Employer Nomination Scheme visa (subclass 186)

ENS Visa

The ENS Visa is a permanent residence visa which allows businesses to sponsor non-Australians for a full-time position. The ENS visa allows the holder to work, bring family to work or study and travel in and out of Australia as often as they want.

The visa has three streams:
  1. The Direct Entry stream.
  2. The Temporary Residence Transition stream (This stream is for subclass 457 visa holders)
  3. The Agreement stream (This stream is for people sponsored by an employer through a labour agreement.)
The ENS visa process includes two steps:
  1. Nomination by an approved Australian employer

  2. Application under the nominated stream

Who can get the ENS visa? To apply, applicants must be nominated to work in an approved occupation on the Consolidated Skilled Occupation List. For more information about the approved occupations, please contact us. In order to qualify for this visa, applicants must also show that:
  1. They have the appropriate level of English language ability.

  2. They have the necessary skills and qualifications to do the job. If it is mandatory to hold a licence, registration or membership in order to perform an occupation in Australia, the primary 186 visa applicant must hold that licence, registration or membership or be already fully assessed as suitable by the relevant body.

  3. They are under the age of 50.

  4. They and their accompanying family members satisfy standard health and character requirements. Applicants might be exempt from one or more of the requirements above.

Cost: visa application fees are $3,600 for the main applicant, $1,800 for every secondary applicant who is at least 18 and $900 for every secondary applicant who is less than 18. Additional fees may apply under certain circumstances. The employer nomination fee is $540 for nomination under the Direct Entry and the Temporary Residence Transition streams.