- By Saurabh Smar, Principal Solicitor, Global Vision Migration Lawyers
- 21 Aug, 2026
The nomination sitting in your inbox is the whole job
Most employers think the visa is the hard part. It is not. The nomination is where employer sponsored applications live or die, and it is the stage almost every business underestimates.
The Department of Home Affairs publishes its global processing times for subclass 482 nominations, and the spread tells you everything. Half of all nominations are decided within about five days. The slowest ten per cent take around nine months. Those two numbers describe the same visa programme and the same delegates. The difference between the fast half and the slow tail is almost never the occupation. It is the file.
We recently acted for a painting and decorating business in Melbourne's western suburbs that needed a painter it could not find locally. The nomination was approved in under two months, start to finish, with no request for further information. Below is what that file contained, why the timing mattered more than the employer realised, and the errors we see sink otherwise sound applications.
Case Snapshot
Painter is on the Core Skills Occupation List, and that changes the conversation
Painter, occupation code 332211, sits on the Core Skills Occupation List published by the Department of Home Affairs. That single fact opens the Core Skills stream of the Skills in Demand (subclass 482) visa to painting and decorating businesses across Australia.
This matters more than it sounds. A great many Victorian trade employers assume sponsorship is reserved for engineers, chefs and IT professionals. It is not. The Core Skills Occupation List carries a substantial body of construction and finishing trades, and painting is among them. If you are a licensed painting contractor in Melbourne turning away work because you cannot staff it, you are very probably eligible to sponsor.
Before you rely on any occupation being listed, confirm the current version of the list on the Home Affairs website. Occupation lists are amended by legislative instrument and inclusions do change.
Who this applies to
The Core Skills stream of the subclass 482 visa is available where an Australian business holds or obtains standard business sponsorship, nominates a position in an occupation on the Core Skills Occupation List, and the nominated worker meets the skills, experience and English requirements.
In practical terms, the businesses we act for in this space are:
- Painting and decorating contractors, plastering and rendering businesses, and commercial fit out companies in Melbourne, Sydney, Perth, Canberra and the Gold Coast
- Residential builders who carry finishing trades in house rather than subcontracting
- Businesses already employing a worker on a student, working holiday or graduate visa who want to retain that person long term
- Employers who have tried to recruit locally, cannot fill the role, and now need the recruitment failure documented properly rather than described verbally
On the worker side, the typical candidate is a qualified painter with at least twelve months of relevant experience in the last five years, sufficient English, and either a current visa allowing them to remain onshore or a willingness to apply from offshore.
The salary threshold, and the timing point almost nobody plans for
Every 482 nomination must satisfy the Core Skills Income Threshold. On 1 July 2026 that threshold rose from $76,515 to $79,423, in line with the annual indexation of average weekly ordinary time earnings. The Specialist Skills Income Threshold moved at the same time.
Here is the part that costs employers real money. The threshold that applies is the one in force when the nomination is lodged, not when it is approved and not when the worker starts. A nomination lodged in late June is assessed against the old figure. The identical nomination lodged three weeks later is assessed against the new one. For a trade role paid close to the threshold, that difference can decide whether the position is viable at all.
The employer in our recent matter was paying above the threshold that applied to their lodgement and comfortably above award. They were also, without having planned it, on the right side of the indexation date. That was partly luck. For clients who come to us in April, May and June, it is not luck, it is advice.
You must still pay at least the annual market salary rate for the position, and you must comply with the Fair Work legislation regardless of what the threshold says. Meeting the Core Skills Income Threshold is a floor, not a defence.
Lawyer Insight (GVML Strategy)
Delegates test the market salary rate against evidence, not assertion. The strongest files we lodge contain three things: the current enterprise agreement or modern award classification with the reasoning for why the nominee falls into it, at least two genuine comparators showing what the business pays Australian workers doing equivalent work, and a job advertisement or industry salary source confirming the rate is normal for the region. A file that simply states "the salary exceeds the threshold" invites a request for further information, and a request for further information is what turns a five day decision into a five month one.
Labour market testing is where most painting nominations fail
Labour market testing is mandatory for a Core Skills nomination unless a specific exemption applies. The requirements are precise and they are unforgiving of near misses.
You must run at least two advertisements. Each must accept applications for at least four consecutive weeks. Each must have national reach, which for most businesses means a recognised recruitment platform rather than a shopfront window or a local community page. The advertising must fall within the four months ending on the day the nomination is lodged, which means old advertising expires and cannot be resurrected. The advertisements must be in English, must name the sponsoring business, and must set out the position title, the duties and the skills or experience required. Where annual earnings for the position fall below the relevant salary figure, the advertisement must state the salary or a salary range.
The most common failure we see is not an absence of advertising. It is advertising that was run properly for recruitment purposes but not documented for evidentiary purposes. Screenshots taken after the advertisement closed, with no visible posting date, no visible closing date and no record of applicant numbers, do not prove what the regulation requires them to prove.
Lawyer Insight (GVM Strategy)
Treat labour market testing as evidence gathering from day one, not as a box you tick before lodgement. We tell clients to capture a dated screenshot on the day the advertisement goes live, a second on the day it closes, and to keep the platform's applicant report. Then write a short recruitment outcome statement explaining how many applications were received, how many were from Australian citizens or permanent residents, who was interviewed, and precisely why each was unsuitable. "No suitable applicants" is a conclusion. A delegate wants the reasoning that produced it. Where applicants were rejected for lacking a trade qualification or the licensing the work requires, say so plainly and attach the position's licensing requirements.
The genuine position test, and what the Department actually looks at
The nomination criteria in the Migration Regulations 1994 require the delegate to be satisfied the position is genuine. For a small trade business, this is the criterion that attracts the most scrutiny, and it is entirely fair that it does.
The delegate is asking whether a real business, of this size, with this turnover and this workload, genuinely needs another full time tradesperson. So the file has to show the business as it actually operates:
- Financial statements or business activity statements demonstrating turnover
- Evidence of contracts on foot or a forward order book
- An organisational chart showing where the nominee sits
- Payroll records showing existing employees
- Where the business performs work that requires registration or licensing in the relevant state, evidence that it holds it
That last point deserves emphasis for Victorian painting businesses. Where the work you do requires registration with the Victorian Building Authority or another regulator, a nomination that does not address it leaves an obvious question hanging in front of a delegate. Confirm your own registration position with the regulator, then put the evidence in the file.
Lawyer Insight (GVML Strategy)
The genuine position criterion is where the Department reads between the lines, and where family connections between a sponsor and a nominee attract close attention. There is nothing unlawful about sponsoring a relative, and it happens legitimately in small trade businesses every day. But if the connection exists and the file does not disclose it, and the Department finds it later, you are no longer arguing about the genuineness of a position. You are potentially in public interest criterion 4020 territory, dealing with an allegation of false or misleading information, which carries an exclusion period. Disclose, explain, and evidence. Concealment is the risk, not the relationship.
The step by step process for a Melbourne employer
Confirm the occupation and the worker. Check the current Core Skills Occupation List, confirm the nominee's experience and English, and check whether a skills assessment is required for their occupation and passport country.
Obtain standard business sponsorship. If your business is not already an approved sponsor, this is lodged first or concurrently.
Plan the labour market testing window backwards from your intended lodgement date. Four weeks of live advertising, twice, inside a four month window, takes planning.
Build the salary evidence: award or agreement classification, internal comparators and market data.
Prepare the position description and duty statement against the occupation code, then align the employment contract to it.
Assemble the genuine position evidence: financials, contracts, organisational chart and licensing.
Lodge the nomination, with attention to where the lodgement date falls relative to 1 July.
Lodge the visa application promptly once the nomination is approved, with health, character and English evidence ready to go.
Diarise your sponsorship obligations and the pathway to permanent residence.
Real world scenarios
The retention case
A Melbourne painting contractor employs a painter on a graduate visa with fourteen months of work rights left. Waiting until month thirteen is the error. Labour market testing, sponsorship approval, nomination and visa each take time, and a bridging visa is not always the safety net employers assume. Start at least six months out.
The offshore recruitment case
A Gold Coast fit out business identifies a qualified painter overseas. The trap here is a documentary. Overseas trade qualifications need to be presented in a form a delegate can assess, and employment references from small overseas businesses often lack the detail required to establish twelve months of relevant experience. Fix the references before lodgement, not after a request for further information.
The refused nomination
A nomination is refused for insufficient labour market testing evidence. The sponsor has merits review rights to the Administrative Review Tribunal, which replaced the Administrative Appeals Tribunal for migration review on 14 October 2024. Review takes time. In many cases the faster and cheaper course is a properly rebuilt fresh nomination. Which path is right depends on the reasons for refusal and on the nominee's visa status, and that assessment should be made by a lawyer before the review deadline passes, because those deadlines are strict.
Frequently asked questions
Can a small painting business sponsor a worker on a 482 visa?
Yes. There is no minimum business size. What matters is that the business is lawfully operating in Australia, can meet its sponsorship obligations, can pay the required salary, and can demonstrate a genuine need for the position. Small businesses succeed regularly. They simply carry a heavier evidentiary burden on the genuine position criterion.
How long does a 482 nomination take to be approved in 2026?
The Department publishes global processing times that currently show around half of subclass 482 nominations decided within about five days and ninety per cent within about nine months. Processing times are updated regularly, so check the Home Affairs website for the current figure. Nothing guarantees a particular timeframe, and the largest single variable within your control is whether the file prompts a request for further information.
Is a painter on the Core Skills Occupation List?
Painter, code 332211, appears on the Core Skills Occupation List published by the Department. Always verify against the current published list before lodging, because occupation lists are amended from time to time.
Does a painter need a skills assessment for a 482 visa?
Mandatory skills assessment for subclass 482 applies to specified occupations and specified passport countries under a legislative instrument. Whether it applies to your nominee depends on both. Confirm the current position before lodgement, because a mandatory assessment that has not been commenced can render the visa application invalid.
How long is a 482 nomination approval valid?
Generally twelve months from approval, unless a visa application has been lodged on the basis of that nomination and remains undecided. It can also cease earlier, including if the sponsorship ends.
Can a 482 visa lead to permanent residence?
The Skills in Demand visa is designed as a pathway to employer sponsored permanent residence, and there is a temporary residence transition stream of the subclass 186 visa for workers who have held the relevant visa and worked for their sponsor for the required period. The current qualifying period and criteria should be confirmed before you make commitments to a worker.
What happens if my nomination is refused?
An approved sponsor generally has merits review rights to the Administrative Review Tribunal, subject to strict time limits. Depending on why the nomination failed, lodging a corrected fresh nomination can be faster. Get advice quickly, because review deadlines do not extend for negotiation.
What does sponsorship cost?
Costs include the sponsorship application charge, the nomination charge, the Skilling Australians Fund levy calculated on the length of the visa and the size of the business, and the visa application charge for the worker and any family members. Charges are set by regulation and change, most commonly on 1 July. Confirm current amounts on the Home Affairs website before budgeting.
Can I recover the costs from the worker?
No. Sponsorship costs, including the Skilling Australians Fund levy and the nomination costs, cannot be passed on to the nominee. Doing so is a breach of your sponsorship obligations and attracts sanctions.
Speak to an immigration lawyer in Melbourne
Global Vision Migration Lawyers acts for Australian employers across the full employer sponsored programme, from first time standard business sponsorship through to nomination, visa lodgement and permanent residence. We work with construction and trade businesses, and we prepare files with the evidence a delegate needs before the delegate has to ask for it.
Our work is carried out by Australian legal practitioners. That matters where a matter turns on statutory interpretation, where a nomination or visa has been refused, where a sponsorship sanction is in play, or where a client is dealing with a section 48 bar, character issues under section 501, or an allegation of false or misleading information. Complex employer sponsored work is a core part of our practice, not a sideline.
We have offices in Melbourne, Sydney, Canberra, the Gold Coast and Perth, and we act for employers Australia wide.
Book a consultation with our employer sponsored team.
Bring your position description, your recruitment records and your last set of financials, and we will tell you honestly whether the position is nominable and what the file still needs.
