Subclass 407 Occupational Training

The Subclass 407 Training visa lets an Australian business sponsor an overseas worker, graduate or intern to undertake structured, workplace-based occupational training for up to two years. It has no occupation list and no Labour Market Testing requirement, but it does require your business to be an approved Temporary Activities Sponsor and to deliver a genuine, documented training plan. Resource Visa prepares these applications for Australian employers.

What the 407 is for

Training. Not productive work with a training label attached, which is the distinction the whole visa turns on.

Used properly it supports:

Bringing offshore graduates or interns in for structured work experience
Training employees from a group's overseas operations on Australian systems and standards
Meeting Australian licensing or registration requirements that need supervised local hours
Building capability ahead of a future 482 sponsorship
Bridging a gap between an overseas qualification and its Australian equivalent

The three training categories

Occupational training required for registration. Where an Australian licence, registration or professional body membership requires supervised practical training.

Occupational training to improve skills in an eligible occupation. Structured workplace training in the person’s existing occupation.

Occupational training for capacity building overseas. Including professional development delivered to overseas employees of a group business.

Which category applies changes the evidence required, and picking the wrong one is a common reason applications come back with questions.

What your business has to do

Be an approved Temporary Activities Sponsor, or become one
Prepare a structured, tailored training plan that meets Departmental requirements
Demonstrate that the training is genuine, structured and not primarily productive work
Show the training supports professional development, licensing or registration objectives
Ensure the applicant meets English, health and character criteria

What a compliant training plan actually looks like

This is where most 407 applications are won or lost, and where most employers underestimate the work.

A compliant plan sets out the training programme week by week or phase by phase: what will be taught, who is delivering it, what supervision arrangements are in place, how competence will be assessed, and what the trainee will be able to do at the end that they could not do at the start.

A plan that describes the role rather than the training is the single most common defect. If the document reads like a position description, it is not a training plan.

We prepare these plans with your operations and training people rather than asking you to produce one — a migration adviser who hands you a template and asks you to fill it in is handing you the hardest part of the application.

Where the 407 fits a workforce strategy

The 407 is most valuable as a bridge. A graduate from a group’s overseas operation trains in Australia, builds Australian experience and local licensing, and becomes a credible 482 nomination in a way they were not before. For employers with structural skills gaps, that is a more durable answer than repeatedly recruiting offshore for the same role.

Sponsoring an ongoing role under the 482

When the 407 is the wrong instrument

If the person will be doing the same productive work as your existing employees, with training as an incidental benefit, it is not a training visa matter. The Department assesses this on substance, not labels.

If you need the skill now and the person already has it, that is a 400 or a 482 depending on whether the role is time-bound or ongoing — training is not the mechanism for getting a competent person onto site quickly.

We will tell you which of these applies at the briefing.

How a mobilisation runs

Same business day

Triage call

The work, the site, the dates, the fit, and an honest read on whether the 400 is the right instrument.

Within 24 hours

One document request

A single consolidated list, not a drip-feed. The one variable nobody controls is how fast your documents reach us, which is why we ask for everything once, on day one.

Within 48 hours of a complete file

Lodged

Business case assembled and evidenced, your review, then lodgement. A commitment about how fast we work, not about how the Department decides, which no adviser controls.

Ongoing

Crews and standing arrangements

For OEM service divisions and shutdown contractors that mobilise repeatedly: preferred-supplier arrangements, batch mobilisations against your shutdown calendar, one nominated contact.

Frequently asked questions

How long can someone stay on a Subclass 407 Training visa?

Up to two years, depending on the training programme.

Does the 407 require Labour Market Testing?

No, and there is no occupation list restriction either. The requirement it does carry is a genuine, structured, documented training plan.

Does our business need to be an approved sponsor?

Yes — an approved Temporary Activities Sponsor. This is a different approval from the Standard Business Sponsorship used for the Subclass 482. Resource Visa can prepare both.

Can a 407 lead to a 482 or permanent residence?

It can form part of a pathway. Time on a 407 builds Australian experience and can support later licensing or registration, which may strengthen a subsequent 482 nomination. It is not an automatic progression and should not be presented to a candidate as one.

Can the trainee do normal productive work?

Not as the substance of the engagement. Some productive work incidental to genuine training is expected; an engagement that is productive work with a training wrapper is not a 407 matter.

Book a 20-minute mobilisation briefing

Twenty minutes. No obligation. Direct with our principal. Tell us the role, the site and the date.

Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm AWST