On 10 March, there was an urgent change to Training (subclass 407) visa applications announced by the Department of Home Affairs, which came into effect on 11 March 2026.

What is changing?

From 11 March 2026, a Training (subclass 407) visa application can only be validly lodged after:

• the sponsor has been approved as a Temporary Activities Sponsor, and
• the sponsor has an approved Training visa nomination for the applicant (unless the sponsor is an Australian Commonwealth agency).

Previously, it was possible to lodge the sponsorship, nomination and visa application at the same time, provided all approvals were in place before the visa was granted. This will no longer be possible for new applications from 11 March.

Already lodged and pending visa applications will not be affected.

Why this matters

This change has practical implications for timing and workforce planning, in particular:

• Applicants in Australia must ensure they hold a valid visa while waiting for sponsorship and nomination approval. This will therefore have a significant impact on intended onshore applicants with imminent visa expiries.
• A Bridging visa will only be available once a valid Training visa application is lodged, which can only occur after sponsorship and nomination approvals are in place.

Sponsors will need to lodge sponsorship and nomination applications well in advance of the proposed training start date.

If you would like to discuss, please contact us.