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A working foundation in the 407 visa: its purpose, the three stages, the three nomination types and their real criteria, the structured training program, the visa criteria and conditions, and how it all comes together in practice.
Estimated study time: 1.5 hours · 1 CPD point (Category B) · pass mark 80%
The Subclass 407 Training visa is the successor to the old Subclass 402 (Training and Research) visa, introduced when the temporary work visa framework was restructured in late 2016. It is best understood as a goodwill, training visa: it lets a lawfully operating Australian organisation bring a person to Australia for a defined period of occupational training — whether to obtain a registration, to enhance existing skills, or to build capacity that the person will take back overseas.
The single most important thing to hold onto is what the visa is not. It is not a labour-supply visa. It is not a substitute for the employer-sponsored skilled visas. A person whose real intention is simply to work in Australia is not a suitable 407 applicant, and a nomination that reads as ordinary employment will be refused. Almost every other rule in this module is, in some way, a guard against the visa being used as cheap labour.
A 407 holder has restricted work rights: they may only undertake the training activity identified in the nomination and visa. Working outside that activity can lead to visa cancellation. The visa allows a stay of up to two years, with the period granted tied to the length of the approved training. A further 407 can be sought where there is a genuine and continuing need for training.
For most sponsors, a 407 case has three separate applications, usually lodged in this order:
There is an important exception. Where the sponsor is a Commonwealth agency, there are only two stages — sponsorship and visa — because a Commonwealth agency does not lodge a nomination. Instead it issues an invitation letter to the trainee setting out the dates, duration and a brief description of the training, and the trainee provides that letter with the visa application.
The stages interact, and the sequencing has practical consequences. A nomination lodged before the sponsorship is approved will not be decided until the sponsorship is decided. If the sponsorship is refused, a nomination lodged beforehand is treated as never made, and the nomination fee is refunded without the applicant having to ask. In practice you can lodge the three together to save time, but you take the risk that an early-stage refusal unwinds the later stages.
A sponsorship application is made on the approved form through ImmiAccount, with a fee of AUD $420. Sponsorships are generally approved for five years, and during that time the sponsor can nominate any number of trainees. The same temporary activities sponsorship also covers the Subclass 403 and 408 visas.
The sponsor must be lawfully operating in Australia and fall into one of these categories:
A point that catches advisers out: an individual, sole trader or sole proprietor is not an "Australian organisation" and cannot be a sponsor. If a prospective client trades as a sole trader, that is a threshold problem to resolve — often by incorporating — before anything else is attempted.
Beyond being an eligible entity, the sponsor must demonstrate that it is genuinely and lawfully operating, that there is no adverse information that should bar it, and that it has the capacity to meet the sponsorship obligations — which is essentially an assessment of viability and financial strength.
It helps to think of the sponsorship evidence in four buckets. Knowing them lets you give a client a clean document request at the first meeting rather than in dribs and drabs.
| Bucket | Typical evidence |
|---|---|
| Lawfully operating | Tax registration showing the ABN; business names extract if trading under a name; ASIC company extract for a company; relevant trust deed pages for a trust; franchise agreement pages for a franchise; tax-exemption certificate for a not-for-profit. |
| Financial capacity | At least six months of recent bank statements; the most recent tax returns; profit-and-loss statements and balance sheets; and a letter of support from a qualified accountant (CPA, CA or IPA) or a reputable financial institution summarising the organisation's ability to meet its obligations. |
| Start-up (operating under 12 months) | A detailed business plan; any contract of sale for the business; the premises lease; service contracts; evidence of staff employment; Business Activity Statements for each completed quarter; and business bank statements for the period of operation. |
| Compliance & character | Information on employment arrangements for the past 12 months for any non-citizen/non-PR staff; and disclosure of any adverse information — including investigations, administrative action or warnings by a government agency in the past three years, even where no penalty resulted. |
A nine-month-old engineering consultancy, set up as a Pty Ltd, wants to sponsor. Because it has operated for under twelve months, the standard "two years of accounts" approach is not available. Instead you build the financial-capacity case from the start-up bucket: the business plan and capital-investment evidence to show genuine intent; the office lease and the service contracts already signed to show the business is real and trading; the BAS for each completed quarter and the bank statements to show cash flow; and an accountant's letter tying it together. The entity is eligible (a company, not a sole trader), so the work is about evidencing capacity, not arguing eligibility.
Approval brings ongoing obligations by operation of law. The ones an adviser most often has to explain are:
A 407 visa is tied to its sponsor through condition 8102 (work only in relation to the training). If the holder wants to train with a different approved sponsor, the general rule is that a new visa application is required, and the new training can only begin after that visa is approved. There is a narrow exception: if the original sponsoring organisation is simply sold to a new owner and the same training program and personnel continue, a fresh visa may not be needed. And if the holder stays with the same sponsor but changes occupation or activity, a new nomination and visa are required, with the new training starting only after approval.
The nomination is where 407 cases are won or lost. It is lodged on the approved form through ImmiAccount with a fee of AUD $170. The sponsor must nominate under one of three types, each with its own criteria. If a nomination fails under one type, the Department will consider it against the others — but it is far better to select and build for the correct type from the outset. Where a role is unpaid (a genuine volunteer placement), the sponsor must show the position is not eligible for payment, with acknowledgement forms from both the trainee and the sponsor.
| Type | Purpose | Defining criterion |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Training for registration | Training is necessary to obtain mandatory registration, membership or licensing |
| 2 | Enhancing skills | Nominee has 12 months' recent experience; occupation is on the eligible list |
| 3a | Capacity building — overseas qualification | ≤ 6 months practical experience/research/observation for a foreign qualification |
| 3b | Capacity building — government support | Training supported by a government agency |
| 3c | Capacity building — professional development | Primarily classroom teaching for an overseas manager/professional |
This type applies where training is necessary to obtain a registration, membership or licence that is mandatory in the occupation, whether in Australia or the trainee's home country. The nomination should include a letter from the relevant regulatory body confirming the training is required and naming the nominee, plus the nominee's qualifications and CV. The approved duration is limited to what the registration genuinely requires, and must take prior experience into account. Note that the 407 is not appropriate where the purpose is simply to obtain a trade certificate or qualification. Where a health practitioner will treat patients as part of the training, the nomination must include evidence of conditional registration from the relevant authority.
Meridian Health, a registered clinic, wants to nominate Rahul Mehta, an overseas-trained physiotherapist. To practise in Australia he needs registration with the national board, and the board requires a defined period of supervised practice. Type 1 fits: the training is necessary to obtain a mandatory registration. The nomination includes the board's letter confirming the supervised-practice requirement and naming Rahul, his qualifications and CV, and evidence of any conditional registration he holds for the supervised period.
The board specifies twelve months of supervised practice. Rahul has already completed four months of equivalent supervised practice overseas that the board recognises. Because duration must reflect what is genuinely needed after accounting for prior experience, the nomination is built for the remaining eight months, and the visa period sought matches. Nominating a fresh twelve months would over-state the need and invite questions.
This is the workhorse type for skilled people building on existing skills. Two hard requirements define it:
The recent-experience rule exists because type 2 is about enhancing skills the person already has — not teaching an occupation from scratch. The sponsor submits the trainee's CV and qualifications to establish that experience, which may be employment or study. A trainee who is over-qualified raises the opposite problem: if they are already fully skilled and experienced in the occupation, a decision-maker may doubt that genuine further training is needed at all, so the program must clearly identify the specific skill gaps it addresses.
The training may touch on tasks from a related occupation where genuinely relevant — for instance, a trainee nominated as a hotel manager might spend limited time on front-desk or bar tasks — but the bulk of the program must sit with the nominated occupation.
Type 3 has three subcategories, each aimed at a person who will take the benefit of the training back overseas:
| Type | Stream-specific evidence |
|---|---|
| All | Training contract/agreement (incl. pay); periods and places of training; statement on the nominee's English; the structured program (for workplace-based types). |
| Type 1 | Regulatory-body letter; qualifications & CV; conditional registration (health practitioners). |
| Type 2 | Qualifications & CV evidencing the 12-months-in-24 experience; structured program. |
| Type 3a | Letter from the overseas education provider confirming the requirement. |
| Type 3b | Government-agency letter of support. |
| Type 3c | Overseas employer reference; evidence of managerial/professional role; classroom-based program. |
For the workplace-based types (notably types 2, 3a and 3b), the heart of the nomination is the structured training program. This is the document a decision-maker reads most closely, and it is where good advising shows. A strong program does all of the following:
There are two figures worth committing to memory. A structured workplace-based program should comprise at least 30 hours a week of training, and at least 70% of that training must be conducted in the workplace rather than in a classroom or similar teaching environment.
Here is the distinction that decides cases. The 30-hours figure does not mean "any 30 hours of work counts." The decision-maker is asking whether those hours are genuine structured training or ordinary productive employment dressed up as training. A program that simply says the trainee will "perform the duties of the role" full-time for twelve months reads as a job. A program that sets out sequenced learning topics, named supervision, defined teaching methods, and staged, assessable outcomes reads as training. Same hours; entirely different outcome.
Northbridge Marine, a boat-building business, wants to nominate Elena Duarte, a hull technician with 14 months' recent full-time experience in the occupation (which is on the eligible list). Their first draft program says: "Elena will work 38 hours per week assisting the production team with hull fabrication for 12 months."
That reads as employment. Reworked for type 2, the program instead: assesses Elena's current skills against the occupation; identifies specific gaps (advanced composite layup, quality-assurance sign-off, jig design); sequences these across the year from supervised practice to independent practice with review; names her supervisor, a senior technician with 18 years' experience, and the assessment points at each stage; and keeps at least 70% of the 30+ weekly hours in the workshop. Now it reads as genuine occupational training that enhances existing skills.
If you want a quick test before lodging, ask whether the program answers five questions on its face:
A program that cannot answer those questions is not yet ready, whatever its length.
The visa application is lodged by the trainee through ImmiAccount. The base visa application charge is AUD $415, with additional charges for accompanying family members. The applicant may be in or outside Australia, but not in immigration clearance. If the applicant is onshore without a substantive visa, timing rules apply — broadly, the application must be made within 28 days of last holding a substantive visa, and the last substantive visa must not be one of the excluded kinds.
A member of the family unit — broadly a spouse or de facto partner, or a dependent child — can apply as a secondary applicant, either combined with the primary application or afterwards. Because the primary applicant must hold the visa first, secondary grants can only be made after the primary is granted. Secondary applicants must be sponsored by the same sponsor, satisfy the "no payment for visas" criterion, hold adequate health insurance, intend a genuine temporary stay, and show adequate means of support. De facto relationships generally need independent evidence of a genuine and continuing relationship for at least 12 months.
All applicants must satisfy the applicable public interest criteria — covering character, security, health, debts to the Commonwealth, integrity of documents and identity, and a valid passport, among others. Adults sign the Australian values statement; additional criteria apply to applicants under 18 (including custody and best-interests considerations). Special return criteria may also apply where the applicant has an adverse immigration history. You do not need to memorise every criterion number, but you should recognise that health, character and document integrity are common refusal points and plan evidence accordingly.
| Holder | Condition | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Primary | 8102 | No work other than in relation to the training |
| Primary | 8303 | No disruptive or violent activities |
| Primary | 8501 | Maintain health insurance |
| Primary | 8516 | Continue to satisfy the grant criteria |
| Secondary | 8104 | Work no more than 40 hours per fortnight |
Note the contrast: the primary holder's work is tied to the training (8102), while a secondary applicant may work but is capped at 40 hours per fortnight (8104). Discretionary conditions (such as 8503 "no further stay") may also be imposed.
The 407 is not a "one fails, all fail" visa, so a "split grant" is possible — for example granting the primary applicant while a family member's health checks are still outstanding. As a general rule the training must be provided directly by the sponsor, unless a recognised exemption applies (for example a Commonwealth-supported arrangement, a State/Territory agency, a higher education provider, an entity in health care, scientific research, social assistance or religious services, the registration circumstances, or an associated entity of the sponsor).
A nomination approval ceases on the earliest of several events, including 12 months after approval — so the visa application needs to be made within that window. And while there is no fixed limit on holding 407 visas sequentially, each requires a genuine and continuing need for training, a continuing sponsorship, and a new application before the current visa expires; an adviser should be alert when repeated "training" starts to look like ongoing employment.
Work through each of these before moving to the assessment. Decide your answer first, then read the model response.
A successful caterer who trades as a sole trader asks you to arrange a 407 so an overseas chef can train in their kitchen. They are ready to pay and want to move fast. What is your first issue?
A client wants to nominate, under type 2, a candidate who already holds advanced qualifications and ten years' senior experience in exactly the nominated occupation. The occupation is on the eligible list and the experience requirement is easily met. Any concern?
A draft training program states: "The trainee will work 38 hours per week performing general kitchen duties under the head chef for 12 months." The client says it is accurate, so why change it?
An overseas master's student needs a four-month practical placement in an Australian lab to complete her foreign degree. Which nomination type, and what is the key evidence and limit?
Most 407 refusals trace back to one of a handful of avoidable errors:
Good advising starts before drafting: confirm the entity can sponsor, confirm the genuine training need, identify the correct stream, gather the stream-specific evidence, and then build a program that demonstrates genuine, structured, supervised, progressive training — at least 30 hours a week, at least 70% in the workplace, individually tailored. Diarise the sponsor's 28-day notification duty and the nomination's 12-month validity. Get those right and the 407 is a strong and reliable visa for the right client.
The 10 questions are drawn at random on the server from a larger bank, so each attempt differs. Your answers are marked on the server — nothing here reveals the correct answers until you submit.
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