Planning the move · Moving to Australia

Australian skilled visa 482 — how much must you earn now? The money view of Skills in Demand

By Jai Kim · 6 July 2026 · 8 min read

Talk about skilled migration to Australia and people usually start with the occupation list.

“Is my job on the list?” · “Do chefs qualify?” · “Are developers still fine?” · “If a company sponsors me, can it lead to PR?”

All important. But at Hanho Money we frame it a little differently. This visa is, ultimately, a money question.

Not that money buys the visa. The opposite, in fact — money alone won’t get it. The sponsor, occupation, experience, English, market salary, and the employer’s eligibility all have to line up.

But since late 2024, when the old TSS 482 became the Skills in Demand (SID) 482 system, “how much you must earn” matters more. Australia’s lens on skilled migration has shifted from the occupation name toward wages, productivity, and genuine demand.

The short version

The old TSS 482 became the Skills in Demand (SID) 482 system from December 2024.
The core streams are Specialist Skills, Core Skills, and Labour Agreement.
Income thresholds rose from 1 July 2025.
Core Skills is A$76,515; Specialist Skills is A$141,210.
The PR route is shorter than before — but it isn’t automatic.
The calculation that really matters is the 12–18 months of cash-flow runway, not the application fee.

① The 482 changed — from TSS to SID

Many people just called it the “482” or the “TSS visa” — Temporary Skill Shortage. From December 2024 it became the Skills in Demand visa. Still subclass 482, but with a new name and structure.

The point is the direction Australia is heading: not “if it’s a shortage occupation, bring them in,” but “is this genuinely needed skill, and a job paid at Australian wage standards?”

So with a SID visa, the occupation list alone isn’t enough. You have to look at the salary threshold, the market salary, the sponsoring company’s credibility, and the PR route beyond it.

② Three streams — the money bar differs more than the name

Stream	Rough meaning	Money bar
Specialist Skills	High-income professionals	High salary threshold
Core Skills	General skilled/professional	Core threshold + occupation criteria
Labour Agreement	Industry/employer agreement	Per the agreement

Most Korean-Australians land in Core Skills — accounting, IT, engineering, chef, nursing, technician and many others are assessed here. Specialist Skills is a channel for genuinely high-income professionals (high threshold, some occupations excluded). Labour Agreement runs on agreements a specific industry or employer strikes with the government, so it’s hard to generalise.

③ How much must you earn now (as at July 2025)

From 1 July 2025 the main thresholds rose by 4.6%.

Item	Before	From July 2025
Core Skills Income Threshold (CSIT)	A$73,150	A$76,515
Specialist Skills Income Threshold (SSIT)	A$135,000	A$141,210
TSMIT	A$73,150	A$76,515

The key: “just clear the threshold” isn’t the whole story. The employer must also meet the role’s Australian Market Salary Rate. If an occupation’s market salary is higher than the threshold, meeting $76,515 alone may not be enough.

So the 482/SID salary maths is: government threshold + the role’s market salary + the company’s actual ability to pay — all three have to line up.

④ PR cut to 2 years — time is money

Many look at the 482 not for the short-term job itself but for what’s next: “Can this lead to PR?”

Previously the employer-sponsored PR route often cited three years. After the reforms, it generally moved toward reviewing the Employer Nomination Scheme (186 Temporary Residence Transition) route after two years of work.

That’s a big change, because a year isn’t just time. A year is:

12 months of rent
12 months of school fees or childcare
12 months of private health insurance
12 months of visa-renewal uncertainty
12 months of a career held in place

So cutting the PR route from three years to two isn’t merely “faster.” For a family, it means the cost of enduring uncertainty went down.

Careful, though — two years doesn’t produce PR automatically. Occupation, employer, English, age, health, character, salary, role continuity, and the employer’s willingness to sponsor all matter.

⑤ More important than processing time — the 12–18 month runway

The most common question on visa posts: “How long does processing take?”

It matters. But the more important question for Hanho Money readers is: do you have the money to hold on while you wait?

Real preparation doesn’t start on the lodgement date. It starts before:

time to find a sponsoring company
employment-contract negotiation
sorting the role and salary
preparing English scores
gathering experience and qualification evidence
deciding on family members
managing your current visa expiry
living costs during a bridging period

So when I look at a 482/SID through money, I budget at least 12–18 months of runway. That’s not the official processing time — it’s the preparation window a family’s cash flow actually needs.

Those already in Australia should be even more careful. Work conditions during the transition, the ability to change jobs, a spouse’s work rights, kids’ schooling, and the lease all interlock.

What’s scary isn’t the application fee — it’s living costs leaking away during an ambiguous stretch.

⑥ What this change means for Korean-Australians

Three groups in particular:

1) Temporary-visa holders already working in Australia — students, 485, working holiday, or bridging, looking for an employer sponsor. For them the key isn’t “does my job qualify?” but “can my salary meet the threshold and the market rate?” Entry-level roles can clear the occupation name but fail on salary.

2) Those aiming for an Australian job from Korea. Getting sponsored directly from Korea is possible, but realistically the company has to be able to explain why it’s sponsoring someone overseas — English, experience, portfolio, scarcity of the role, salary level all have to line up. Moving on a “skilled migration is opening up” headline alone can burn cost first.

3) Families preparing to migrate. The 482 looks like an individual visa, but it’s really a family financial decision — whether a spouse can work, kids’ schooling, which area to rent, the cost of private cover, how many months one income can carry.

Skilled migration is a question of occupation, but settling is a question of cash flow.

🧭 Money doesn't buy the visa

Money doesn’t buy the visa. That has to be said first. Thinking money alone is enough in Australian migration is dangerous — the 482/SID needs the employer, role, experience, English, market salary, and visa conditions to line up.

But the reverse is also risky: preparing for a visa without looking at money. In visa preparation, money isn’t a “qualification” — it’s the power to endure time. Time to find a sponsor, to build an English score, to wait on documents, to survive on a bridging visa, to wait for the PR transition. All of that time comes with rent, food, and insurance.

So before the occupation list, I ask: do you have the money to last 12 months on this plan? If not, it doesn’t mean it’s a bad plan — it means the order of the plan needs to change.

Checklist — before you look at a 482/SID

Is your occupation currently among those possible under SID/482?
Does your salary clear the CSIT or SSIT threshold?
Does it meet not just the threshold but the role’s market salary?
Does the employer have both the eligibility and the will to sponsor?
Is there enough time until your current visa expires?
Are your English score and experience/qualification documents ready?
If family come, have you costed a spouse’s work rights, schooling, and insurance?
Have you set a 12–18 month living-cost runway to the PR transition?
Have you confirmed the migration specifics with a MARA-registered agent?

So, in conclusion

SID 482 is less a signal that Australia is closing skilled migration than one of opening it more selectively. It’s moving from looking at occupation alone to looking at salary and genuine demand together — an opportunity for Korean-Australians, and at the same time a change that demands cooler maths.

Core Skills is $76,515. Specialist Skills is $141,210. These aren’t just a pay table — they’re questions Australia is asking:

“Is this job a genuinely needed skill?”
“Is this person being paid at Australian wage standards?”
“Is this employment sustainable enough to reach a PR pathway?”

The Hanho Money conclusion: a visa starts with the occupation, but settling is decided by the money runway.

Frequently asked questions

Is the Skills in Demand visa the same as the old 482?

It's the new 482 system that replaced the Temporary Skill Shortage (TSS) 482. It has run as the Skills in Demand (SID) visa since December 2024, with different requirements across the Specialist Skills, Core Skills, and Labour Agreement streams.

How much do I need to earn for a 482 in 2026?

As at publication, the Core Skills Income Threshold is $76,515 and the Specialist Skills Income Threshold is $141,210. But it depends on the occupation, market salary, sponsor, and stream — confirm with a MARA-registered migration agent.

How long from 482 to permanent residency?

The employer-sponsored PR route is shorter than before — generally reviewable after two years of work. It still depends on the occupation, employer, visa conditions, English, age, and salary requirements.

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