The Government has put a number of requirements in place to ensure that overseas workers on sponsored visas are paid the market salary rate for their occupations. This is to ensure that these workers are not exploited, as well as ensuring that the migration program does not undercut the local labour market.
All overseas workers must be paid at or above the Core Skills Income Threshold (CSIT), currently $79,423 per year excluding superannuation, for nominations lodged from 1 July 2026, however employers must also demonstrate the method they used to calculate the workers’ salary. The relevant salary is known as the Annual Market Salary Rate (AMSR), which must be determined in accordance with the relevant legislative instrument.
Nominations for the Specialist Skills stream of the Subclass 482 visa are instead subject to the Specialist Skills Income Threshold (SSIT), a separate and higher threshold than the CSIT.
The AMSR is relevant for most employer sponsored visas, including the 482, 186, and 494. All nomination applications for those visas must be accompanied by evidence of how the AMSR has been calculated.
The AMSR requirements can be difficult to understand, and can even be difficult to locate. To assist you, we have outlined the AMSR requirements below.
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How to calculate the AMSR
As mentioned above, the AMSR must meet the CSIT minimum of $79,423, excluding superannuation. An employer will then have to provide further information as to how the salary was calculated. This requirement is waived if the visa applicant’s salary will be at least $250,000.
The requirements can be broken down as follows:
Where the employer has an equivalent Australian worker
If the sponsoring employer currently has an Australian worker in the same position, with the same salary, the following information must be supplied:
- If there is a relevant enterprise agreement or industrial award, you must state the relevant agreement as well as the salary level.
- If there is no EA or award, you can supply a redacted employment contract and at least two payslips for the equivalent Australian worker.
Where no enterprise agreement or award applies, industry award rates published under the Fair Work Act 2009 can still be a useful reference point when benchmarking a comparable salary, even though they are not themselves a substitute for the required evidence.
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Where there are no equivalent Australian workers
If the sponsoring employer does not have any Australian workers in the nominated occupation, the following information must be supplied:
- If there is a relevant enterprise agreement or industrial award, you must state the relevant agreement as well as the salary level.
- If there is no EA or award, you must supply at least two of the following:
- Labour Market Insights information (www.labourmarketinsights.gov.au)
- Recent job advertisements for equivalent positions in the same or similar location
- Remuneration surveys completed by a reputable organisation
- Written advice from Unions or employer associations
It is important to calculate an overseas worker’s proposed income based on the above factors to ensure that you will meet the criteria for the nomination. This should be done prior to starting Labour Market Testing, as the AMSR must be in line with the salary listed in the LMT.
Salary evidence and the risk of falling below the AMSR
Nominating a salary below the required CSIT or AMSR is one of the more common reasons a Subclass 482, 186, or 494 nomination is refused. Since the salary evidence itself must satisfy the Department of Home Affairs at the time of lodgement, employers should confirm their calculation using at least two independent market salary evidence sources before submitting a nomination, rather than relying on a single data point. Getting this wrong can result in the loss of the nomination fee and the associated Skilling Australians Fund (SAF) levy, neither of which is refunded if the nomination is refused.
If you are in Melbourne, our migration lawyers in Melbourne are well placed to support you through this process.
How Australian Migration Lawyers can help
Correctly calculating and evidencing the AMSR is one of the more technical aspects of sponsoring an overseas worker and getting it wrong can be costly. Our team at Australian Migration Lawyers can help review your proposed salary, gather the right supporting evidence, and prepare a nomination that meets both the CSIT (or SSIT) and AMSR requirements.
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