Guides you can act on, from both practices.
Visa rules, sponsorship, contracts and structures, explained with current government charges, checklists you can tick off and calculators you can run. Written by the lawyers who lodge and draft them.
- Employer sponsorship
Visa rules for 2026-27: the six changes in force and the documents they touch
Australian visa changes in force for 2026-27: Skills in Demand, the ART, the two year 186 rule, and 1 July 2026 charges including the $4,015 482.
- Skilled migration
Victoria's Registration of Interest: The Questions It Asks a Founder
Victoria's registration of interest in 2026: what it asks, how it is read against SkillSelect, the $6,140 charge, and what a founder's company answers.
- Employer sponsorship
From TSS to Skills in Demand: What Employers Had to Change, Not Just Rename
What employers changed from TSS to Skills in Demand by 2026-27: the $79,423 floor, one year of experience, national advertising, mobility and contracts.
- Skilled migration
The genuine student requirement: five questions, one $2,500 charge, no refund
Student visa 500 in 2026: the $2,500 charge, the five genuine student questions, what a decided file contains, and the $3,727 review if refused.
- Skilled migration
State Nomination: How to Read an Occupation List Without Misreading It
How to read a state occupation list in 2026: subclass, availability and extra criteria, what the list hides, and the $6,140 charge for the 190 or 491.
- Employer sponsorship
The Sponsor Register: Get Your House in Order Before a Buyer Reads It
The proposed sponsor register and the 2026 review we recommend: contracts, the $79,423 salary line, notifications, restraints and sale warranties.
- Employer sponsorship
Sponsor first: the hiring order that keeps a sponsored offer alive
Employer sponsorship in 2026: the $420 sponsorship, $330 nomination and $1,200 or $1,800 levy, and why the offer letter comes last.
- Employer sponsorship
Skills in Demand Visa: The Three Streams Compared From the Employer's Side
Core Skills, Specialist Skills and Labour Agreement streams compared for employers in 2026-27: the $79,423 and $146,576 floors, contracts and charges.
- Commercial law
A shareholders agreement before the first dispute
Shareholders agreements in 2026: the 5 clauses founders regret leaving out, from decision thresholds and deadlock to drag, tag, vesting and exit.
- Commercial law
Selling a business with sponsored employees: share sale, asset sale and the 186 clock
Selling a business with 482 staff in 2026: a share sale keeps the sponsorship, an asset sale needs new nominations, and the 2-year 186 clock sets the date.
- Refusals and review
PIC 4020 in a Partner File: Answering the Letter Line by Line
Answering a PIC 4020 natural justice letter in 2026: the three parts of the letter, documents from your own company, the waiver, and the $3,727 review fee.
- Partner visas
Partner Visa Timing: Four Dates You Choose and One You Do Not
Partner visa timing in 2026: lodgement order, health and police dates, request deadlines and the business calendar, so the $11,710 file moves cleanly.
- Partner visas
The Officer's Chair: How We Check a Partner Visa Before It Leaves the Office
Three questions we ask before lodging a partner visa in 2026: criteria, documents on order, and consistency. The $11,710 charge is not refunded on refusal.
- Partner visas
Partner Visa Cost 2026-27: Three Couples, Three Charges
Partner visa cost 2026-27: $11,710 main applicant, $5,860 per adult, $2,935 per child, $1,955 after a subclass 300, plus the BVB and review fees.
- Refusals and review
Ministerial intervention: the free step we advise against most often
Ministerial intervention in 2026: no fee, no duty to consider, a $3,727 Tribunal decision first, and the 2025 instruction thresholds a request must meet.
- Employer sponsorship
Labour Market Testing That Holds: Two Ads, 28 Days, Four Months
482 labour market testing in 2026-27: two national ads, 28 days each, within 4 months of lodging, or the $330 nomination charge and the levy are at risk.
- Employer sponsorship
A labour agreement is a contract with the Commonwealth. Read it beside your supply contracts.
Labour agreements in 2026: company specific, industry and DAMA routes, the $79,423 threshold concession, and why the $1,200 to $5,000 levy still applies.
- Partner visas
Four Pillars, One Ledger: Relationship Evidence When One of You Owns a Business
Partner visa evidence in 2026 across the four aspects, with company records, loan security and shareholdings used properly in an $11,710 application.
- Partner visas
Form 888: Choose Witnesses for What They Saw
Form 888 for a partner visa in 2026: map witnesses to the relationship timeline, what each must contain, and business-owner cautions. $11,710 file.
- Employer sponsorship
The Cairns Chamber Comes First: The FNQ DAMA for Employers, Lease and Contract Included
The FNQ DAMA in 2026: Cairns Chamber endorsement, the labour agreement, the visas it supports and the $330 nomination plus $1,200 or $1,800 levy per year.
- Commercial law
Employment contracts for sponsored staff: what the 482 and 186 require
Sponsored staff contracts in 2026: salary at or above the $79,423 threshold, duties matching the nomination, no cost recovery and the 180-day exit rule.
- Partner visas
De Facto for Less Than a Year: Register, Wait or Marry
How de facto couples meet the 12-month rule in 2026: Victorian registration, marriage or waiting, with the $11,710 charge unchanged on every route.
- Employer sponsorship
DAMA Explained for Employers: Five Questions Before You Seek Endorsement
What a DAMA changes for a regional employer in 2026 and what it does not: the $4,015 482 charge stays, while the age, English and salary tests move.
- Employer sponsorship
Over 45 and Sponsored in the Regions: How a DAMA Moves the Age Line
How DAMA age, English and salary concessions work in 2026, from the $4,015 482 stage to the $6,140 permanent 186, and what the employer signs first.
- Employer sponsorship
The CSOL Check We Run Before Any 482 Nomination Is Lodged
How we check the 456-occupation CSOL by duties, not titles, before a 2026 482 nomination, and why the $79,423 threshold still applies once the code fits.
- Commercial law
Contract review: the eight clauses we read first
Contract review in 2026: the 8 clauses we read first in any commercial agreement, from parties and scope to liability, IP, termination and governing law.
- Commercial law
Commercial lease checklist for tenants: the clauses to settle before you sign
Commercial lease checklist for Victorian tenants in 2026: term and options, rent review, outgoings, make good, assignment and the 5-year retail minimum.
- Skilled migration
Choosing a Skilled Visa in 2026: Decide the Order, Not the Subclass
How to choose between the 189 at $6,135, the 190 and 491 at $6,140 and employer sponsorship in 2026, and where a founder's company fits in.
- Commercial law
Choosing a business structure as a founder on a temporary visa
Business structures for founder visa holders in 2026: company, trust or partnership, the 1 resident director rule, and visa conditions on self-employment.
- Skilled migration
British Professionals and the Skilled Visa: Three Documents Decide the Fit
Which skilled visa fits a British professional in 2026: 189 at $6,135, 190 and 491 at $6,140, and how the UK contract's restraint clause decides it.
- Partner visas
Work, Travel, Study: The Bridging Visa Questions Every 820 Applicant Asks
Bridging visas during an 820 application in 2026: when the BVA starts, work rights for business owners, the $575 Bridging visa B, and the 35-day clock.
- Employer sponsorship
Becoming a Standard Business Sponsor: What the Approval Covers and What It Binds
Standard Business Sponsor approval in 2026-27: which entity applies, the $420, $330 and levy charges, the obligations and what a sale of business changes.
- Refusals and review
The Tribunal deadline is a business deadline: ART review for sponsors and workers
ART review in 2026: the $3,727 fee, the 21 day onshore deadline, who applies when a nomination is refused, and how a business owner runs the review.
- Partner visas
820/801 or 309/100: Choosing the Partner Visa Pathway When the Applicant Runs a Business
Onshore 820/801 or offshore 309/100 in 2026: lodgement-day location, work rights and business structure decide the pathway. One $11,710 charge either way.
- Employer sponsorship
The 482 to 186 plan starts on the first day of the 482
482 to 186 in 2026: two years with the sponsor, under 45 at lodgement, the $6,140 charge, and the restructure risk a two year plan catches early.
- Employer sponsorship
482 Salary Tests Explained: Drafting the Pay Clause So the Nomination Passes
The three 482 salary tests for 2026-27: the $79,423 and $146,576 thresholds, the market rate and how we draft the pay clause so the nomination passes.
- Employer sponsorship
482 English Evidence in 2026: Tests, Scores, Re-sits and the Date in the Offer Letter
482 English evidence in 2026: the seven approved tests, IELTS 5.0 per component, single re-sits, the three-year clock and the $4,890 charge at 186.
- Employer sponsorship
482 Eligibility in Order: Who Owns Each of the Seven Requirements
482 visa eligibility for 2026-27 in the order it is decided: sponsor, nomination, occupation, one year of experience, English and the $4,015 charge.
- Skilled migration
190 or 491: The Contract Clause That Decides Whether Regional Is a Detour or a Home
190 vs 491 in 2026: both charge $6,140, the 191 costs $630, and the employment contract of a 491 holder in a regional branch can make or break the route.
- Skilled migration
A 189 Invitation Has Arrived: What Changes, and What Must Not
After a 189 invitation in 2026: points lock at that date, 60 days to lodge at $6,135, the bridging visa, and why the job and the profile must stay fixed.
- Skilled migration
189, 190 and 491 Compared: Who Holds the Lever at Each Stage
189, 190 and 491 compared for 2026: $6,135 against $6,140, 5 or 15 nomination points, who invites you and what you promise after grant.
- Employer sponsorship
A 186 nomination starts with the employment contract, not the form
186 nomination in 2026: the $6,140 visa charge, $540 nomination and $3,000 or $5,000 levy, and the contract review that makes the file decision-ready.
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