186 Nomination Refused: What Happens Next for the Worker and the Employer

Why 186 nominations get refused

The common grounds line up with what the Department is actually testing in a nomination: that the position is genuine, that it pays at least the market salary rate for an equivalent Australian worker in the same role and location, and that the occupation, skills and qualifications on file support the nomination. In practice, refusals cluster around a small business role that looks like it was created around a specific worker rather than a genuine ongoing business need; a salary that can't be shown to match the market rate for the occupation and location; a skills or experience gap between what's claimed and what the position genuinely requires; or the sponsoring business not holding valid, current approved sponsor status at the time the nomination is decided. For the Temporary Residence Transition stream specifically, a refusal can also turn on whether you'd genuinely completed the required period working for the nominating employer on a 457 or 482 in the nominated occupation before the nomination was lodged.

Standing to seek review: it's the employer's decision to challenge, not yours

This is the single most important structural fact in this situation. A decision under section 140GB of the Migration Act 1958 not to approve a nomination is a reviewable decision at the ART, but the party with standing to apply is the approved sponsor — your employer — not you as the visa applicant. You, the worker, generally cannot lodge ART review of the nomination refusal yourself. Your own visa refusal (which follows once the nomination fails) is separately reviewable, but review of the visa refusal is a much weaker path than fixing the nomination itself, because the visa was always going to fail without an approved nomination in place — reviewing the visa decision alone can't put an approved nomination back.

That means everything comes down to whether your employer is prepared to lodge and run a review, and whether they do so within the deadline. Under section 347 of the Act, an application for ART review must be made within 28 days after the day the applicant (your employer, for the nomination decision) is notified of the decision — or 14 days if the relevant applicant is in immigration detention when notified. That period cannot be extended: section 19 of the ART Act, which otherwise lets the Tribunal extend a review deadline, is expressly switched off for these migration and protection decisions. Miss the deadline and the nomination decision becomes final — there is no late-lodgement discretion to fall back on. If your relationship with your employer is genuinely committed to sorting this out, get their agreement in writing to lodge review, and get it well before the 28 days runs out, not close to it.

The ART review itself: fee and what it takes

Applying for ART review of a nomination refusal currently costs $3,727 (the standard Part 5 migration review fee, FY2026–27), payable by the applicant — your employer, in this case, though it's common and generally accepted for the worker to cover the agent and Tribunal costs even though the employer remains the legal applicant on the review. A nomination review succeeds or fails on whether new or better evidence addresses the specific refusal ground: for a genuine-position finding, that typically means an organisational chart, evidence of business growth or revenue that justifies the role, records of genuine recruitment efforts, and statements from other staff or clients describing the operational need; for a market-salary finding, independent salary benchmarking for the specific occupation and location; for a skills mismatch, more detailed evidence of your actual experience against the nominated position's real duties. The Tribunal reviews the decision afresh — it isn't limited to correcting an error, it stands in the Department's shoes and decides the nomination question again on the material in front of it, which is why a stronger evidence file at review stage matters as much as the original application did.

Temporary Residence Transition vs Direct Entry: why it matters if you're starting again

If review isn't viable and you're looking at a fresh nomination, which 186 stream applies changes what you need to show. The Temporary Residence Transition (TRT) stream is for workers who have already been employed by the nominating employer on a 457 or 482 visa, in the nominated occupation, for the qualifying period — broadly the last few years — and it does not require a separate skills assessment, since your qualifying work history with that employer effectively stands in for one. The Direct Entry stream is for everyone else — workers without that qualifying employment history with the nominating employer — and it does require a positive skills assessment for the nominated occupation plus a set minimum period of relevant work experience, generally assessed against a stricter standard than TRT. A nomination refused on TRT grounds (commonly, that you hadn't actually completed the required period with that employer) doesn't automatically fail under Direct Entry with a different employer — but it does mean starting the skills-assessment and experience case from scratch, which takes real time.

What happens to your current visa and work rights while this plays out

If you're currently on a 482 visa while the 186 nomination and visa are being decided, the nomination refusal by itself doesn't end your 482 — you keep working under it until it expires or until some other event affects it. If you're on a bridging visa because your substantive visa has already ceased, that bridging visa generally continues while a review (if one is lodged) is pending, but the specific conditions and any work rights depend on which bridging visa class you hold and your own circumstances — check your bridging visa grant notice rather than assuming, and get this confirmed by a migration agent early rather than after a work-rights problem arises.

If your employer won't pursue review

This is a genuinely common outcome — pursuing a $3,727 ART application, with legal costs on top, is a real commitment for an employer who can simply hire someone else. If that's where you land, your realistic options are: a fresh nomination from a different approved sponsor, which is not automatically tainted by the first employer's refusal unless the underlying issue (for example, a skills mismatch specific to you rather than the position) would recur; continuing to build qualifying 482 experience with a new sponsor if a TRT-stream refusal was really about not having finished the qualifying period yet; a state-nominated points-tested visa (subclass 190 or 491) if your points score supports it, which doesn't depend on any employer's cooperation at all; or, separately, a partner visa if you have a qualifying relationship with an Australian citizen, permanent resident or eligible New Zealand citizen. Which of these is realistic depends heavily on your current visa status, your occupation, your points score, and how much time you have before your current visa runs out. Migratio is Australia's marketplace for finding and comparing MARA-registered migration agents — matching with an agent who works employer-sponsored review and re-nomination cases specifically is the fastest way to get a straight answer on which of these paths is actually open to you.

Re-nominating with the same employer

A refused nomination doesn't permanently bar the same employer from nominating you again, but simply re-lodging an identical nomination will produce the identical refusal — the Department is applying the same criteria to the same facts. A genuine re-nomination needs to actually address whatever the refusal turned on: if it was a genuine-position finding, that generally means the business has to be able to show something has changed since the first decision — revenue growth, a restructure, new contracts or client demand that make the ongoing need for the role clearer than it was the first time. If it was a market-salary finding, the fix is usually a corrected offer that genuinely meets the benchmark, evidenced with better salary data than the first application used. Re-nomination is a fresh application, assessed on its own merits, but a case officer reviewing it will have the earlier refusal on file, so the changed circumstances need to be real and documented, not asserted.

Disclosure in future applications

A nomination refusal has to be disclosed in later visa and nomination applications where the form asks about prior refusals — leaving it off is a materially different problem from the refusal itself, since providing false or misleading information is its own, more serious, ground for refusal or cancellation down the track. A straightforward nomination refusal, with no finding of fraud or misrepresentation attached, is generally a less serious mark against a future application than a substantive visa refusal would be, but it is still something a case officer will read the file for. Being upfront about what happened and why, alongside evidence of what's changed, is the standard practice migration agents use when a client is re-applying after a nomination refusal.

Can I appeal a 186 nomination refusal myself, as the worker?

Generally no. Standing to seek ART review of a decision not to approve a nomination under section 140GB of the Migration Act belongs to the approved sponsor (your employer), not to you as the visa applicant. Your own visa refusal is separately reviewable, but reviewing it can't restore an approved nomination on its own.

How long does the employer have to lodge ART review of a nomination refusal?

28 days from the day the employer is notified of the decision, or 14 days if the relevant person is in immigration detention when notified (Migration Act s347). This deadline cannot be extended — the ART Act provision that normally allows an extension is expressly excluded for migration and protection decisions.

What does ART review of a 186 nomination cost?

The standard Part 5 migration review application fee is $3,727 as at FY2026–27, payable by the applicant (the employer). It's common for the worker to cover this and the associated agent costs even though the employer remains the party on record.

Does a 186 nomination refusal affect my current 482 visa?

Not directly. If you're on a substantive 482 visa, the nomination refusal on a separate 186 application doesn't end your 482 — you continue on it until it expires or something else affects it. If you're on a bridging visa, whether it continues and what work rights apply depends on the specific bridging visa class; check your grant notice.

Can a different employer re-nominate me after a 186 nomination refusal?

Generally yes, provided the refusal reason isn't something that would recur with the new employer. A refusal tied to one employer's specific position (genuine need, salary, recruitment practices) doesn't automatically carry over to a fresh nomination from a different sponsor. A skills mismatch specific to you would still need to be resolved regardless of employer.

What's the difference between Temporary Residence Transition and Direct Entry for a 186 restart?

Temporary Residence Transition is for workers who've already worked for the nominating employer on a 457 or 482, in the nominated occupation, for the qualifying period, and doesn't require a fresh skills assessment. Direct Entry is for everyone else and requires a positive skills assessment plus a set period of relevant work experience. A TRT refusal for not yet finishing the qualifying period doesn't disqualify you from Direct Entry with a different employer, but Direct Entry has its own, generally stricter, evidence bar.