Reviewed by Navpreet Aulakh, Registered Migration Agent, MARN 2619467. Processing times and priority processing dates in this article were checked against the Department of Home Affairs on 4 September 2026.
The Employer Nomination Scheme (subclass 186) visa is the main employer sponsored route to permanent residence in Australia, and the question almost every applicant asks first is how long it will take. The published figures are a starting point, but they are not the number that will actually govern your case. Priority processing under Ministerial Direction No. 119 matters far more, and it is the part most applicants have never had explained to them.
How long does the 186 visa take right now?
These are the Department's published processing times for recently decided applications, checked on 4 September 2026:
| Stream | 50% decided within | 90% decided within |
|---|---|---|
| Direct Entry Pathway | 13 months | 21 months |
| Temporary Residence Transition Pathway | 14 months | 22 months |
| Labour Agreement Pathway | 58 days | 12 months |
The Department attaches the same warning to all three streams: it is receiving a high volume of applications in this group, and that has affected the time taken to allocate and assess them.
Read those numbers correctly. The 50 per cent figure is a median, not a target. Half of all decided applications took longer than 13 or 14 months, and one in ten took close to two years. The figures also describe applications that have already been decided, so they are a rear-view mirror rather than a forecast.
Why the published times are not the whole story
Since Ministerial Direction No. 119 took effect, subclass 186 applications are not processed in the order they arrive. They are sorted into priority groups, and the Department works through each group at a different pace. This is why two people who lodged in the same week can have completely different waits.
As at 4 September 2026, the Department reported it was processing 186 applications lodged in:
| Priority group | Currently assessing applications lodged |
|---|---|
| Australian law enforcement or defence interests | As received |
| Construction, healthcare and teaching occupations, applicant in Australia when they applied | August 2025 |
| All other applications, applicant in Australia when they applied | November 2024 |
| All other applications, applicant outside Australia when they applied | July 2024 |
This table is the single most useful thing on this page. Find your row and you can estimate your position far more accurately than any median can tell you.
Two things stand out. First, a construction, healthcare or teaching applicant who was onshore when they applied is being assessed roughly a year sooner than everyone else. Second, applying from outside Australia currently costs you several months against an otherwise identical onshore application. If your occupation and circumstances give you a choice about where you are when you lodge, that choice has a measurable effect on your timeline.
Nomination and visa are two separate applications
A 186 case is not one application. Your employer lodges a nomination, and you lodge a visa application. Both must be approved, and the published processing times describe the visa stage.
In practice the two are usually lodged together and assessed by the same case officer, so a weak nomination delays the visa as surely as a weak visa application does. Most of the avoidable delay sits on the employer's side: an unclear position description, a salary that does not clearly meet the applicable income threshold, or evidence that the role is genuine and ongoing that arrives late.
Skilled visa income thresholds were indexed on 1 July 2026 in line with movements in Average Weekly Ordinary Time Earnings, so a nomination prepared against last year's figure can fail on salary alone. Check the current threshold before the nomination is lodged, not after.
How long each stream takes, and why they differ
Temporary Residence Transition (TRT)
TRT is for people already working for their sponsoring employer, usually on a subclass 482 or 457 visa or an eligible bridging visa, who have generally completed at least two years of full-time eligible sponsored employment with that employer.
At 14 months to the median and 22 months at the 90th percentile, TRT is currently the slowest of the three streams on paper. That surprises people, because TRT applicants are already onshore, already working and already known to the Department. The volume of 482 holders reaching the two-year mark is the reason. If your occupation is not in construction, healthcare or teaching, you are in the November 2024 queue.
If you are on a 482 and planning this step, our guide to the subclass 482 Skills in Demand visa covers the temporary stage that precedes it.
Direct Entry
Direct Entry is for applicants nominated by an employer without a preceding period of sponsored employment. Your occupation must be on the relevant list of eligible skilled occupations, you need at least Competent English, and a suitable skills assessment is required for most occupations.
At 13 months to the median it is marginally faster than TRT, but it carries more front-end risk. A skills assessment that has not been obtained, or that does not match the nominated occupation, is one of the most common reasons a Direct Entry case stalls. The assessment itself can take months and sits outside the Department's processing time entirely.
Labour Agreement
Where the employer is party to a labour agreement, the published times drop sharply: 58 days to the median and 12 months at the 90th percentile. That gap between the median and the 90th percentile is wide, which reflects how much variation there is between individual agreements. The speed comes from the terms having been negotiated in advance, so the assessment is narrower.
What makes a 186 application take longer than it should
Setting priority processing aside, these are the delays that are within your control:
- An incomplete application at lodgement. Applications that are decision ready are assessed once. Applications that generate a request for further information go to the back of an officer's queue and can lose months.
- Skills assessment timing. Starting the assessment after lodgement rather than before.
- Health and character checks. Police certificates from countries with slow issuing processes, or a medical that flags a condition requiring further review.
- Salary evidence that does not line up. Payslips, the contract and the nomination stating different figures.
- Employer viability questions. A recently established business, or one whose financials do not obviously support the position, will attract more scrutiny.
- Changing employers mid-application. This generally means a new nomination and restarts the clock.
What you can do to speed it up, and what you cannot
There is no fee you can pay to jump the queue in the 186 program, and any agent who suggests otherwise is not being straight with you. What genuinely helps:
- Lodge decision ready. Skills assessment done, health and police checks obtained, salary evidence consistent. This is the highest-leverage thing available to you.
- Lodge onshore where you legitimately can. The current priority dates give onshore applicants a real advantage.
- Check whether your occupation sits in a priority group. Construction, healthcare and teaching occupations are being assessed roughly a year ahead of the rest.
- Respond to any request for information immediately and completely. A partial response usually produces a second request.
- Keep your ImmiAccount details current so nothing is missed.
What does not help: repeatedly contacting the Department for updates on an application that is within the published timeframe, or withdrawing and re-lodging in the hope of a better outcome. Re-lodging puts you at the back of the queue with a fresh application charge.
What happens to your status while you wait
If you applied onshore and held a substantive visa at the time, you will generally be granted a bridging visa that keeps you lawful once your current visa ends. Whether that bridging visa carries work rights and travel rights depends on the bridging visa you are granted and its conditions, and it does not automatically match the visa you held before.
Given that the median wait is over a year and the 90th percentile is close to two, this matters. Check the conditions on your bridging visa grant notice rather than assuming they mirror your 482. If you need to travel while you wait, confirm your travel rights before you book anything.
What the 186 costs
The visa application charge starts from AUD 6,140 for the main applicant, with additional charges for family members included in the application. Concessions apply in limited circumstances, and from 1 July 2026 a lower charge applies to eligible Pacific Island and Timor-Leste citizens. Nomination fees, the Skilling Australians Fund levy, skills assessment fees, health checks and police certificates sit on top of that, and the levy is the employer's cost.
How 186 timing compares with the points-tested routes
Applicants often assume employer sponsorship is the fast route to permanent residence. On current published figures it is not. These are the Department's times for the main skilled permanent visas, all checked on 4 September 2026:
| Visa | 50% decided within | 90% decided within |
|---|---|---|
| Skilled Independent (subclass 189), points-tested | 7 months | 8 months |
| Skilled Nominated (subclass 190) | 5 months | 17 months |
| Employer Nomination Scheme (subclass 186), Direct Entry | 13 months | 21 months |
| Employer Nomination Scheme (subclass 186), TRT | 14 months | 22 months |
The 189 is currently the most predictable of the four: seven months to the median and only eight at the 90th percentile, which is an unusually tight spread. The 190 has a faster median but a much longer tail, reflecting the state nomination step sitting in front of it.
This does not mean the 186 is the wrong choice. It is the right choice for most people whose pathway runs through an employer, particularly on a 482 where TRT is the natural next step, and it does not require you to score points or wait for an invitation. But if your occupation and points score would realistically support a points-tested application, it is worth testing that before committing to a queue that is currently twice as long. Our comparison of the 189, 190 and 491 skilled visas sets out what each one requires, and the skilled migration points test guide covers how the score is built.
The honest position is that the two paths are not mutually exclusive. Some applicants hold a 482, work toward TRT, and separately keep an expression of interest live for a points-tested visa. Whether that is sensible in your case depends on your occupation, your age and your points, and it is worth a proper look rather than a guess.
Frequently asked questions
Is the 186 faster than the 482?
No. The 482 is a temporary visa with a much shorter assessment, while the 186 is permanent residence and is assessed far more thoroughly. Most people reach the 186 through the 482 rather than instead of it.
My application is past the published processing time. What now?
Published times are a guide, not a commitment, and the priority groups above explain most cases that run long. Check which group you sit in first. If your case is genuinely outside the pattern for your group, that is worth reviewing properly rather than simply waiting.
Does using a migration agent make it faster?
An agent cannot change your place in the queue. What a registered agent can do is make the application decision ready at lodgement, which avoids the requests for information that add months. That is where the time is won or lost.
Can I work while my 186 is being processed?
Usually yes if you applied onshore and hold a bridging visa with work rights, but this depends on the specific bridging visa granted and its conditions. Read your grant notice.
Does the two-year TRT requirement have to be with one employer?
The requirement is generally full-time eligible sponsored employment with the nominating employer. Periods with a different sponsor usually do not count toward it, which is why changing jobs on a 482 can reset your pathway.
Will processing times improve?
The Department has flagged high application volumes as the cause of the current timeframes. Priority dates move as the Department works through each group, so the position described here will change. This page records the position as at 4 September 2026.
Talk to a registered migration agent
Nanak Migration Group is a MARA-registered agency led by Navpreet Aulakh (MARN 2619467), with consultations available in English, Hindi and Punjabi. If you are approaching the two-year mark on a 482, weighing Direct Entry against waiting for TRT, or sitting in a 186 queue with no movement, we can review where your case actually sits and what is worth doing about it.
Book your consultation on 1300 644 728 or email visa@nanakmigration.com.au.
This article is general information current as at 4 September 2026 and is not immigration assistance for your individual circumstances. Processing times, priority processing dates, income thresholds and charges are set by the Department of Home Affairs and change regularly, so confirm the current position before you act. No outcome or timeframe can be guaranteed in any visa matter.