482 visa skills assessment: the 24 occupations where it is mandatory, the passports it applies to, and the exemptions

MARN 1576536 · Checked against IMMI 18/039 and the Home Affairs 482 eligibility pages on 8 November 2026

The rule

The 482 visa asks every primary applicant to show at least one year of relevant work experience and, where the occupation calls for one, a skills assessment. Which applicants fall into the second group is not left to judgement: it is fixed by a legislative instrument, IMMI 18/039, made under the Migration Regulations. The instrument lists occupations, the authority that assesses each one, and the class of applicant who must be assessed. Home Affairs points to the same instrument from both the Core Skills and the Specialist Skills stream pages, so the rule is the same in both streams.

An applicant is caught only when two things line up: the nominated occupation is on the list, and the applicant is in the class the instrument names for that occupation, which for the trades means holding a passport from one of the countries listed against it. An applicant who meets one of the exemptions in the instrument is outside the rule even then.

The 24 occupations and the passports they apply to

The table follows the instrument as compiled on 14 December 2024. Hong Kong and Macau are listed in the instrument as special administrative regions; for every other place the passport is that of the named country.

India, the Philippines, Vietnam, South Africa, Fiji, Hong Kong and Macau appear against every trade on the list. Chef and Cook have the longest lists, which add Bangladesh, Nepal and Pakistan. The TRA assessment for these trades is its skills assessment for the Skills in Demand visa, or the earlier Temporary Skill Shortage assessment; the VETASSESS assessment is its assessment for general professional occupations.

Timing: started before lodgement, within three years

Home Affairs is direct about the consequence. Where the assessment is mandatory, it must have been commenced before the visa application is submitted, or the application is not valid and will not be processed. The application form asks for the assessment reference number for that reason. The assessment must also have been undertaken or commenced in the three years ending immediately before the day of the application, so an old assessment from a previous attempt can fall outside the window.

Starting the assessment is the minimum. The Department encourages applicants to complete it before lodging, and an assessment that is still running when the case officer reaches the file is one more thing the decision waits for.

Exemptions written into the instrument

Section 7 of the instrument treats some applicants as exempt. Two exemptions apply to all 24 occupations:

• Existing sponsored workers in the occupation. The applicant holds a 457, a Temporary Skill Shortage 482 or a Skills in Demand 482, satisfied the primary criteria for it, and is employed in Australia in the nominated occupation.
• Transfers within a company group. The applicant works for a company running an established business overseas, in the same or a similar occupation, and the nominating standard business sponsor is that company or an associated entity of it.

Three further exemptions apply to the 23 trades only:

• A qualification earned in the right place. A qualification commensurate with the one ANZSCO specifies for the occupation, obtained by completing a course or training in Australia, or in a country that is not on the list for that occupation.
• A licence, registration or membership. Where the occupation needs one and the applicant has been granted it.
• TRA's offshore program. The applicant has met the standards set by Trades Recognition Australia under its Offshore Skills Assessment Program for the occupation.

Program or Project Administrator has its own exemption: a qualification commensurate with the ANZSCO level, annual earnings of at least A$180,000, and a nominating sponsor with accredited status. All three limbs must be met.

Occupations not on the list

An occupation outside the 24, or a passport outside the list for a trade, takes the applicant out of the mandatory rule, not out of the skills test altogether. The visa still requires the skills and at least one year of relevant experience for the nominated position, and the nomination is still read for whether the worker fits the occupation. The work experience guide covers that requirement.

What it means for the employer

For a sponsor recruiting in one of the listed trades, the assessment is a step that sits before the visa lodgement and runs on the assessing authority's timetable, not the Department's. It belongs in the plan from the first conversation with the candidate, alongside the occupation check and the salary. The Core Skills Occupation List shows whether the occupation can be nominated in the Core Skills stream at all.

Check your occupation and passport with an agent

A consultation checks the nominated occupation, the passport and each exemption against the instrument in force on the day, and places the assessment in the nomination and visa timeline.

Book a consultation — A$330 inc. GST, credited

General information only, current at 8 November 2026; not advice on your own case. Migration (IMMI 18/039: Mandatory Skills Assessment—Subclass 482 Visa) Instrument 2018, compilation 2, and the Department of Home Affairs pages for the Skills in Demand (subclass 482) Core Skills and Specialist Skills streams, as at the date above. Instruments are amended from time to time and the version in force at lodgement governs. Outcomes depend on the Department’s assessment of each application; no registered migration agent can guarantee a result (Code of Conduct, Migration Agents Regulations). Keshab Chapagain, MARN 1576536.