The Genuine Position
Requirement
The first question a delegate asks of any employer-sponsored nomination: is this a real job, in a real business, that genuinely needs filling the way the nomination says it does. Here is what the law requires, where it differs by visa, and the report we write to answer it.
What the requirement actually says
For a Subclass 482 nomination the criterion is in regulation 2.72(10) of the Migration Regulations 1994, and it is short: the Minister must be satisfied that the position associated with the occupation is genuine, and is a full-time position.
Two things follow from that wording. The full-time limb can be set aside — regulation 2.72(10A) lets the Minister disregard it where reasonable — so a part-time 482 nomination is legally possible, which surprises most people. The genuineness limb cannot be set aside at all. There is no discretion, no exemption and no occupation that escapes it.
There is no published definition of “genuine”. The Department’s procedural guidance is not public, and its website does not define the term. Any page that tells you “the Department requires X to prove the position is genuine” is extrapolating — including this one, where we say so. What follows is drawn from the regulations themselves and from the one piece of departmental material that has been published, an FOI-released 2019 instruction written for Regional Certifying Bodies.
It is not the same test across visas
This is where most generic advice goes wrong. “The genuine position requirement” is treated as one cross-subclass test. It is three different tests.
| Nomination | What must be established | Also required |
|---|---|---|
| Subclass 482 | The position is genuine | Full-time — but waivable |
| Subclass 494 | The position is genuine | Full-time, and likely to exist for at least 5 years. No waiver |
| Subclass 186 (both streams) | A genuine need to employ the person, under the nominator’s direct control | Full-time for at least 2 years |
Subclass 186 has no genuine position criterion
Regulation 5.19, which governs 186 nominations, contains no “the position is genuine” test. What it requires is a genuine need for the identified person to be employed in the position under the direct control of the nominator, together with full-time employment for at least two years and terms that do not expressly exclude extending it.
Direct control is the part that catches people. It imports an employee-versus-contractor analysis: who decides what work is done, when, how and where; who supplies the tools and the training. On the Department’s own published instruction, paying someone’s salary and entitlements is not in itself sufficient evidence of an employment relationship. An arrangement where the worker pays the business to use its premises points the other way entirely.
Subclass 494 carries a five-year horizon
A 494 nomination must satisfy the Minister that the position is likely to exist for at least five years, and unlike the 482 there is no power to disregard any limb of it. A regional position in a young business therefore has to be evidenced forward, not just described in the present tense.
What attracts scrutiny
The only published departmental articulation of the warning signs is that 2019 instruction. It was written for Regional Certifying Bodies rather than for delegates, and it is dated in its figures, but it is the sole public statement of what the Department treats as an indicator that a position may not be genuine:
Recent retrenchments Anyone let go from the same work in the preceding period.
Reduced hours, pay or conditions A business cutting back while nominating for a new role invites the obvious question.
Temporary visa holders on worse terms Sponsored workers employed less favourably than Australian staff doing the same work.
A structure that cannot carry the role The example given is a trading company with two directors, no other employees, nominating a General Manager.
Income that does not match the activity A business whose revenue is mostly rent from its own property, nominating for an operating role.
Claims of diversification Expressly flagged as warranting close scrutiny — a business entering a new activity and nominating into it.
A business under twelve months old Treated as a start-up and assessed accordingly, which is not fatal but is examined.
A business that cannot be verified If the premises and operation cannot be confirmed to exist, a negative assessment follows.
A start date tied to visa grant is not a problem. The same instruction says expressly that “employment will commence on the date the visa is granted” is not of itself a negative indicator. Newly created positions are routine; what matters is whether the business can explain what changed to create the need.
Capacity to employ is a separate criterion
Alongside genuineness, the regulations require the Minister to be satisfied that the business has the capacity to employ the nominee for the period of the nomination and to pay at least the annual market salary rate each year — regulation 2.72(17A) for the 482, with equivalents for 186 and 494.
In practice this is where financial evidence belongs. A position can be entirely genuine and still fail because the profit and loss cannot carry another full-time salary at the market rate. It is a different question from whether the job is real, and it is answered with different documents.
The occupation has to match the work
A nomination identifies an occupation, and the duties actually performed must correspond to it. For a 482 the occupation must appear, with its six-digit code, in the occupation instrument in force when the nomination is made.
A note on classifications, because it causes confusion: migration law still runs on ANZSCO, pinned to the edition in force on 23 November 2022. The ABS has since replaced ANZSCO with OSCA for statistical purposes and archived ANZSCO, and the regulations contain the machinery to switch — but that machinery has not been used. Nominations are still classified by ANZSCO code.
Write the position description to the work, not to the code. The commonest cause of a mismatch is a position description assembled from the ANZSCO task list. A delegate reading duties that mirror the classification word for word is being shown the code, not the job, and it reads exactly that way.
What the report contains
The business Structure, trading history, premises, turnover and workforce, evidenced rather than asserted.
Organisational chart With the nominated position placed in it, showing reporting lines and supervision.
The position description, mapped Duty by duty against the ANZSCO unit group the nomination relies on.
Why the position exists now What changed in the business to create the need, and what it cannot do without the role.
Capacity analysis The financials set against the nominated salary and the market rate.
Direct control, where the pathway requires it For 186 nominations, the employment relationship evidenced against the indicators above.
Relationships disclosed Any connection between the nominee and the business owners, addressed openly with the evidence that the position would exist regardless.
A findings table Against each limb of the criterion for the pathway, and a conclusion that follows from the evidence.
Written for the visa the nomination is lodged under
Because the test differs by subclass, so does the report. A 482 Core Skills nomination, a 494 regional nomination and a 186 Temporary Residence Transition nomination are answering materially different questions, and a labour agreement position different ones again.
You name the pathway on the form and the report is written to it — not to a generic template with the subclass changed at the top.
What we need, and what it costs
The position description, the organisational chart or a list of employees with their positions and visa status, and the financials — profit and loss at minimum. Everything else comes from the intake form. Where something is missing we ask once, in one message.
A Genuine Position report is A$600 incl GST, 10 to 12 working days as standard, with 5 to 7 working days and 1 to 2 working day options priced on the form. Ordered with a Market Salary report the pair is A$1,100; with labour market testing as well, the package price applies automatically.
General information, current at October 2026. This page explains the requirement and how we document it. Zeolla Solutions prepares migration documentation, research and reports — we are not a law practice and this is not immigration advice. Your registered migration agent or lawyer advises on the matter; we build the evidence.
Genuine Position (GP) Report
Complete the form and you receive a case reference immediately. Nothing is payable until we confirm scope and price in writing.
Common questions
What is a genuine position report?
It is the document that evidences the genuine position criterion in an employer-sponsored nomination — establishing that the role is a real, needed, full-time position that fits the business as it actually operates, that its duties match the nominated occupation, and that the business can sustain it. It is prepared for the nomination, not for the visa application.
Is the genuine position test the same for 482, 494 and 186?
No, and this is the most common misunderstanding. A 482 requires the position to be genuine and full-time, with the full-time limb waivable. A 494 adds that the position must be likely to exist for at least five years, with no waiver. A 186 has no genuine position criterion at all — it requires a genuine need to employ the person under the nominator’s direct control, full-time for at least two years.
Can a 482 nomination be part-time?
Legally, yes. Regulation 2.72(10A) allows the Minister to disregard the full-time requirement where it is reasonable to do so, and there is a matching provision that allows the salary comparison to be adjusted when that happens. It is not common and it needs to be argued, but it is not impossible the way most summaries suggest.
What if the position is newly created?
That is ordinary and not a problem. The Department’s own published guidance says a start date tied to visa grant is not of itself a negative indicator. What the report has to do is explain what changed in the business to create the need — which is a stronger answer than a role that has simply always been vacant.
The nominee is related to a director. Does that sink it?
Not on its own, but concealing it can. There is no published rule against nominating a relative. What damages a nomination is a relationship that emerges later and was nowhere in the file. The intake form asks, and the report addresses it openly alongside the evidence that the position would exist regardless.
Do you use ANZSCO or OSCA?
Nominations are still classified by ANZSCO, pinned to the edition in force on 23 November 2022 — the ABS has replaced ANZSCO with OSCA for statistical purposes, but migration law has not followed. We map duties to the ANZSCO unit group the nomination relies on, and cite an OSCA code alongside it where your matter calls for both.
Can the business be too small?
There is no minimum size. A business under twelve months old is treated as a start-up and examined more closely, and a structure that obviously cannot carry the role — the published example is two directors and no staff nominating a General Manager — attracts scrutiny. Small is not fatal; unexplained is.
Can a GP report be ordered without labour market testing?
Yes. They are separate reports and often ordered separately, because not every nomination needs testing — a Subclass 186 nomination needs none at all. Where both are needed, and a market salary report with them, the package price applies automatically.
How long does it take?
10 to 12 working days as standard, 5 to 7 working days for 30% more, or 1 to 2 working days for 50% more — chosen on the form. The clock starts from a complete intake, which is why we ask for everything at once.
Often ordered with this
Labour Market Test (LMT) Report
Advertising evidence, applicant-by-applicant assessment against the occupation, screenshots of every advertisement and every response, and the compliance table the delegate looks for.
FromMarket Salary Rate (AMSR) Report
Comparable advertised roles, Jobs and Skills Australia, ABS and remuneration survey data and the applicable award, assembled into an annual market salary range and a recommended rate.
Migration Report Package (LMT + GP + AMSR)
All three reports for one nomination, written together so the position, the salary and the testing evidence tell a single consistent story.
FromEvery Service, Every Price
All seventeen services with their prices and intake forms sit on one page.