A 482 nomination is the second step in the employer-sponsored visa process, following approval of the Standard Business Sponsorship.
It is the point at which an approved sponsor formally nominates an overseas worker for a specific skilled position, providing the Department of Home Affairs with the details of the role, the salary, the location, and the justification for why an overseas worker is needed.
The nomination is assessed on its own merits, separately from the worker’s individual visa application – though in most cases the nomination and visa are prepared and lodged concurrently. The worker cannot apply for the 482 visa until at least the nomination application has been submitted.
In our experience, the nomination is where many employers run into difficulty.
The occupational classification, salary benchmarking, and labour market justification all require careful preparation. Identifying the right ANZSCO classification from the outset matters enormously – not just for the nomination, but because it flows through to the worker’s employment record, annual market salary rate, their future PR eligibility, and compliance monitoring under the ATO and Home Affairs data-matching programme. The nomination is also the stage at which the Skilling Australians Fund levy is calculated and paid.