Before you start

A job offer from an employer holding or applying for Standard Business Sponsorship
Your occupation on the Core Skills Occupation List (CSOL)
At least one year of relevant experience in that occupation or a closely related one
A skills assessment where your occupation and passport require one
Minimum English proficiency, unless your passport or role exempts you

Step-by-step

1
Employer secures sponsorship approval
Nothing on your side can be lodged until the employer holds Standard Business Sponsorship. If they have never sponsored before, add several weeks to your timeline before the nomination even starts.
Via employerWho: Your employerSeveral weeks if applying fresh
2
Employer lodges the nomination and pays the levy
The nomination fixes your occupation, salary and location. Your pay must clear both the Annual Market Salary Rate for the role in Melbourne and the Core Skills Income Threshold, which rose to AUD 79,423 on 1 July 2026. The employer also pays the Skilling Australians Fund levy at this point.
Via employerWho: Your employer
3
Sit an English test, unless exempt
IELTS, PTE Academic, TOEFL iBT, Cambridge C1 Advanced and OET are all accepted. Check the exemptions list first — several passports and some occupations remove the requirement entirely and people book tests they never needed.
In personWho: YouBook 1–3 weeks ahead≈AUD 400–460 per sitting
4
Complete health examinations and police certificates
Medicals go through a Home Affairs panel physician in your current country. Police certificates are needed for every country you lived in for 12 months or more in the last decade, and are usually the slowest item in the whole process.
In personWho: You and any family included in the application2 weeks to 3 months depending on the country
5
Lodge the visa application through ImmiAccount
Create an ImmiAccount, attach your documents and pay the visa application charge, plus an additional applicant charge for a partner and each child.
OnlineWho: YouUse the official Visa Pricing Estimator — charges are set per stream and indexed each 1 July
6
Land in Melbourne and verify status online
There is no card to collect and no council registration. When an employer, agent or bank wants proof of your status and work rights, generate a VEVO check and email the PDF.
OnlineWho: You

Documents you’ll need

Passport valid for your intended stay
Employer nomination reference number
Evidence of at least one year of relevant experience
Skills assessment where required for your occupation
English test results, unless exempt
Panel physician health examination results
Police certificates for every country lived in 12+ months in the last decade

Things most newcomers don’t know

Melbourne is not a designated regional area, and that costs you points.

Only Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane are excluded from regional Australia. Living and working anywhere else — Geelong is 70 kilometres away and qualifies — attracts an extra 15 points for a regional nomination on the subclass 491 and opens up state nomination streams closed to metropolitan applicants. If permanent residence is the goal, where in Victoria you take the job is a strategic decision, not a lifestyle one.

Source: Home Affairs — designated regional areas

The salary floor moved to AUD 79,423 on 1 July 2026, and it moves every year.

The Core Skills Income Threshold is indexed annually against average weekly earnings. An offer negotiated in May against the old AUD 76,515 figure can fall below the line by the time the nomination is actually lodged in July. Ask for the number in writing and check it against the current threshold before you sign anything.

Source: Home Affairs — nomination salary requirements

Victorian state nomination is a separate application to a separate government.

Victoria's skilled visa nomination program selects candidates for subclass 190 and 491 nomination against its own priority sectors and its own registration of interest process, with a place allocation set each year by Home Affairs. It runs on Victoria's timetable, and being sponsored by a Melbourne employer gives you no standing in it. Note too that Victoria's 491 nomination requires you to live and work in regional Victoria — a Melbourne address does not satisfy it.

Source: Live in Melbourne — Victorian skilled visa nomination program

Your right to stay is attached to the sponsor, not the city.

You may only work for the sponsoring employer or an associated entity. If the role ends, a limited period applies to find a new sponsor and lodge a fresh nomination. Negotiate what happens on redundancy before you accept, because in Australia the employment risk and the immigration risk are the same risk.

Source: Home Affairs — subclass 482 visa conditions

Common mistakes to avoid

Taking a Melbourne role without checking whether a regional Victorian equivalent would have unlocked 15 extra points toward permanent residence.
Assuming the old TSS occupation lists still hold — the CSOL replaced them and occupations moved between lists.
Booking and paying for an English test before checking whether your passport or occupation exempts you.
Treating the Core Skills Income Threshold as the only salary test; the Annual Market Salary Rate applies as well and is assessed against Melbourne rates.
Waiting for the nomination before starting overseas police certificates, which routinely take longer than the visa decision itself.

Some of this may be out of date. Spotted something inaccurate? Help us keep it right for the next newcomer.