Skilled migration, explained
Before anyone quotes you a fee, understand the system. There are only a few real routes: an employer sponsors you, an employer nominates you for permanent residence, you train under a sponsor, or you compete on points in a pool and wait to be invited. Everything else is a variation on those four.
These pages are general information about how each route works. They are not immigration advice, and One Call Solution does not lodge visa applications or promise outcomes.
The routes
The landscape
Almost all confusion about Australian skilled migration comes from mixing up two different axes. First, is the visa temporary or permanent. Second, does an employer sponsor you, or do you compete on points against everyone else in a pool. Every route below sits somewhere on that grid.
| Route | Temporary or permanent | How you get selected | What it usually needs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Subclass 482 | Temporary | An approved Australian employer sponsors and nominates you for a specific role. | A skilled occupation on the relevant list, relevant work experience, English at the required level, and a genuine sponsoring employer. |
| Subclass 186 | Permanent | An Australian employer nominates you, either directly or after you have worked for them on a 482. | An eligible occupation, a skills assessment in most cases, competent English and an age limit, with limited exemptions. |
| Subclass 407 | Temporary | An approved sponsor nominates you for a structured occupational training plan. | A genuine training plan, not an ordinary job offer. It is for skills development, and it does not carry its own permanent pathway. |
| EOI and SkillSelect (189, 190, 491) | Permanent or provisional | You lodge an Expression of Interest and wait. Invitations go to the highest-scoring candidates in your occupation. | A positive skills assessment, a points score that clears the current invitation cut-off, English test results, and often a state or territory nomination. |
| New Zealand AEWV | Temporary | An accredited New Zealand employer offers you a role that passes a job check. | Employer accreditation, a job check against the local labour market, and the skill and pay thresholds in force at the time. |
Occupation lists, points cut-offs, income thresholds and age limits are changed by government, sometimes at short notice, and the detail above is a summary rather than the legal test. Read the current rules on the Department of Home Affairs website and, before you act, confirm your situation with a registered migration agent.
These pages explain how the Australian and New Zealand skilled visa routes operate, so you can understand the landscape before you commit time or money to any of them. They are not immigration assistance, and nothing here is tailored to your circumstances. Occupation lists, points cut-offs, income thresholds and processing times are changed by government, sometimes at short notice. Before you rely on anything you read here, confirm it against the Department of Home Affairs website and with a registered migration agent. One Call Solution does not lodge visa applications on your behalf and cannot promise an outcome.
Read this first
If your occupation is not on the list, the strongest CV in Pakistan will not open the door. Check that before you pay anyone a rupee.
Most people who contact us about migration have been quoted a fee before they were told which visa they were being quoted for. Read these pages first. If the route does not fit your occupation, age or English, no fee will fix that.
Employer-sponsored and points-tested routes both start from a skilled occupation list. If your occupation is not on the relevant list, the strongest CV in Pakistan will not open the door. That is the first thing to check, not the last.
In a points-tested route, an Expression of Interest that sits below the current invitation cut-off simply never gets invited. Age, English band, skilled experience and qualifications drive that score, and only two of them can still be improved.
We are education consultants. Immigration assistance in Australia is regulated, and it must be given by a registered migration agent. These pages explain the system. They are not advice on your case, and we will point you to a registered agent for that.
Questions
No. In Australia, immigration assistance is regulated under the Migration Act 1958 and must be provided by a registered migration agent. These pages are general information about how the visa routes work. For advice on your own case, and for lodgement, you need a registered migration agent.
The 482 is temporary and the 186 is permanent. Both are employer led. On a 482, an approved employer sponsors you for a role they could not fill locally. The 186 is permanent residence, either applied for directly where you meet the requirements, or through the Temporary Residence Transition stream after you have worked for your sponsoring employer. The exact eligibility rules and the qualifying periods change, so check the current settings.
That is what the points-tested routes exist for. You submit an Expression of Interest in SkillSelect and, if your points score is high enough for your occupation, you may be invited to apply for a visa such as the 189, 190 or 491. No employer is needed, but you do need a positive skills assessment, English test results, and a score that clears the invitation cut-off, which moves.
You need an accepted English test for essentially every skilled route. IELTS and PTE Academic are both widely accepted, and the required band depends on the visa and on how many points you are trying to claim. In a points-tested route the difference between competent and superior English is worth a significant number of points, which is often the difference between an invitation and silence.
No. The 407 exists for structured occupational training, and it is assessed against a genuine training plan rather than an ordinary job offer. It does not carry a permanent pathway of its own. Anyone presenting it as a shortcut to PR is misrepresenting it.
There is no single answer, and be sceptical of anyone who gives you one. Skills assessments, English tests, employer sponsorship or nomination, invitation rounds and visa processing each have their own timelines, and the Department publishes processing times that shift. Treat any promise of a fixed timeframe as a warning sign.
Most skilled visas allow eligible family members to be included, with additional requirements and costs for each. The definitions of an eligible family member and the evidence required are specific, so confirm your situation with a registered migration agent rather than relying on a general page like this one.
We can walk you through how each of these visas works and what the current rules ask for. For advice on your own circumstances, and for lodging an application, you need a registered migration agent, and we will say so plainly rather than take a fee we should not take.
Sunday to Friday, 9am to 8pm. Offices in Parramatta and Lahore.