From today, 12 November 2026, anyone seeking a Training (Subclass 407) visa must be outside Australia both when the application is lodged and when the visa is granted. The new rule is contained in the Migration Amendment (Training Visas—Application Requirements) Regulations 2026, which commence today after being flagged in the October Federal Register of Legislation. The 407 visa was designed to let overseas professionals undertake workplace-based training for up to two years, but in recent years it had become a popular on-shore ‘bridging’ option for temporary visa-holders looking to extend their stay while searching for longer-term pathways. Home Affairs estimates that more than 60 per cent of 407 applications over the past program year were lodged inside Australia, adding to visa-processing backlogs and enabling churn between temporary categories. Under the amended regulations, only applicants who fall within a very narrow class that may be specified by the minister in a future legislative instrument could still apply in Australia. No such instrument has been released, meaning the offshore rule now applies universally. Employers still need to be approved Temporary Activities Sponsors and to nominate structured workplace training plans, but they should immediately review any pipeline cases for staff currently in Australia and bring forward applications that can meet the new offshore requirement. For corporate mobility managers the change removes a flexible “safety-valve” visa that had been used to keep graduates and trainees working while other applications were processed. Businesses will have to consider alternative options—such as temporary skill-shortage (482) or graduate (485) visas—or accept costly periods of absence while staff travel offshore to lodge and await a decision. The Department of Home Affairs has published updated guidance and warns that applications lodged on-shore from today will be invalid.
Source: Federal Register of Legislation
