1. PERMANENT EMPLOYMENT VISAS
The Australian work sector has often been said to be lacking 
professionals and tradespersons in various areas. In an effort to stimulate the economy in regional and rural areas, migrants have for some time been encouraged to settle in regional areas.
From 1 July 2012, the permanent employment visa regime was extensively revised, and the number of visas reduced to 2. There are no longer distinctions between offshore and onshore applications:
- Employer Nomination Scheme (ENS) (186) visa, and
- Regional Sponsored Migration Scheme (RSMS) (187) visa.
Since 1 July 2012, the ENS (186) and RSMS (187) visas are each split into three streams:
- Direct Entry Stream – for persons, either in Australia or overseas, who are seeking permanent residence through a nomination by an Australian employer,
- Temporary Residence Transition (TRT) Stream – for persons who had already been sponsored for employment by an Australian employer on 457 temporary visas and who are now seeking permanent residence through a nomination by the same employer, and
- Agreement Stream – for persons, either in Australia or overseas, who are seeking permanent residence through a nomination by an Australian employer under a Labour Agreement.
The ENS and RSMS scheme allows Australian employers to nominate highly skilled workers for permanent entry to Australia to fill vacancies where no suitable local candidate could be found.
The permanent Subclass 187 – RSMS closed on 16 November 2019 except for people subject to transitional arrangements and was replaced by the provisional Subclass 494 – Skilled Employer Sponsored Regional (Provisional) visa. The exception of arrangements are for people either a transitional 457 worker or a transitional 482 worker.
2. OTHER TEMPORARY WORK VISAS
There are many visas which cater for various temporary work circumstances, ranging from those who simply wish to make a brief business visit, to those who come for several years to work for an employer in Australia.
The number of temporary work visas from 24 Nov 2012 are:
- 400 Temporary work (short stay activity)
- 401 Temporary work (long stay activity)
- 402 Training and research
- 403 Temporary work (International relations)
- 420 Temporary work (Entertainment)
- 482 Temporary work (Skilled)
- 408 Temporary activity
- 417 Working holiday
- 462 Work and holiday