Skills in Demand visa: recruiting overseas workers for Australian employers

The three steps

• Sponsorship — your company applies to become a Standard Business Sponsor; approval is reusable for every nomination for its validity period.
• Nomination — for each position: occupation on the Core Skills Occupation List, labour-market testing evidence (advertising for the required period), salary at or above the Core Skills Income Threshold or the annual market salary rate, genuine position, Skilling Australians Fund levy.
• Visa — the worker applies with the nomination: skills assessment where the occupation-and-passport rule requires it, English, health and character.

What is specific to Filipino workers

For Philippine passport holders, a Trades Recognition Australia skills assessment is mandatory before the visa for most trades — welders, metal fabricators, fitters, carpenters, motor and diesel mechanics, electricians, chefs and cooks among them. It is the one step that can add months if it is started late; we build the evidence file in Manila in parallel with your nomination.

Separately, the Philippine exit process — MWO Canberra employer verification, DMW job order, contract verification, Overseas Employment Certificate — runs through a DMW-licensed agency. The two systems are independent and we run them concurrently.

Streams and alternatives

The Specialist Skills stream (income threshold AUD 146,576) is for high earners and rarely relevant to trades. The Labour Agreement stream covers Designated Area Migration Agreements and industry agreements such as aged care. For regional employers the Skilled Employer Sponsored Regional visa (subclass 494) is an alternative with its own permanent pathway. This page is general information, subject to applicable Australian skills assessment, licensing, occupation and visa requirements, and is not migration advice.

Frequently asked questions

• How long does the whole thing take?

  Sponsorship approval, labour-market testing, nomination and visa processing typically add up to four to eight months from brief to arrival. Sourcing and trade testing in Manila fit inside that window.

• Can we pay less than the Core Skills Income Threshold?

  No. Nominations must meet the threshold or the market rate, whichever is higher; the threshold is indexed every July.

• Do we need labour-market testing if the trade is in shortage?

  Yes, unless a specific exemption or a labour agreement applies; the Core Skills list does not remove the advertising requirement.