Recruit workers from the Philippines to Australia

Why Australian employers recruit from the Philippines

Jobs and Skills Australia's employer survey for the June quarter 2026 puts recruitment difficulty for Technicians and Trades Workers at 58 % — the highest of any occupation group — with 53 % of those employers unable to fill a vacancy within a month. Machinery Operators and Drivers follow at 54 % (smaller sample). That is the gap Filipino trades fill: welders, fabricators, mechanics, carpenters, electricians and fitters with English as a working language, TESDA-certified trades and years of experience on international projects.

The Philippines has sent skilled workers abroad for fifty years under a state system built for it — the Department of Migrant Workers licenses agencies, verifies foreign employers through its embassies and clears every departure. For an Australian employer that means one thing: the Philippine side is regulated, and if it is done properly it is predictable.

The route, end to end

• Brief — roles, headcount, site, start date. We confirm the occupation is on the Core Skills Occupation List and whether a TRA skills assessment applies to Philippine passport holders for it.
• Sponsorship — your Standard Business Sponsor approval, or the application for it, runs in parallel with sourcing.
• Sourcing and trade test — Prime Search sources from its own candidate base and tests candidates at its facilities in Makati to your specification; you join live online or on site.
• Your interview and selection — same day as the test, or from recorded tests and evaluations.
• Australian nomination — labour-market testing (advertising to the Australian labour market for the prescribed period), nomination at or above the Core Skills Income Threshold, Skilling Australians Fund levy.
• Skills assessment — TRA file prepared in Manila where the occupation requires it.
• Philippine compliance — employer verification at MWO Canberra, DMW job order, employment contract signed and verified before departure.
• Visa, medical, pre-departure orientation, Overseas Employment Certificate — then flight and onboarding with you.

The Philippine side, done properly

Recruitment in the Philippines runs through our own DMW-licensed agency, Prime Search Manpower Agency Inc. in Makati (licence DMW-027-LB-11182024). Your employment documents are verified by the Migrant Workers Office at the Philippine Embassy in Canberra, the job order is registered with the Department of Migrant Workers, and every selected worker leaves Manila with a verified contract, medical clearance, pre-departure orientation and an Overseas Employment Certificate.

This matters in Australia more than in most markets: the Philippines bans direct hiring of its workers. An Australian employer may name-hire at most five Filipino workers under a DMW exemption; beyond that, recruitment through a DMW-licensed Philippine agency is mandatory.

The Australian side

On the Australian side, the standard route is the Skills in Demand visa (subclass 482), Core Skills stream: your company holds (or obtains) Standard Business Sponsor approval, advertises the role to the Australian labour market for the required period, and nominates the position at or above the Core Skills Income Threshold — AUD 79,423 from 1 July 2026 — or the market rate, whichever is higher. The occupation must be on the Core Skills Occupation List. The visa runs for up to four years, with a permanent pathway through the Employer Nomination Scheme (subclass 186) — Direct Entry where eligible, or the Temporary Residence Transition stream usually after two years of eligible sponsored employment. Home Affairs lodgements are made by a registered migration agent, a legal practitioner or your company itself; we prepare the recruitment, skills-assessment and Philippine-compliance file and coordinate — we do not provide Australian immigration advice.

For Philippine passport holders, Trades Recognition Australia's skills assessment is mandatory before the visa for most trades. We build the TRA evidence file — documented experience, employer references, trade test results — in Manila, before your nomination is lodged, so the assessment does not become the critical path.

Frequently asked questions

• Who is the employer of the worker?

  Your company. The employment contract is between you and the worker; we are the recruitment and process partner on both sides. There is no agency in the employment relationship.

• How long does it take?

  Typically four to eight months from brief to arrival, driven by labour-market testing, the skills assessment and Home Affairs processing. Sourcing and trade testing in Manila run in parallel and are usually complete in two to four weeks.

• Which trades can we actually sponsor?

  Any occupation on the Core Skills Occupation List — most engineering, metal, automotive, construction and health trades. Plant operators, concreters and general production roles are not on the list and need a Designated Area Migration Agreement or other labour agreement; we tell you which applies before you commit.

• Do we need a migration agent?

  Home Affairs lodgements are usually handled by a registered migration agent — yours or one we work with. We prepare the recruitment, trade-test and Philippine-compliance side and hand over a complete file.