If you are currently living and working on Temporary Skill Shortage Visa and plan to extend your stay period in Australia permanently, then Subclass 186 Employer Nomination Scheme Visa can be one of best options to obtain your permanent residency. In this article, we are going to introduce this type of visa to you from the following three aspects:

• Benefits after having 186 Employer Nomination Scheme visa
• Eligibility criteria to apply
• Application process

But firstly, let us see how much you know about 186 Employer Nomination Scheme visa.

Who should Apply for Subclass 186 Employer Nomination Scheme Visa?

Subclass 186 Employer Nomination Scheme Visa is designed for skilled workers who are nominated by their employer to live and work in Australia permanently.

If you are currently on 482 Temporary Skill Shortage Visa, it means you are probably working with your employer who previously nominated you for your 482 visa.

Then you can ask your employer to continue to nominate you in 186 Employer Nomination Scheme Visa, which gives you a distinct advantage over applying for other types of visa.

This is why we recommend you to obtain permanent residency through 186 Employer Nomination Scheme Visa. Once you have this visa, you will become a permanent resident of Australia which enables you to:

• Stay and work in Australia indefinitely
• Receive various types of welfare from Australia government such as Medicare
• Sponsor your family member to come to Australia
• Travel from and to Australia unlimitedly
• Apply for Australian citizenship

As 186 Employer Nomination Scheme Visa is for Australian employer to address the labour shortage issue, you are obligated to work for your nominating employer for at least two years after you obtain this visa.

What are the eligibility criteria to apply for 186 Employer Nomination Scheme Visa? 

If you are on Temporary Skill Shortage Visa, then you have already fulfilled most of the requirements to apply for 186 Employer Nomination Scheme Visa, which is another reason why you should consider this visa as your pathway towards permanent residency. The detailed eligibility criteria can be found here and they can be summarised as below:

• You must have required the skills to carry out tasks in your nominating occupation. As such, you need to have a positive skill assessment which is similar to the skill assessment you provided at the time of applying for 482 Temporary Skill Shortage Visa
• You must be nominated by the employer who nominated you for your temporary work visa (e.g. 482 Temporary Skill Shortage Visa)
• You must have worked for your nominating employer for at least 3 years before they can nominate you for 186 Employer Nomination Scheme Visa
• You must be aged under 45 unless you are exempt
• You must have competent English (score at least 6 for each band of IELTS or equivalent)
• You must hold subclass 482 TSS Visa
• You must meet health and character requirements

What is the step-by-step process to apply for 186 Employer Nomination Scheme Visa?

Just like applying for other types of visa, 186 Employer Nomination Scheme Visa application process can be concluded as the steps below:

1. Gather all the documents you need to prove that you have met all the eligibility criteria. This may require you to take an English exam and schedule a health examination
2. Once all the necessary documents are ready, you can lodge your application online through here. You will need to create an Immigration Account first. From your account, you can upload all the documents which demonstrate your eligibility. Lastly, you need to pay the application charge.
3. After you submit your visa application, your part of the job is done. Australian Home Affair Department will notify you of the application result in writing. If the application is a success, you will be given a visa grant number. If your application is refused, the Australian Government will tell you why they refuse your visa application.

What are the other pathways toward permanent residency?

If you cannot be eligible to apply for 186 Employer Nomination Scheme Visa for any kinds of reason, there are still plenty of other visa options will help you obtain permanent residency. Since you are currently on 482 Temporary Skill Shortage Visa, skilled worker type of visa will suit you the most. Specifically, you can choose a visa option from below visas:

• Skilled Independent visa (subclass 189)
• Skilled Nominated visa (subclass 190) 
• Skilled Regional visa (subclass 887)
• Regional Sponsor Migration Scheme (subclass 187) 

Each type of above visa will have different requirements and some of them may require sponsorship. To find the information on other types of visa, you can simply search the visa name from our blog posts.

if you are having trouble with anything involved in the Visa application, our Pathway Education and Visa Service’s registered immigration consultant are happy to help you out!