests, go first; then applicants who were in Australia when they lodged; then offshore applicants with no family on the application; then everyone else.

Regional positions are no longer a priority group under the new direction. Our guide to Directions 121 and 122 has the full order for every skilled visa.

While the 186 is processed you keep working on your 482. If the 482 expires first, the bridging visa A that came with your application takes effect; check the work condition on its grant letter before relying on it. If your 482 will expire before you reach 2 years, you need a further 482 first.

What can break the pathway?

• Your sponsor changes or closes — the 186 nomination must come from the sponsor who last nominated your 482. If you move employers, the new employer must first nominate you for a 482 and only then, once the 2 years are complete, for the 186. Time already worked with the old sponsor still counts.
• A gap between sponsors — a Skills in Demand visa holder who stops working for the sponsor has up to 180 days at a time, and 365 days in total across the visa, to find a new sponsor or leave (condition 8607). Days not worked do not count towards the 2 years.
• Turning 45 — age is tested on the day you apply. If your 45th birthday falls before the 2 years are up, plan around the exemptions early.
• The position disappears — if the nomination is withdrawn or the job no longer exists when Home Affairs decides, the visa is refused. A change of ownership at the employer may also break the sponsor link.
• Adverse information about the sponsor — underpayment findings or sponsor sanctions can stop a nomination even where you did everything right.
• A 482 that expires too early — a 482 granted for 1 or 2 years may end before your 2 years of work do; a further 482 application costs $4,015 plus the $700 subsequent temporary application charge. Our 482 visa costs guide has the full figures.

What should you do in your first year on a 482?

1. Diary two dates: 2 years from the day you started with your sponsor, and your 45th birthday.
2. Keep every payslip, contract and leave record. Unpaid leave and part-time weeks have to be excluded, so you need to know exactly where they fall.
3. Book an English test early. Results last 3 years for this purpose.
4. Raise the 186 with your employer 3 to 6 months before the 2-year mark, so the nomination is ready to lodge the day you qualify.
5. If you change jobs, make sure the new employer lodges a 482 nomination before you start. Time worked before that nomination is lodged is lost.

The Coalition migration plan, released on 6 October 2026, would change how people in Australia move to a first 482 and how permanent places are ranked. It is an election proposal, not law, and does not affect 482 holders today: what the Coalition migration plan would change for sponsors.

Frequently asked questions

Can I apply for PR after 2 years on a 482 visa?

Yes, through the 186 TRT stream, if the 2 years were full-time, in Australia, in your 482 occupation, with an approved sponsor and within the last 3 years, and your current sponsor nominates you.

Do I have to stay with the same employer for the whole 2 years?

No. Since 7 December 2024, time with any approved sponsor counts. The employer who nominates you for the 186 must be the last one to have sponsored your 482.

How long does it take to get PR from a 482 visa?

About 4 years from the first 482 grant: 2 years of qualifying work, then 21 months for half of 186 TRT applications and 25 months for 90 per cent (Home Affairs guide, updated 29 September 2026).

Do I need a skills assessment for the 186 TRT stream?

Not as a standard requirement. Home Affairs can ask you to demonstrate skills for the occupation, and any mandatory state licensing or registration must be held or available when you apply.