Sponsoring a chef in Perth is determined by two matters, both of which are settled well before any form is completed: the type of venue you operate, and the manner in which the position was advertised. Each is fixed by legislative instrument.
If you operate a fast food outlet, a takeaway, a coffee shop or a limited service pizza restaurant, you cannot nominate a chef in the Core Skills stream. This is not a matter of discretion for a case officer. The restriction appears in the occupation list itself.
Sponsoring a chef in Perth starts with the venue test
Chef appears on the Core Skills Occupation List at ANZSCO code 351311, which is the list that applies to the subclass 482 Skills in Demand visa. The list attaches two circumstances to that occupation, and where either applies to the position, the occupation does not apply to your nominee.
The two circumstances are:
- the position is involved in mass production in a factory setting
- the position is in a limited service restaurant
A limited service restaurant is defined in the instrument, and the definition is broader than most operators anticipate. It includes a fast food or takeaway food service, a fast casual restaurant, a drinking establishment that offers only a limited food service, a limited service cafe including a coffee shop or mall cafe, and a limited service pizza restaurant.
The relevant question is therefore not whether the person cooks, but whether the position being nominated sits within a venue of that description. A full service restaurant, a hotel kitchen or a function venue is a different position from a counter-service cafe, even where the cooking undertaken is similar.
Cook, at ANZSCO 351411, carries the same two circumstances.
Source: Migration (Specification of Occupations—Subclass 482 Visa) Instrument 2024 (LIN 24/089), sections 4, 6 and 7, Compilation No. 3, compilation date 7 November 2025, F2025C01064. Made under subregulation 2.72(9) of the Migration Regulations 1994.
Advertising: two ads, four weeks, four months
Labour market testing is the second matter that determines the nomination, and it is the one that cannot be remedied after the event. Where the advertising has not been conducted correctly, the nomination must wait until it has been.
What the instrument requires:
- the position advertised in Australia, in English
- at least two advertisements, each commissioned or authorised by you as the approved sponsor
- placed on a recruitment website with national reach in Australia, print media with national reach, radio with national reach, or your own website if you are an accredited sponsor
- each advertisement showing the title or a description of the position and the skills or experience required
- the salary shown in the advertisement if the intended annual earnings for the position are below AUD 96,400
- applications or expressions of interest accepted for at least four weeks from first publication
- all of it done within the four months ending on the day the nomination is lodged
How the two timing rules interact
The final two requirements must be read together, as this is where the timing most often fails. The advertising must run long enough to provide four weeks of open applications, and it must also fall within a four-month window that closes on the day of lodgement. Advertise too early and that window has already passed. Lodge too soon and the four weeks are not complete.
Certain occupations and positions are exempt from advertising and instead require a written submission explaining why a suitably qualified Australian is not readily available. Whether an exemption applies to a particular chef position should be established before an advertisement is placed, not afterwards.
Source: Migration (LIN 18/036: Period, manner and evidence of labour market testing) Instrument 2018, sections 6 to 9, Compilation No. 5, compilation date 7 December 2024, F2024C01268. Made under section 140GBA of the Migration Act 1958.
Your chef may need a trade skills assessment
For chef and for cook, a skills assessment through Trades Recognition Australia is required where the applicant holds a passport issued by Bangladesh, Brazil, China, Fiji, Hong Kong, India, Macau, Nepal, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, South Africa, Thailand, Vietnam or Zimbabwe, and is not an exempt applicant for the occupation.
That list covers a substantial proportion of the candidates recruited by Perth kitchens. The assessment takes time to complete, and we recommend commencing it before the remainder of the documentation rather than in parallel with it.
Source: Migration (IMMI 18/039: Mandatory Skills Assessment—Subclass 482 Visa) Instrument 2018, compilation F2025C00062, in force. Made under subregulation 2.26B(1) and paragraph 1240(3)(g) of Schedule 1 to the Migration Regulations 1994.
What you are signing up to
Sponsorship comprises three separate approvals rather than a single application. Your business is approved as a work sponsor under section 140E of the Migration Act 1958. The position is then approved as a nomination under section 140GB. The chef subsequently applies for the visa. Each stage is decided against its own criteria.
Once you are an approved sponsor, Division 2.19 of the Migration Regulations 1994 imposes ongoing obligations that run for as long as the sponsorship does. They include cooperating with inspectors, ensuring equivalent terms and conditions of employment, keeping records, giving the Department information when certain events occur, ensuring the person works in the nominated occupation, and not recovering or transferring certain costs so that somebody else pays them.
The obligation most often overlooked
That final obligation is the one most frequently overlooked. The sponsorship and nomination charges are the responsibility of your business, and passing them to the chef constitutes a breach rather than a permissible arrangement.
A failure to meet an obligation is not merely an administrative matter. The Act provides for sanctions under section 140K, cancellation of your approval or a bar on sponsoring under section 140M, and a civil penalty under section 140Q.
None of this is a reason to avoid sponsorship. It is a reason to understand the obligations before becoming bound by them, which is the substance of our employer-side work.
Sources: Migration Act 1958, sections 140E, 140GB, 140GBA, 140K, 140M and 140Q, compilation C2026C00232, 4 June 2026. Migration Regulations 1994, Division 2.19, regulations 2.77 to 2.87C, compilation F2026C00667, 1 July 2026.
What it costs, and the salary you have to pay
A minimum salary level applies to the nomination, and the position must also be paid at the annual market salary rate. That rate is what an Australian citizen or permanent resident earns, or would earn, performing equivalent work on a full-time basis for a year in the same workplace at the same location.
The threshold figure is deliberately not published on this page. It is indexed annually under regulation 5.42A of the Migration Regulations 1994, and a figure published on a website becomes inaccurate as soon as indexation occurs. We provide the figure applying on the day, together with the current application charges and the levy, during the initial consultation.
Source for the annual market salary rate definition: Migration Regulations 1994, regulation 1.03, compilation F2026C00667, 1 July 2026.
What we would ask at the outset
- What type of venue is it, and what is the nature of the service?
- Is the chef already in Australia, and if so, on what visa and subject to which conditions?
- Has the role been advertised, where was it advertised, and when did applications open and close?
- Which passport does the chef hold?
- Is the business currently trading, and are its financial records in order?
The answers to those five questions determine whether the matter is straightforward or whether an issue must be resolved first. There is no charge for that discussion, and it frequently prevents the advertising having to be repeated.
If you would prefer to form a preliminary view first, our employer sponsored visa test takes a few minutes. Where the position is intended to be permanent rather than temporary, the subclass 186 Employer Nomination Scheme and, for a position in designated regional Australia, the subclass 494 visa are the pathways to raise at that discussion. Each has its own criteria, which are not the criteria set out on this page.
Questions Perth employers commonly ask
Can I sponsor a chef if I operate a cafe?
Not in the Core Skills stream, where the position sits in a limited service restaurant. The occupation list attaches that circumstance to chef, and where a circumstance applies, the occupation does not apply to the nominee. A limited service restaurant is defined to include a fast food or takeaway food service, a fast casual restaurant, a drinking establishment offering only a limited food service, a limited service cafe including a coffee shop or mall cafe, and a limited service pizza restaurant.
Whether a particular venue falls within that definition is a question about the position and the nature of the service, and it should be settled before any expenditure is committed to advertising.
Source: LIN 24/089, sections 4, 6(2) and 7(2), Compilation No. 3, compilation date 7 November 2025, F2025C01064.
Is a cook treated the same as a chef?
Cook is a separate occupation at ANZSCO 351411, but it carries the same two circumstances as chef at 351311: a position involved in mass production in a factory setting, and a position in a limited service restaurant. Describing the position as a cook rather than a chef therefore does not alter the venue test.
Source: LIN 24/089, sections 6 and 7, Compilation No. 3, compilation date 7 November 2025, F2025C01064.
Must the position be advertised before the nomination is lodged?
Unless an exemption applies, yes. Labour market testing requires the position to have been advertised in Australia, in English, by way of at least two advertisements, each commissioned or authorised by you as the approved sponsor, and placed on a recruitment website with national reach in Australia, in print media with national reach, on radio with national reach, or on your own website if you are an accredited sponsor.
Certain occupations and positions are exempt from advertising and instead require a written submission explaining why a suitably qualified Australian is not readily available.
Source: LIN 18/036, sections 6 to 9, Compilation No. 5, compilation date 7 December 2024, F2024C01268.
For how long must the advertising run, and when may the nomination be lodged?
Applications or expressions of interest must be accepted for at least four weeks from first publication, and the labour market testing must be undertaken within the four months ending on the day the nomination is lodged.
Those two requirements operate together. Advertise too early and the four-month window has closed by the time of lodgement. Lodge too soon and the four weeks are not complete.
Source: LIN 18/036, sections 6(1) and 8(5), Compilation No. 5, compilation date 7 December 2024, F2024C01268.
Does the chef require a skills assessment?
For chef and for cook, a skills assessment through Trades Recognition Australia is required where the applicant holds a passport issued by Bangladesh, Brazil, China, Fiji, Hong Kong, India, Macau, Nepal, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, South Africa, Thailand, Vietnam or Zimbabwe, and is not an exempt applicant for the occupation.
The assessment proceeds on its own timetable, independently of the nomination, which is why we recommend commencing it early rather than alongside the remaining documentation.
Source: IMMI 18/039, compilation F2025C00062, in force. Made under subregulation 2.26B(1) and paragraph 1240(3)(g) of Schedule 1 to the Migration Regulations 1994.
May I require the chef to pay the sponsorship costs?
No. One of the sponsorship obligations in Division 2.19 of the Migration Regulations 1994 is not to recover, or transfer to another person, certain costs. Passing the sponsorship and nomination costs to the person being sponsored constitutes a breach of that obligation rather than a permissible arrangement between the parties.
Source: Migration Regulations 1994, Division 2.19, regulations 2.77 to 2.87C, compilation F2026C00667, 1 July 2026.
What are the consequences of failing to meet a sponsorship obligation?
The Migration Act 1958 provides for sanctions under section 140K, cancellation of a sponsorship approval or a bar on sponsoring under section 140M, and a civil penalty under section 140Q.
What follows in a particular case depends on the facts and is a matter for the Department. No adviser can tell you in advance what it would decide.
Source: Migration Act 1958, sections 140K, 140M and 140Q, compilation C2026C00232, 4 June 2026.
Speak with a registered migration agent
Australian Migration Co is a migration practice based in Perth. Adam Kocoglu is a Registered Migration Agent, MARN 2418576, and acts in employer sponsorship matters throughout Western Australia.
Further information is available on our employer sponsored visas page, and on the subclass 482 Skills in Demand visa.
We cannot tell you what a decision will be, and no registered agent will do so. What we can do is set out the criteria that apply to sponsoring a chef in Perth, what your position must satisfy to meet them, and where the risk lies, before you commit any expenditure.
Information current at 10 September 2026. Migration law changes, and the figures and lists referred to on this page are amended from time to time. This page is general information, not immigration assistance for your matter.