From the 407 Training Visa to the 482 Skills in Demand Visa

What the 407 actually is — and isn't

A 407 is granted for an approved training program with a specific sponsor, and it generally carries condition 8107, which restricts the holder to the nominated position, occupation and sponsoring business set out in the approved program — not open work rights, and not a general licence to work in the occupation for any employer. If the training arrangement ends, the sponsor is required to notify the Department, and the visa holder is generally given a limited period to find a new approved sponsor, apply for a different visa, or leave Australia.

Critically, the 407 does not itself lead anywhere. It carries no points, no work-experience credit toward a skilled visa by virtue of the visa subclass alone, and no automatic transition to any other visa. Anyone treating a 407 as a waiting room for eventual sponsorship needs to understand that the training program and a genuine skilled job are, in the Department's eyes, two different things.

Why moving to a 482 isn't a simple continuation

The 482 sponsors a genuinely skilled position on an ongoing basis, assessed against published occupation, salary and experience criteria. A training placement, even a demanding and professionally valuable one, is not automatically the same thing as the skilled role a 482 nomination requires — Home Affairs assesses a 482 nomination on whether the position is a genuine, ongoing need for a skilled worker at the appropriate level, not on the training value the role has provided the visa holder.

This matters directly for the 482's one-year relevant work experience requirement. Time spent as a trainee, particularly where the role was structured around supervised learning rather than independent skilled work, may not straightforwardly satisfy that requirement — how a specific training history is characterised and evidenced is genuinely case-specific, and getting it wrong at nomination stage can cost real time.

What has to be true for the move

In broad terms, a 407 holder moving to a 482 needs: an occupation on the Core Skills Occupation List that genuinely matches an ongoing skilled position (not the training program itself); an employer — the same sponsor or a new one — willing to become or already being an approved standard business sponsor and prepared to nominate a genuinely skilled, ongoing role rather than continue the training arrangement; a salary meeting the current Core Skills Income Threshold ($79,423 from 1 July 2026); and evidenced relevant work experience meeting the one-year threshold, which may or may not be satisfied by time spent on the 407 depending on what that time actually involved.

The employer's own obligations don't change because the worker was previously a trainee — labour market testing, sponsorship approval or renewal, and the Skilling Australians Fund levy all apply to a 482 nomination the same as any other.

Timing and condition 8107

Because condition 8107 ties a 407 holder to the specific approved training arrangement, any move toward ongoing skilled employment — whether with the same business in a different, non-training capacity, or with a different employer altogether — needs to be managed carefully against the training program's own end date and the visa's conditions. Working outside the approved training position while still holding the 407 risks breaching condition 8107, which is a serious matter for any future visa application, not just the one in progress.

If a valid 482 application is lodged while the 407 is still current, a bridging visa is generally granted and activates only if the 407 ceases before the 482 is decided — but this depends on the 482 application actually being valid, which in turn depends on the nominated position genuinely existing as a skilled role separate from the training arrangement.

Common complications

The most common issue is treating the training placement itself as the job to be nominated, when Home Affairs is looking for a genuinely distinct, ongoing skilled position. A close second is the experience gap — trainees who haven't accumulated a documented year of skilled-level work outside the structured training program can find themselves short of the 482's threshold even after a lengthy 407 placement. A third is sponsor readiness: many organisations that run 407 training programs are not standard business sponsors and have no prior experience with 482 nominations, which adds real processing time.

Because the gap between "good training placement" and "genuine skilled position that meets 482 criteria" is exactly the kind of judgement call that goes wrong without professional input, this is a transition worth discussing with a MARA-registered migration agent before the training program's end date is close, not after.

Signs the training placement might actually support a 482 nomination

Not every 407 placement is purely supervised learning with no independent skilled content — some genuinely blend structured training with real, accountable work in the occupation, and that distinction is what an agent or the Department will look for. Indicators worth raising with an agent include: whether you've held independent responsibility for tasks at the appropriate skill level, rather than always working under direct supervision; whether your role has included the kind of decision-making, client contact or technical judgement that the ANZSCO description for your occupation expects; and whether your employer is willing to describe your actual duties, in writing, in terms that go beyond "trainee" or "program participant." None of this guarantees the experience will be accepted as meeting the 482's one-year threshold, but a role with these features is in a meaningfully different position from one that was purely observational or classroom-based.

Does time on a 407 training visa count toward the 482's one-year experience requirement?

It may, if the work genuinely involved skilled-level duties beyond supervised training and can be evidenced as such. Time that was purely structured training, rather than independent skilled work, may not satisfy the requirement — this depends heavily on the specific role and how it's documented.

Can my 407 sponsor just nominate me for a 482 in the same role?

Only if the role is a genuine, ongoing skilled position separate from the approved training program — not a continuation of the training arrangement itself. The employer also needs to be an approved standard business sponsor and meet the current 482 nomination requirements.

What happens if my training program ends before I find 482 sponsorship?

Sponsors are generally required to notify the Department when a training arrangement ends, and the visa holder is typically given a limited period to find a new approved sponsor, apply for a different visa, or leave Australia. Acting well before the program's scheduled end date avoids this pressure.

Can I work for a different employer while I look for 482 sponsorship on a 407?

Condition 8107 generally restricts you to the nominated position, occupation and sponsor for the approved training program. Working outside that arrangement risks breaching your visa conditions — check your specific grant conditions before doing anything.

Does the 407 lead to permanent residency on its own?

No. The 407 has no direct pathway to permanent residence. Any onward path runs through a separate visa — most commonly the 482, and from there potentially the 186 — each assessed on its own published criteria.

Is a 407 sponsor the same as an approved 482 standard business sponsor?

Not necessarily. Sponsoring a training program and being an approved standard business sponsor for the 482 are separate approvals, and many training sponsors have not previously gone through the 482 sponsorship process.