NextSpring

A sponsor, a nominated occupation and a salary floor the Regulations no longer print

The ordinary way to work in Australia as a non-citizen is the Skills in Demand visa, Subclass 482, and it is a sponsored visa in the strict sense: the applicant cannot start the process. An approved work sponsor nominates an occupation, the nomination is approved under section 140GB of the Migration Act 1958, and only then can the visa criteria be met. The applicant needs twelve months of full-time-equivalent work in the occupation or a related field within the previous five years, the skills and qualifications the Minister considers necessary, a language test where one is specified, and health insurance for the stay. The visa lasts for the period of stay proposed in the nomination, with a fixed five years for a holder of a Hong Kong or British National (Overseas) passport. The salary floor sits on the nomination rather than on the visa, and this is where the published law and the practice part company: the Migration Regulations 1994 as compiled on 1 July 2026 print 73,150 dollars and 135,000 dollars, and the Department applies 79,423 and 146,576 to nominations lodged from 1 July 2026. Both are correct, because regulation 5.42A replaces the figures by operation of law and publishes the replacement on the Department's website instead of in the Regulations.

Verified with official sourceActively changing right nowlast checked 2026-10-11

At a glance

Core skills income threshold, as the Regulations print it
$73,150

Regulation 1.03 of the Migration Regulations 1994 as compiled on 1 July 2026. The same definition carries a note saying the amount is indexed under regulation 5.42A, which is why the printed figure is not the figure applied.

Core skills income threshold, as the Department applies it
AUD79,423 for nominations lodged between 1 July 2026 and 30 June 2027

Department of Home Affairs, salary requirements page. The Department also publishes AUD76,515 for 2025-26 and AUD73,150 for 7 December 2024 to 30 June 2025, which is the amount still printed in the Regulations.

Specialist skills income threshold, as the Regulations print it
$135,000

Regulation 1.03 of the Migration Regulations 1994 as compiled on 1 July 2026, with the same indexation note.

Specialist skills income threshold, as the Department applies it
AUD146,576 for nominations lodged between 1 July 2026 and 30 June 2027

Department of Home Affairs, salary requirements page.

Work experience required
12 months full-time equivalent in the nominated occupation or a related field, within the previous 5 years

Clauses 482.221 and 482.231 of Schedule 2 to the Migration Regulations 1994. Part-time and casual work counts towards the total.

Length of the visa
The period of stay proposed in the nomination, except 5 years for a holder of a Hong Kong passport of a specified class or a British National (Overseas) passport

Clause 482.511 of Schedule 2 to the Migration Regulations 1994.

Age limit on the points-tested permanent routes
Must not have turned 45 at the time of the invitation to apply

Item 3 of the requirements table in the Schedule 1 item for the Subclass 190 (Skilled-Nominated) visa, and the equivalent item for the Subclass 491 (Skilled Work Regional (Provisional)) visa.

Time on a sponsored temporary visa before employer-sponsored permanent residence
At least 2 years in the 3 years immediately before the application, on a Subclass 457 or Subclass 482 visa

Clause 186.226(1) of Schedule 2 to the Migration Regulations 1994, the Temporary Residence Transition stream of the Employer Nomination Scheme.

Requirements

  • An approved work sponsor whose nomination of the occupation has been approved under section 140GB of the Migration Act 1958 and has not ceased under regulation 2.75
  • A genuine intention to perform the nominated occupation, in a genuine position
  • Work in the nominated occupation or a related field totalling at least 12 months full-time equivalent, carried out within the 5 years ending immediately before the application
  • The skills, qualifications and employment background the Minister considers necessary, demonstrated in the manner the Minister specifies
  • Any language test requirement specified by the Minister in a legislative instrument for the stream
  • Adequate arrangements for health insurance for the intended stay
  • Annual earnings, excluding non-monetary benefits, not below the income threshold for the stream, and not below the annual market salary rate for the occupation

In detail

A statute that prints a number it no longer means

Regulation 1.03 of the Migration Regulations 1994 defines the core skills income threshold as 73,150 dollars and the specialist skills income threshold as 135,000 dollars, and the compilation carrying those words is dated 1 July 2026. The Department of Home Affairs applies 79,423 and 146,576 to nominations lodged from that same day. Neither is a mistake. Regulation 5.42A provides that where the indexation factor for an indexation day exceeds one, the dollar amounts mentioned in those definitions are replaced on that day by the indexed amount, and the Secretary must publish the replacement on the Department's website. The replacement happens by operation of law; the text of the Regulations is simply not amended to show it. A reader who takes the figure from the statute book is reading a number that was last operative for nominations lodged before 1 July 2025.

The threshold is on the nomination, not on the visa

Regulation 2.72 sets the criteria for approving a sponsor's nomination of an occupation, and it is there that the earnings tests sit: the annual market salary rate for the occupation must not be below the stream's threshold, and the nominee's annual earnings excluding non-monetary benefits must not be below it either. The visa criteria in Schedule 2 say nothing about money. The practical consequence is that a salary problem is the sponsor's to fix before the nomination is approved, and an applicant who has already applied cannot answer it.

Two passports that get a fixed term

A Subclass 482 visa normally runs for the period of stay proposed in the nomination, so its length is the sponsor's choice within whatever the instruments allow. Clause 482.511 carves out one case: a holder who satisfied the primary criteria and who holds, on the date of grant, a Hong Kong passport of a class specified by the Minister or a British National (Overseas) passport gets five years from the date of grant regardless. The same British National (Overseas) status that is accepted for an Electronic Travel Authority and rejected for an eVisitor turns up here as a fixed visa period.

Exceptions by origin

New Zealand citizens: no sponsor, no occupation list, no salary floor

Everything the Skills in Demand route requires - an approved work sponsor, an approved nomination of an occupation, twelve months of relevant experience, a language test and a salary at or above the stream's income threshold - is a criterion of Subclass 482 and of the nomination that precedes it. None of it applies to a New Zealand citizen, because the Special Category visa carries no conditions at all. Clause 444.6 of Schedule 2 states the conditions as Nil, so there is no work restriction to breach, no employer tied to the visa and no occupation it is limited to. The visa lasts as long as New Zealand citizenship does.

  • A Special Category visa, granted on arrival under section 32 of the Migration Act 1958
  • Nothing further: clause 444.6 of Schedule 2 to the Migration Regulations 1994 imposes no conditions
Verified with official sourceStable2026-10-11

What the law says

Text layer - verbatim verifiedMigration Regulations 1994 · Schedule 2, clause 482.212 · consolidated to 2026-07-01
«482.212 (1)Each of the following applies: (a)the nomination identified in the application has been approved under section140GB of the Act; (b)the person who made the nomination was an approved work sponsor at the time the nomination was approved; (c)the approval of the nomination has not ceased under regulation2.75.»
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About this source

The Commonwealth of Australia's statute book, run by the Office of Parliamentary Counsel under the Legislation Act 2003. It carries every Act, legislative instrument and notifiable instrument of the Commonwealth, each as made and as compiled, and it is the only publisher in this corpus whose own enabling Act gives its text a standing in court: section 15ZB of the Legislation Act 2003 says proof is not required in a court or tribunal of the text of a registered law, and section 15ZA presumes an authorised version of a registered compilation correctly shows the law as in force on the compilation date. Addressing is by register identifier rather than by name - C1958A00062 is the Migration Act 1958, F1996B03551 the Migration Regulations 1994 - and /latest/text serves the current compilation. Every compilation page prints its compilation number, its compilation date and the last amending Act or instrument taken into account.

Standing: Maintains the text in force

Cannot be cited for: Three things, each of which has already bitten. First, an unknown identifier does not 404: the site serves its own home page, so a wrong guess looks like a short page of search boxes rather than an error, and an absence inferred from one would be invented. Second, a long instrument is served in volumes and /latest/text gives volume 1 only - the Migration Regulations 1994 run to four volumes and Schedule 2, where every visa subclass actually lives, is in volumes 2 and 3 at a separate address. Third, and most important, nothing in the HTML served at /latest/text claims to be an authorised version. Section 15ZA makes an electronic copy one only if it is downloaded from an approved website in a format prescribed by the rules and either the site or the copy says so in the way the rules prescribe; the Act's own example of such a format is a locked pdf file. The words authorised version do not occur anywhere in any of the readings stored from this publisher except in the Legislation Act 2003 itself, so what we quote is the register's text without the status the register is able to give it. The presumption in section 15ZA(5)(h) is also expressly subject to section 15Q(4), under which a compilation need not take account of a retrospective commencement, so a compilation can be accurate on its face and behind the law. It is not a source for the Immigration Rules equivalent - departmental policy and procedural advice are published by Home Affairs, not here - nor for any state or territory law, which has its own register, nor for the text of a treaty, which is published in the Australian Treaty Series.

We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source

Text layer - verbatim verifiedMigration Regulations 1994 · Schedule 2, clause 482.231 · consolidated to 2026-07-01
«(1)The Minister is satisfied that: (a)the applicant has carried out (whether on a full-time, part-time or casual basis) a period or periods of work in the nominated occupation or a related field; and (b)the total period of work carried out is, or is equivalent to, at least 12months full-time work; and (c)the period or periods of work were carried out during the period of 5years ending immediately before the day the application was made.»

The same words appear as clause 482.221 for the Specialist Skills stream.

Read it at the source
About this source

The Commonwealth of Australia's statute book, run by the Office of Parliamentary Counsel under the Legislation Act 2003. It carries every Act, legislative instrument and notifiable instrument of the Commonwealth, each as made and as compiled, and it is the only publisher in this corpus whose own enabling Act gives its text a standing in court: section 15ZB of the Legislation Act 2003 says proof is not required in a court or tribunal of the text of a registered law, and section 15ZA presumes an authorised version of a registered compilation correctly shows the law as in force on the compilation date. Addressing is by register identifier rather than by name - C1958A00062 is the Migration Act 1958, F1996B03551 the Migration Regulations 1994 - and /latest/text serves the current compilation. Every compilation page prints its compilation number, its compilation date and the last amending Act or instrument taken into account.

Standing: Maintains the text in force

Cannot be cited for: Three things, each of which has already bitten. First, an unknown identifier does not 404: the site serves its own home page, so a wrong guess looks like a short page of search boxes rather than an error, and an absence inferred from one would be invented. Second, a long instrument is served in volumes and /latest/text gives volume 1 only - the Migration Regulations 1994 run to four volumes and Schedule 2, where every visa subclass actually lives, is in volumes 2 and 3 at a separate address. Third, and most important, nothing in the HTML served at /latest/text claims to be an authorised version. Section 15ZA makes an electronic copy one only if it is downloaded from an approved website in a format prescribed by the rules and either the site or the copy says so in the way the rules prescribe; the Act's own example of such a format is a locked pdf file. The words authorised version do not occur anywhere in any of the readings stored from this publisher except in the Legislation Act 2003 itself, so what we quote is the register's text without the status the register is able to give it. The presumption in section 15ZA(5)(h) is also expressly subject to section 15Q(4), under which a compilation need not take account of a retrospective commencement, so a compilation can be accurate on its face and behind the law. It is not a source for the Immigration Rules equivalent - departmental policy and procedural advice are published by Home Affairs, not here - nor for any state or territory law, which has its own register, nor for the text of a treaty, which is published in the Australian Treaty Series.

We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source

Text layer - verbatim verifiedMigration Regulations 1994 · Regulation 1.03, definitions of core skills income threshold and specialist skills income threshold · consolidated to 2026-07-01
«core skills income threshold means $73,150. Note:This amount is indexed under regulation5.42A.»

Known to be out of date. The amount printed here is the one that applied to nominations lodged between 7 December 2024 and 30 June 2025. Regulation 5.42A replaced it on 1 July 2025 and again on 1 July 2026 without the Regulations being amended, so this compilation shows a figure two indexations behind the one the Department applies.

The specialist skills income threshold is defined in the same regulation as $135,000, with the same note.

Read it at the source
About this source

The Commonwealth of Australia's statute book, run by the Office of Parliamentary Counsel under the Legislation Act 2003. It carries every Act, legislative instrument and notifiable instrument of the Commonwealth, each as made and as compiled, and it is the only publisher in this corpus whose own enabling Act gives its text a standing in court: section 15ZB of the Legislation Act 2003 says proof is not required in a court or tribunal of the text of a registered law, and section 15ZA presumes an authorised version of a registered compilation correctly shows the law as in force on the compilation date. Addressing is by register identifier rather than by name - C1958A00062 is the Migration Act 1958, F1996B03551 the Migration Regulations 1994 - and /latest/text serves the current compilation. Every compilation page prints its compilation number, its compilation date and the last amending Act or instrument taken into account.

Standing: Maintains the text in force

Cannot be cited for: Three things, each of which has already bitten. First, an unknown identifier does not 404: the site serves its own home page, so a wrong guess looks like a short page of search boxes rather than an error, and an absence inferred from one would be invented. Second, a long instrument is served in volumes and /latest/text gives volume 1 only - the Migration Regulations 1994 run to four volumes and Schedule 2, where every visa subclass actually lives, is in volumes 2 and 3 at a separate address. Third, and most important, nothing in the HTML served at /latest/text claims to be an authorised version. Section 15ZA makes an electronic copy one only if it is downloaded from an approved website in a format prescribed by the rules and either the site or the copy says so in the way the rules prescribe; the Act's own example of such a format is a locked pdf file. The words authorised version do not occur anywhere in any of the readings stored from this publisher except in the Legislation Act 2003 itself, so what we quote is the register's text without the status the register is able to give it. The presumption in section 15ZA(5)(h) is also expressly subject to section 15Q(4), under which a compilation need not take account of a retrospective commencement, so a compilation can be accurate on its face and behind the law. It is not a source for the Immigration Rules equivalent - departmental policy and procedural advice are published by Home Affairs, not here - nor for any state or territory law, which has its own register, nor for the text of a treaty, which is published in the Australian Treaty Series.

We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source

Text layer - verbatim verifiedMigration Regulations 1994 · Regulation 5.42A(1) and (5) · consolidated to 2026-07-01
«(5)If the indexable amount is replaced under subregulation (1) on an indexation day, the Secretary must cause the replacement indexable amount to be published on the Department's website as soon as practicable after the indexation day. However, a failure by the Secretary to do so does not invalidate the indexation.»

Subregulation (6) defines indexation day as the first 1 July after the regulation commenced and each later 1 July, and ties the factor to the Australian Statistician's average weekly ordinary time earnings.

Read it at the source
About this source

The Commonwealth of Australia's statute book, run by the Office of Parliamentary Counsel under the Legislation Act 2003. It carries every Act, legislative instrument and notifiable instrument of the Commonwealth, each as made and as compiled, and it is the only publisher in this corpus whose own enabling Act gives its text a standing in court: section 15ZB of the Legislation Act 2003 says proof is not required in a court or tribunal of the text of a registered law, and section 15ZA presumes an authorised version of a registered compilation correctly shows the law as in force on the compilation date. Addressing is by register identifier rather than by name - C1958A00062 is the Migration Act 1958, F1996B03551 the Migration Regulations 1994 - and /latest/text serves the current compilation. Every compilation page prints its compilation number, its compilation date and the last amending Act or instrument taken into account.

Standing: Maintains the text in force

Cannot be cited for: Three things, each of which has already bitten. First, an unknown identifier does not 404: the site serves its own home page, so a wrong guess looks like a short page of search boxes rather than an error, and an absence inferred from one would be invented. Second, a long instrument is served in volumes and /latest/text gives volume 1 only - the Migration Regulations 1994 run to four volumes and Schedule 2, where every visa subclass actually lives, is in volumes 2 and 3 at a separate address. Third, and most important, nothing in the HTML served at /latest/text claims to be an authorised version. Section 15ZA makes an electronic copy one only if it is downloaded from an approved website in a format prescribed by the rules and either the site or the copy says so in the way the rules prescribe; the Act's own example of such a format is a locked pdf file. The words authorised version do not occur anywhere in any of the readings stored from this publisher except in the Legislation Act 2003 itself, so what we quote is the register's text without the status the register is able to give it. The presumption in section 15ZA(5)(h) is also expressly subject to section 15Q(4), under which a compilation need not take account of a retrospective commencement, so a compilation can be accurate on its face and behind the law. It is not a source for the Immigration Rules equivalent - departmental policy and procedural advice are published by Home Affairs, not here - nor for any state or territory law, which has its own register, nor for the text of a treaty, which is published in the Australian Treaty Series.

We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source

Text layer - verbatim verifiedMigration Regulations 1994 · Regulation 2.72(15)(f) · consolidated to 2026-07-01
«(f)the nominee's annual earnings, excluding any non-monetary benefits, in relation to the occupation will not be less than: (i)if the occupation is nominated for a Subclass 482 (Skills in Demand) visa in the Specialist Skills stream-the specialist skills income threshold; or (ii)if the occupation is nominated for a Subclass 482 (Skills in Demand) visa in the Core Skills stream-the core skills income threshold; and»

The threshold is a criterion for approving the sponsor's nomination, not a criterion of the visa. An applicant cannot cure a nomination that fails it.

Read it at the source
About this source

The Commonwealth of Australia's statute book, run by the Office of Parliamentary Counsel under the Legislation Act 2003. It carries every Act, legislative instrument and notifiable instrument of the Commonwealth, each as made and as compiled, and it is the only publisher in this corpus whose own enabling Act gives its text a standing in court: section 15ZB of the Legislation Act 2003 says proof is not required in a court or tribunal of the text of a registered law, and section 15ZA presumes an authorised version of a registered compilation correctly shows the law as in force on the compilation date. Addressing is by register identifier rather than by name - C1958A00062 is the Migration Act 1958, F1996B03551 the Migration Regulations 1994 - and /latest/text serves the current compilation. Every compilation page prints its compilation number, its compilation date and the last amending Act or instrument taken into account.

Standing: Maintains the text in force

Cannot be cited for: Three things, each of which has already bitten. First, an unknown identifier does not 404: the site serves its own home page, so a wrong guess looks like a short page of search boxes rather than an error, and an absence inferred from one would be invented. Second, a long instrument is served in volumes and /latest/text gives volume 1 only - the Migration Regulations 1994 run to four volumes and Schedule 2, where every visa subclass actually lives, is in volumes 2 and 3 at a separate address. Third, and most important, nothing in the HTML served at /latest/text claims to be an authorised version. Section 15ZA makes an electronic copy one only if it is downloaded from an approved website in a format prescribed by the rules and either the site or the copy says so in the way the rules prescribe; the Act's own example of such a format is a locked pdf file. The words authorised version do not occur anywhere in any of the readings stored from this publisher except in the Legislation Act 2003 itself, so what we quote is the register's text without the status the register is able to give it. The presumption in section 15ZA(5)(h) is also expressly subject to section 15Q(4), under which a compilation need not take account of a retrospective commencement, so a compilation can be accurate on its face and behind the law. It is not a source for the Immigration Rules equivalent - departmental policy and procedural advice are published by Home Affairs, not here - nor for any state or territory law, which has its own register, nor for the text of a treaty, which is published in the Australian Treaty Series.

We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source

Text layer - verbatim verifiedMigration Regulations 1994 · Schedule 2, clause 186.226(1) · consolidated to 2026-07-01
«(1)During the period of 3years immediately before the application for the visa is made, the applicant held one or more of the following for a total period of at least 2years: (a)a Subclass 457 (Temporary Work (Skilled)) visa; (b)a Subclass 482 (Temporary Skill Shortage) visa; (c)a Subclass 482 (Skills in Demand) visa;»
Read it at the source
About this source

The Commonwealth of Australia's statute book, run by the Office of Parliamentary Counsel under the Legislation Act 2003. It carries every Act, legislative instrument and notifiable instrument of the Commonwealth, each as made and as compiled, and it is the only publisher in this corpus whose own enabling Act gives its text a standing in court: section 15ZB of the Legislation Act 2003 says proof is not required in a court or tribunal of the text of a registered law, and section 15ZA presumes an authorised version of a registered compilation correctly shows the law as in force on the compilation date. Addressing is by register identifier rather than by name - C1958A00062 is the Migration Act 1958, F1996B03551 the Migration Regulations 1994 - and /latest/text serves the current compilation. Every compilation page prints its compilation number, its compilation date and the last amending Act or instrument taken into account.

Standing: Maintains the text in force

Cannot be cited for: Three things, each of which has already bitten. First, an unknown identifier does not 404: the site serves its own home page, so a wrong guess looks like a short page of search boxes rather than an error, and an absence inferred from one would be invented. Second, a long instrument is served in volumes and /latest/text gives volume 1 only - the Migration Regulations 1994 run to four volumes and Schedule 2, where every visa subclass actually lives, is in volumes 2 and 3 at a separate address. Third, and most important, nothing in the HTML served at /latest/text claims to be an authorised version. Section 15ZA makes an electronic copy one only if it is downloaded from an approved website in a format prescribed by the rules and either the site or the copy says so in the way the rules prescribe; the Act's own example of such a format is a locked pdf file. The words authorised version do not occur anywhere in any of the readings stored from this publisher except in the Legislation Act 2003 itself, so what we quote is the register's text without the status the register is able to give it. The presumption in section 15ZA(5)(h) is also expressly subject to section 15Q(4), under which a compilation need not take account of a retrospective commencement, so a compilation can be accurate on its face and behind the law. It is not a source for the Immigration Rules equivalent - departmental policy and procedural advice are published by Home Affairs, not here - nor for any state or territory law, which has its own register, nor for the text of a treaty, which is published in the Australian Treaty Series.

We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source

Text layer - verbatim verifiedDepartment of Home Affairs, salary requirements · Core Skills Income Threshold
«The CSIT for ENS and SID Core Skills Stream nomination applications is as follows: - AUD79,423 for Nomination applications lodged on and between 1 July 2026 and 30 June 2027. - AUD76,515 for Nomination applications lodged on and between 1 July 2025 and 30 June 2026. - AUD73,150 for Nomination applications lodged on and between 7 December 2024 and 30 June 2025.»
Read it at the source
About this source

The department that decides visa applications under the Migration Act 1958 and the Migration Regulations 1994, and that publishes the figures the Regulations themselves no longer carry. Regulation 5.42A indexes the core skills, specialist skills and temporary skilled migration income thresholds on each 1 July and requires the Secretary to publish the replacement amount on the Department's website; the Regulations are not amended to show it. Its immi.homeaffairs.gov.au pages therefore hold the operative salary figures, the occupation lists, the visa application charges as charged, and the processing-time estimates.

Standing: Applies the rule

Cannot be cited for: It is the administrator's account of the law, not the law: where a page and the Regulations differ on anything other than an indexed amount, the Regulations govern. Pages are undated on their face, so there is no way to tell from one how long it has said what it says. It must not be cited for the text of any instrument, for anything decided by a State or Territory, or for the criteria of a visa subclass, which are in Schedule 2 to the Migration Regulations 1994 and are often narrower than the summary.

We re-read it every 60 days. More about this source

Text layer - verbatim verifiedDepartment of Home Affairs, salary requirements · Specialist Skills Income Threshold
«The SSIT for SID Specialist Skills Stream nomination applications is as follows: - AUD146,576 for Nomination applications lodged on and between 1 July 2026 and 30 June 2027. - AUD141,210 for Nomination applications lodged on and between 1 July 2025 and 30 June 2026. - AUD135,000 for Nomination applications lodged on and between 7 December 2024 and 30 June 2025.»
Read it at the source
About this source

The department that decides visa applications under the Migration Act 1958 and the Migration Regulations 1994, and that publishes the figures the Regulations themselves no longer carry. Regulation 5.42A indexes the core skills, specialist skills and temporary skilled migration income thresholds on each 1 July and requires the Secretary to publish the replacement amount on the Department's website; the Regulations are not amended to show it. Its immi.homeaffairs.gov.au pages therefore hold the operative salary figures, the occupation lists, the visa application charges as charged, and the processing-time estimates.

Standing: Applies the rule

Cannot be cited for: It is the administrator's account of the law, not the law: where a page and the Regulations differ on anything other than an indexed amount, the Regulations govern. Pages are undated on their face, so there is no way to tell from one how long it has said what it says. It must not be cited for the text of any instrument, for anything decided by a State or Territory, or for the criteria of a visa subclass, which are in Schedule 2 to the Migration Regulations 1994 and are often narrower than the summary.

We re-read it every 60 days. More about this source

Practical notes

The occupation lists are ministerial instruments and were not read for this record: clauses 482.221 and 482.231 refer to the nominated occupation without listing any, and the lists live in instruments made under regulation 2.72.

The points test for the Subclass 189, 190 and 491 visas is in Schedule 6D to the Migration Regulations 1994, which is in volume 3 of the compilation and was not read.

Nothing here covers the sponsorship obligations imposed on the employer, the nomination training contribution charge under Division 5.7A, or the visa application charges.

Sources3 · all accessed 2026-10-11
  • consolidates
    Migration Regulations 1994, compilation 288, volume 2 (Schedule 2, Subclasses 010 to 801)

    Office of Parliamentary Counsel, Federal Register of Legislation · consolidated to 2026-07-01

    About this source

    The Commonwealth of Australia's statute book, run by the Office of Parliamentary Counsel under the Legislation Act 2003. It carries every Act, legislative instrument and notifiable instrument of the Commonwealth, each as made and as compiled, and it is the only publisher in this corpus whose own enabling Act gives its text a standing in court: section 15ZB of the Legislation Act 2003 says proof is not required in a court or tribunal of the text of a registered law, and section 15ZA presumes an authorised version of a registered compilation correctly shows the law as in force on the compilation date. Addressing is by register identifier rather than by name - C1958A00062 is the Migration Act 1958, F1996B03551 the Migration Regulations 1994 - and /latest/text serves the current compilation. Every compilation page prints its compilation number, its compilation date and the last amending Act or instrument taken into account.

    Standing: Maintains the text in force

    Cannot be cited for: Three things, each of which has already bitten. First, an unknown identifier does not 404: the site serves its own home page, so a wrong guess looks like a short page of search boxes rather than an error, and an absence inferred from one would be invented. Second, a long instrument is served in volumes and /latest/text gives volume 1 only - the Migration Regulations 1994 run to four volumes and Schedule 2, where every visa subclass actually lives, is in volumes 2 and 3 at a separate address. Third, and most important, nothing in the HTML served at /latest/text claims to be an authorised version. Section 15ZA makes an electronic copy one only if it is downloaded from an approved website in a format prescribed by the rules and either the site or the copy says so in the way the rules prescribe; the Act's own example of such a format is a locked pdf file. The words authorised version do not occur anywhere in any of the readings stored from this publisher except in the Legislation Act 2003 itself, so what we quote is the register's text without the status the register is able to give it. The presumption in section 15ZA(5)(h) is also expressly subject to section 15Q(4), under which a compilation need not take account of a retrospective commencement, so a compilation can be accurate on its face and behind the law. It is not a source for the Immigration Rules equivalent - departmental policy and procedural advice are published by Home Affairs, not here - nor for any state or territory law, which has its own register, nor for the text of a treaty, which is published in the Australian Treaty Series.

    We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source

  • consolidates
    Migration Regulations 1994, compilation 288, volume 1 (Parts 1 to 5 and Schedule 1)

    Office of Parliamentary Counsel, Federal Register of Legislation · consolidated to 2026-07-01

    About this source

    The Commonwealth of Australia's statute book, run by the Office of Parliamentary Counsel under the Legislation Act 2003. It carries every Act, legislative instrument and notifiable instrument of the Commonwealth, each as made and as compiled, and it is the only publisher in this corpus whose own enabling Act gives its text a standing in court: section 15ZB of the Legislation Act 2003 says proof is not required in a court or tribunal of the text of a registered law, and section 15ZA presumes an authorised version of a registered compilation correctly shows the law as in force on the compilation date. Addressing is by register identifier rather than by name - C1958A00062 is the Migration Act 1958, F1996B03551 the Migration Regulations 1994 - and /latest/text serves the current compilation. Every compilation page prints its compilation number, its compilation date and the last amending Act or instrument taken into account.

    Standing: Maintains the text in force

    Cannot be cited for: Three things, each of which has already bitten. First, an unknown identifier does not 404: the site serves its own home page, so a wrong guess looks like a short page of search boxes rather than an error, and an absence inferred from one would be invented. Second, a long instrument is served in volumes and /latest/text gives volume 1 only - the Migration Regulations 1994 run to four volumes and Schedule 2, where every visa subclass actually lives, is in volumes 2 and 3 at a separate address. Third, and most important, nothing in the HTML served at /latest/text claims to be an authorised version. Section 15ZA makes an electronic copy one only if it is downloaded from an approved website in a format prescribed by the rules and either the site or the copy says so in the way the rules prescribe; the Act's own example of such a format is a locked pdf file. The words authorised version do not occur anywhere in any of the readings stored from this publisher except in the Legislation Act 2003 itself, so what we quote is the register's text without the status the register is able to give it. The presumption in section 15ZA(5)(h) is also expressly subject to section 15Q(4), under which a compilation need not take account of a retrospective commencement, so a compilation can be accurate on its face and behind the law. It is not a source for the Immigration Rules equivalent - departmental policy and procedural advice are published by Home Affairs, not here - nor for any state or territory law, which has its own register, nor for the text of a treaty, which is published in the Australian Treaty Series.

    We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source

  • administers
    Salary requirements for sponsoring a worker

    Department of Home Affairs

    About this source

    The department that decides visa applications under the Migration Act 1958 and the Migration Regulations 1994, and that publishes the figures the Regulations themselves no longer carry. Regulation 5.42A indexes the core skills, specialist skills and temporary skilled migration income thresholds on each 1 July and requires the Secretary to publish the replacement amount on the Department's website; the Regulations are not amended to show it. Its immi.homeaffairs.gov.au pages therefore hold the operative salary figures, the occupation lists, the visa application charges as charged, and the processing-time estimates.

    Standing: Applies the rule

    Cannot be cited for: It is the administrator's account of the law, not the law: where a page and the Regulations differ on anything other than an indexed amount, the Regulations govern. Pages are undated on their face, so there is no way to tell from one how long it has said what it says. It must not be cited for the text of any instrument, for anything decided by a State or Territory, or for the criteria of a visa subclass, which are in Schedule 2 to the Migration Regulations 1994 and are often narrower than the summary.

    We re-read it every 60 days. More about this source