You are hereThe Australia nurse route. 12 steps. The board's stages: we do not know yet; the board's team answers it. The visa: half decided within 4 months on Home Affairs' guide. Visas for healthcare jobs are in the first priority group.
- 1Check you fitYou are hereStart this route
- 2Check the offer you were sentOnly if someone sent you an offer
- 3Start your NMCN verificationCannot start yet: opens when the NMCN says where the form comes from and how to send it
- 4Take the Self-check and find your streamYou can start this now
- 5Pass your English testYou can start this now
- 6Get your papers out and send your PortfolioCannot start yet: opens when the Self-check places you in Stream B, or tells you Ahpra will assess your qualification at the Portfolio stage
- 7Pass the multiple-choice exam and the OSCECannot start yet: opens when your Portfolio is in
- 8Apply for registration and get itCannot start yet: opens when Ahpra tells you that you can apply
- 9Win a job offer and a sponsorCannot start yet: opens when the board registers you
- 10Get the Skills in Demand visaCannot start yet: opens when an employer nominates you
- 11Travel and arriveCannot start yet: opens when your visa is granted
- 12Your first payslipCannot start yet: opens when you start with your employer
I am stuck
I am stuck
The desk explains what a step means and where the official answer lives.
Become a nurse in Australia
For nurses on the NMCN register. Twelve steps to your first payslip in Australia.
Why this order?
The steps run in the order Ahpra and the Nursing and Midwifery Board, which register nurses, and Home Affairs need them. Ask the NMCN about your verification first, Step 3: it does not yet say where its form comes from or how to send it. The Self-check, Step 4, can start at the same time, because it places you in a stream. Your English test can start now; your result must be under two years old when you apply for registration. The OSCE is held only in Australia, so you travel there for it. The employer nominates you for the visa, so the job and the visa come after registration, and you start work only once you hold your registration and the visa.
How long the board's stages take: we do not know yet; the board's team answers it on your own application. The visa: on Home Affairs' processing time guide, half of Core Skills applications are decided within 4 months and 90% within 9 months (updated 29 September 2026). Visas for healthcare jobs are in the first priority group for skilled visas from 19 September 2026. Your tests and your job search set the real length. Read on immi.homeaffairs.gov.au, 19 October 2026.
Free. About two minutes.
- 1Start here
Check you fit
Six questions, about two minutes, no account.
See what this step needs
No number comes from your answers on this route: no verified rule set grades it. Your answers set your first move.
All 13 registered nurse occupations are on Australia's skilled lists, with ANMAC as the assessing authority, for subclasses 189, 190, 491 and the 482 Core Skills stream. Read on immi.homeaffairs.gov.au, 6 October 2026.
To register, you show your English to the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia (the board), whose registrations Ahpra, the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency, runs. Ahpra's list of recognised countries, where schooling in English can stand in place of a test, does not include Nigeria, and each way of showing English without a test needs education in a recognised country. On our reading, a nurse educated only in Nigeria sits an English test; Ahpra decides. Read on ahpra.gov.au, 8 October 2026.
The scores, for a test sat on or after 23 April 2026: IELTS Academic 7 overall and 7 in listening, reading and speaking, 6.5 in writing; OET 350 in listening and writing, 360 in reading and speaking; PTE Academic 63 overall (listening 58, reading 59, writing 60, speaking 76); TOEFL iBT 91 overall (listening 22, reading 22, writing 23, speaking 24). Read on ahpra.gov.au, 8 October 2026.
Your qualification: for a registered nurse the board looks for at least the level of an Australian bachelor's degree, and Nigeria is on its list of qualifications unlikely to meet its quality assurance criterion. The Self-check, Step 4, places you. Read on nursingmidwiferyboard.gov.au, 6 October 2026.
The visa asks at least 1 year of relevant work experience, and sets no age limit. Read on immi.homeaffairs.gov.au, 8 October 2026.
Source: Ahpra, accepted English language tests, read 8 October 2026.
Open Ahpra's page for internationally qualified practitioners
Home Affairs' skill occupation list
Free.
I am stuck
Explain this step more simply
Answer six short questions. Nothing here gives you a number. Australia lists nurses as skilled workers. On our reading, a nurse educated only in Nigeria needs an English test at the board's scores; Ahpra decides.
Where the official answer lives: Ahpra's page for international practitioners and its accepted English tests page hold the official answer; Home Affairs' skill occupation list holds the occupations.
- 2
Did someone send you an offer? After a yes: check it before you trust it
- 3Cannot start yet: opens when the NMCN says where the form comes from and how to send it
Start your NMCN verification
Apply to the NMCN, the Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria, to verify your registration for Australia.
See what this step needs
The NMCN's own fees, each paid to the NMCN through REMITA: verification of certificates of registration ₦66,875; a letter of good standing on its own ₦8,750; authentication ₦8,750. The single ₦17,500 payment is for the NMC in the UK only. You pay the NMCN yourself; we never hold it. Read on nmcn.gov.ng, 7 October 2026.
Which of these Ahpra needs, and how the NMCN's verification must reach Ahpra: we do not know yet. Here is the official page, the board's Self-check and Portfolio page; ask Ahpra on your own application.
Where you get the verification form, and how you send the papers: the NMCN does not publish this. Its verification page does not say, and its Forms page has no verification form. Its circulars page lists a circular ending manual verification and another starting online verification, by title only. Ask the NMCN before you pay: (234) 702-923-4588 or info@nmcn.gov.ng, 8am to 4pm, Monday to Friday. Read 7 October 2026.
How long the NMCN takes to verify: we do not know yet. Here is the official page, the NMCN's verification page; ask the NMCN on (234) 702-923-4588. Read 7 October 2026.
Years of experience. The NMCN's verification page sets no years-of-experience rule, read 7 October 2026, and none of its circulars sets one, read 6 October 2026. Ask the Council about your own file.
Source: NMCN, verification page, read 21 October 2026.
Open the NMCN's verification page
The board's Self-check and Portfolio page
Blocked at the start: the NMCN does not publish where its form comes from or how to send it, so ask it first. Then it is free to do yourself, or the desk can fill the application with you; the NMCN's fee is passed on at cost, with their receipt.
I am stuck
Explain this step more simply
Call or email the NMCN to ask for the verification form, how to send it, and which papers Australia needs. Then pay the NMCN through REMITA and send your papers.
Where the official answer lives: The NMCN answers on (234) 702-923-4588 and info@nmcn.gov.ng, 8am to 4pm, Monday to Friday; its Abuja office is Plot 713, Cadastral Zone Life Camp, Gwarinpa; its Lagos zone office is No. 8 Harvey Road, Yaba, 08064703003, lagoszo@nmcn.gov.ng.
- 4You can start this now
Take the Self-check and find your stream
Do Ahpra's Self-check, which places you in a stream, then pay the assessment fee and complete Orientation Part 1.
See what this step needs
"You'll need to do the Self-check and have your qualification assessed." The Self-check assigns you a stream, A, B or C, or says Ahpra must assess your qualification first. Read on ahpra.gov.au and anmac.org.au, 8 October 2026.
Stream B, which ANMAC calls the most common: pay the IQNM assessment fee, complete Orientation Part 1 (an online course introducing Australia and its healthcare system), send a Portfolio of your qualification and identity documents, then pass the outcome-based assessment, a multiple-choice exam and the OSCE. Stream A goes to registration after Orientation Part 1; Stream C must raise the qualification before going on. Read on anmac.org.au, 8 October 2026.
Where a Nigerian degree lands: the board names no stream for any country. A qualification registered at home and at bachelor's level or above, which does not meet the quality assurance criterion, is Stream B, and Nigeria is on the board's list of qualifications unlikely to meet that criterion. That is our reading of the board's two lines; the Self-check decides. Read on nursingmidwiferyboard.gov.au, 6 October 2026.
Before you pay: Ahpra registers you under the name on your passport unless you give a change of name document. So check that your name matches on your passport, your birth certificate and your qualification papers, and fix any difference first. Read on ahpra.gov.au, 8 October 2026.
AUD 410, about ₦382,000, the IQNM assessment fee (the assessment and orientation), paid to the board. Read on nursingmidwiferyboard.gov.au, 6 October 2026. At ₦931 to the Australian dollar, 20 October 2026 (the CBN's US dollar rate of 20 October 2026 times the Reserve Bank of Australia's of 20 October 2026).
If your qualification is not in the Self-check, you can still go on: Ahpra assesses it at the Portfolio stage. Read on anmac.org.au, 8 October 2026.
Source: Ahpra, international practitioners, read 26 October 2026.
Open Ahpra's page for internationally qualified practitioners
The board's Self-check and Portfolio page
The board's registration requirements
ANMAC's summary of the streams
Rekoja charges nothing here. You do the Self-check and pay the board yourself.
I am stuck
Explain this step more simply
Check your name is the same on your passport, birth certificate and qualification papers. Then do the Self-check on Ahpra's website. It tells you which group you are in. Stream B is the most common: pay AUD 410 (about ₦382,000), do a short online course, send your papers, then pass two exams.
Where the official answer lives: Ahpra's page for international practitioners links the Self-check; the board's pages for internationally qualified nurses hold the streams and the fee.
- 5You can start this now
Pass your English test
Sit IELTS Academic, OET, PTE Academic or TOEFL iBT at a test centre, and reach the board's scores.
See what this step needs
The scores, for a test sat on or after 23 April 2026: IELTS Academic 7 overall, 7 in listening, reading and speaking and 6.5 in writing; OET 350 in listening and writing and 360 in reading and speaking; PTE Academic 63 overall (listening 58, reading 59, writing 60, speaking 76); TOEFL iBT 91 overall (listening 22, reading 22, writing 23, speaking 24). Read on ahpra.gov.au, 19 October 2026.
Sit it at a test centre. No at-home or remotely supervised version is accepted, except that OET on computer counts when it is sat at a test centre. The board takes one sitting, or at most two sittings within 12 months, and accepts the IELTS One Skill Retake. Your result must be under two years old on the day you lodge your registration application. Read on ahpra.gov.au, 19 October 2026.
If you combine two sittings, no part of either sitting may be below: IELTS Academic 6.5; OET 320 in listening, 340 in reading, 350 in writing and 350 in speaking; PTE Academic 53 in listening, 54 in reading, 60 in writing and 66 in speaking; TOEFL iBT 19 in listening, 19 in reading, 23 in writing and 22 in speaking. Read on ahpra.gov.au, 19 October 2026.
The visa asks an English test sat at a test centre within 3 years before you apply for it (IELTS 5 in each part, for a test from 13 September 2025), unless you are exempt: a passport from Canada, New Zealand, Ireland, the United Kingdom or the United States, or at least 5 years of full-time study at secondary level or above where most classes were in English. The board's scores are higher, so one sitting at the board's scores serves both; for TOEFL iBT, choose "Taking TOEFL for Australia" when you register. Read on immi.homeaffairs.gov.au, 19 October 2026.
The tests Home Affairs approves changed on 7 August 2025. A result from a test taken on or before 6 August 2025 may be used for the visa until 6 August 2028. Read on immi.homeaffairs.gov.au, 19 October 2026.
IDP Nigeria charges ₦299,000 for IELTS Academic on computer at a test centre. Read on ielts.idp.com, 19 October 2026. Where OET, PTE Academic and TOEFL iBT are sat in Nigeria and what they cost: we do not know yet. Here is the official page, OET's booking page, checked 19 October 2026.
Source: Ahpra, accepted English language tests, read 21 October 2026.
Your clock: how long your test result stays valid, worked out from your test date, which you enter in your plan: Ahpra takes a result up to two years old on the day you lodge your registration application. Enter it in your plan
Open Ahpra's accepted English tests
Book IELTS Academic at a test centre
IDP Nigeria's IELTS fees and test dates
Home Affairs' approved English tests
Free. Rekoja does not sell a course; the test owners' own materials are on their pages.
I am stuck
Explain this step more simply
Take IELTS Academic, OET, PTE or TOEFL at a test centre and reach the board's scores, such as IELTS Academic 7 overall and in listening, reading and speaking, with 6.5 in writing. The result lasts two years for registration.
Where the official answer lives: Ahpra's accepted English tests page holds the scores and rules; IELTS's and OET's own booking pages find a test date and centre.
- 6Cannot start yet: opens when the Self-check places you in Stream B, or tells you Ahpra will assess your qualification at the Portfolio stage
Get your papers out and send your Portfolio
Gather your identity and qualification papers and send your Portfolio to Ahpra.
See what this step needs
Stream B sends a Portfolio: your qualification and identity documents. Read on anmac.org.au, 8 October 2026.
Your identity, from outside Australia: your passport (an EU card is not accepted), and at least two of a current driver's licence, a full birth certificate, a non-Australian identity card, or a credit or debit card, with evidence of any change of name. Unless you give a change of name document, you are registered under the name on your passport. Read on ahpra.gov.au, 8 October 2026.
Ahpra says: "Remember you need to apply for an ICHC before you submit your application for registration." A result is valid for three months from the date it is issued, so order your international criminal history check close to the day you submit (Step 8). Read on ahpra.gov.au, 19 October 2026.
The full list of Portfolio documents, and any time limit on the Portfolio: we do not know yet. Here is the official page, the board's Self-check and Portfolio page; ask Ahpra on your own application.
Source: Ahpra, proof of identity, read 8 October 2026.
Open the board's Self-check and Portfolio page
Ahpra's international criminal history checks
Free to do yourself.
The desk can get your qualification papers out for you.I am stuck
Explain this step more simply
Put your passport, two more identity papers and your qualification papers in one folder, with your name the same on all of them, and send your Portfolio. Order the criminal history check yourself, shortly before you apply for registration; it lasts three months.
Where the official answer lives: Ahpra's proof of identity and criminal history check pages hold the rules; the board's Self-check and Portfolio page holds the Portfolio.
- 7Cannot start yet: opens when your Portfolio is in
Pass the multiple-choice exam and the OSCE
Sit the outcome-based assessment: the NCLEX-RN, a multiple-choice exam, first, then the OSCE, a clinical exam held in Australia.
See what this step needs
Stream B completes the outcome-based assessment, a multiple-choice exam and an Objective Structured Clinical Examination (the OSCE), and must complete every stage before applying for registration. Read on anmac.org.au, 8 October 2026.
The multiple-choice exam is the NCLEX-RN, the National Council Licensure Examination for registered nurses, delivered by Pearson VUE. Once your Portfolio has been finalised, Ahpra gives you a link to Pearson VUE, where you register and pay the exam fee; a registration is valid for 365 days. The board's IQNM Exams Team confirms within 4 weeks that you can sit it, and once you are authorised to test you have 90 days to schedule and sit the exam. Results come by email within six weeks of the exam. Read on nursingmidwiferyboard.gov.au, 8 October 2026.
The NCLEX-RN's fee is on the Fees and Payments page of the NCLEX website, and a candidate who sits it at an international test centre also pays an additional international scheduling fee. Read on nursingmidwiferyboard.gov.au, 8 October 2026.
Orientation Part 1 and the multiple-choice exam must be passed before the OSCE. AUD 4,000, about ₦3.7m, for the OSCE; the multiple-choice exam's fee is set by its provider. Read on nursingmidwiferyboard.gov.au, 6 October 2026. At ₦931 to the Australian dollar, 20 October 2026 (the CBN's US dollar rate of 20 October 2026 times the Reserve Bank of Australia's of 20 October 2026).
"The RN OSCE is delivered at two locations: Adelaide Health Simulation (AHS) in Adelaide, South Australia, and The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RANZCOG) in Melbourne, Victoria. Candidates are required to travel to Australia to sit the examination." OSCEs are held each calendar month at one of the two. The trip to Australia for the OSCE is not in the board's fees. Read on nursingmidwiferyboard.gov.au, 8 October 2026.
What the NCLEX-RN costs, whether a test centre in Nigeria runs it, how many attempts each exam allows and when OSCE results come: we do not know yet. Here is the official page, the board's examination page for registered nurses; ask the board's IQNM Exams Team or Ahpra on your own application.
Source: Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia, information for registered nurses, read 26 October 2026.
Open the board's examination page for registered nurses
Rekoja charges nothing here. You book and pay for the exams yourself.
I am stuck
Explain this step more simply
Pass the NCLEX-RN, a multiple-choice exam you book with Pearson VUE. Then pass a hands-on clinical exam called the OSCE, which costs AUD 4,000 (about ₦3.7m) and is held only in Adelaide and Melbourne, so you travel to Australia for it. Then you can apply to register.
Where the official answer lives: The board's examination page for registered nurses holds the exams; the board's IQNM Exams Team and Ahpra answer on your own application.
- 8Cannot start yet: opens when Ahpra tells you that you can apply
Apply for registration and get it
When Ahpra tells you that you can, order your criminal history check, then apply for registration in its practitioner portal and pay the application fee.
See what this step needs
"Once you successfully complete the self-check and any assessment stages you will be notified that you can apply for registration online via our practitioner portal". Read on ahpra.gov.au, 19 October 2026.
AUD 346, about ₦322,000, the application fee for general registration, in the board's fees from 9 October 2026. Read on nursingmidwiferyboard.gov.au, 19 October 2026. At ₦931 to the Australian dollar, 20 October 2026 (the CBN's US dollar rate of 20 October 2026 times the Reserve Bank of Australia's of 20 October 2026).
AUD 201, about ₦187,000, the registration fee for general registration (AUD 193, about ₦180,000, where you practise mainly in New South Wales). On your first registration you pay both the application fee and this fee. Read on nursingmidwiferyboard.gov.au, 19 October 2026. At ₦931 to the Australian dollar, 20 October 2026 (the CBN's US dollar rate of 20 October 2026 times the Reserve Bank of Australia's of 20 October 2026).
Your English result must be under two years old on the day you lodge this application (Step 5). Read on ahpra.gov.au, 19 October 2026.
If you have lived outside Australia for six months in a row or more as an adult, you need an international criminal history check from AIS International or Fit2Work, the two providers Ahpra approves. You pay for it yourself. Apply for it before you submit your application for registration; a result is valid for three months from the date it is issued, so order it close to the day you submit. Read on ahpra.gov.au, 19 October 2026.
What the criminal history check costs: we do not know yet. Here is the official page, Ahpra's international criminal history checks page, checked 19 October 2026.
Registration lets you practise. It does not give you a visa. Read on anmac.org.au, 19 October 2026.
Source: Ahpra, international practitioners, read 26 October 2026.
Your clock: a count of the days left on your criminal history check, worked out from the date your international criminal history check was issued, which you enter in your plan: it is valid for three months from that date. Enter it in your plan
Open Ahpra's page for internationally qualified practitioners
Ahpra's international criminal history checks
Rekoja charges nothing here. You apply and pay the board yourself, and order and pay for the criminal history check yourself.
I am stuck
Explain this step more simply
When Ahpra says you can, fill in the registration form online and pay AUD 346 (about ₦322,000) and the registration fee, AUD 201 (about ₦187,000). Order the criminal history check before you apply; it lasts three months. Registration lets you work as a nurse in Australia, but it is not a visa.
Where the official answer lives: Ahpra's page for international practitioners leads to the portal, and its criminal history check page holds the two approved providers; Ahpra answers on your own application.
- 9Cannot start yet: opens when the board registers you
Win a job offer and a sponsor
Find an employer's own advert, apply to it yourself, and let the employer nominate you; start work only once you hold your registration and the visa.
See what this step needs
You must hold your registration with the board and a visa that lets you work before you accept a job. Nursing jobs are advertised on SEEK and Indeed, on state and territory government health websites, on hospital and health service websites, and through the Australian College of Nursing. ANMAC offers no recruitment service. Read on anmac.org.au, 19 October 2026.
How it fits together: the employer, an approved sponsor, lodges a nomination for you first, and you need that nomination's Transaction Reference Number (TRN) when you submit your visa application. Read on immi.homeaffairs.gov.au, 19 October 2026.
Who pays: the sponsor pays every cost of becoming a sponsor and of nominating and recruiting you, recruitment and migration agent fees, advertising, screening, interviews, police checks and travel to meet you included, and must not charge any of them to you or your family. "It is illegal for a person to pay an employer to sponsor them for a visa", including by a deduction from your salary. Read on immi.homeaffairs.gov.au, 19 October 2026.
The pay: on the Skills in Demand visa, Core Skills stream, your nomination must meet the Core Skills Income Threshold, AUD 79,423 a year for nominations lodged from 1 July 2026 to 30 June 2027, about ₦73.9m, and the annual market salary rate for the job. Read on immi.homeaffairs.gov.au, 19 October 2026. At ₦931 to the Australian dollar, 20 October 2026 (the CBN's US dollar rate of 20 October 2026 times the Reserve Bank of Australia's of 20 October 2026).
In New South Wales public hospitals, a first-year registered nurse is paid AUD 1,566.70 a week from 1 July 2026, about ₦1.46m a week; the award prints weekly rates only. Read on health.nsw.gov.au, 19 October 2026. At ₦931 to the Australian dollar, 20 October 2026 (the CBN's US dollar rate of 20 October 2026 times the Reserve Bank of Australia's of 20 October 2026).
Pay in the other states and territories: we do not know yet. Here is the official page, ANMAC's page on getting a job, which names the state health websites, checked 19 October 2026.
A skills assessment is separate from registration and from the visa. ANMAC's Full skills assessment (AUD 595, about ₦554,000) is for nurses registered in Canada, Hong Kong, Ireland, Singapore, Spain, the United Kingdom or the United States, and its Modified assessment (AUD 395, about ₦368,000) for nurses registered in Australia or New Zealand; each has a 6 to 8 week wait to start. Nigeria is on neither list, so on our reading the board's registration comes before any ANMAC assessment. Read on anmac.org.au, 19 October 2026. At ₦931 to the Australian dollar, 20 October 2026 (the CBN's US dollar rate of 20 October 2026 times the Reserve Bank of Australia's of 20 October 2026).
ANMAC has announced new assessment names and fees, expected later this year, with no date printed; until it says otherwise, the current process stands. Read on anmac.org.au, 19 October 2026.
Whether the visa asks a skills assessment of a nurse: we do not know yet. The visa's page names a mandatory assessment, by Trades Recognition Australia or VETASSESS, only for the occupations in IMMI 18/039. Here is the official page, the visa's Core Skills page, checked 19 October 2026.
Rekoja cannot get you the job or apply for you, and nobody may charge you for one.
Source: Home Affairs, cost of sponsoring, read 21 October 2026.
See where ANMAC says nursing jobs are advertised
Home Affairs' salary requirements
The New South Wales nurses' award
Free. Rekoja never sells a job, and no one may charge you for a job or for sponsorship.
I am stuck
Explain this step more simply
Find an Australian hospital's own job advert, apply yourself, and let the employer nominate you. The employer pays for sponsoring you; never pay anyone for a job. Start work only once you are registered and have the visa.
Where the official answer lives: Home Affairs' cost of sponsoring page holds who pays; the employer's own careers page holds the advert.
- 10Cannot start yet: opens when an employer nominates you
Get the Skills in Demand visa
Once an employer nominates you, apply for the Skills in Demand visa (subclass 482), Core Skills stream.
See what this step needs
The visa asks at least 1 year of relevant work experience, and sets no age limit. You work only in the occupation you were nominated for and only for your sponsor, for up to 4 years. Read on immi.homeaffairs.gov.au, 19 October 2026.
AUD 4,015, about ₦3.7m, the main applicant's base charge. Read on immi.homeaffairs.gov.au, 19 October 2026. At ₦931 to the Australian dollar, 20 October 2026 (the CBN's US dollar rate of 20 October 2026 times the Reserve Bank of Australia's of 20 October 2026).
Each family member's charge: AUD 4,015, about ₦3.7m, for each dependant aged 18 or over, and AUD 1,005, about ₦936,000, for each dependant under 18. Read on immi.homeaffairs.gov.au, 19 October 2026. At ₦931 to the Australian dollar, 20 October 2026 (the CBN's US dollar rate of 20 October 2026 times the Reserve Bank of Australia's of 20 October 2026).
The second instalment: we do not know yet. Here is the official page, Home Affairs' visa pricing estimator; ask Home Affairs.
How long it takes: on Home Affairs' processing time guide, half of Core Skills applications are decided within 4 months and 90% within 9 months (updated 29 September 2026). Home Affairs: "It is a guide only and not specific to your application." Visas for healthcare jobs are in the first priority group for temporary skilled visas under Ministerial Direction 121, in effect from 19 September 2026. Read on immi.homeaffairs.gov.au, 19 October 2026.
English: a test sat at a test centre within 3 years before you apply, unless you are exempt (a passport from Canada, New Zealand, Ireland, the United Kingdom or the United States, or at least 5 years of full-time study at secondary level or above, mostly in English); tests delivered wholly online are refused. Read on immi.homeaffairs.gov.au, 19 October 2026.
You must hold adequate health insurance for yourself and each person with you for your whole stay; it is a condition of the visa. Home Affairs' guide to adequate health insurance looks for hospital, medical, pharmacy and ambulance benefits, with waiting periods of up to 12 months for a pre-existing condition and 2 months for other treatments. Have your health examinations done before you lodge. Read on immi.homeaffairs.gov.au, 19 October 2026.
Where you have the health examinations and what they cost: we do not know yet. Here is the official page, the visa's Core Skills page.
What adequate health insurance costs: we do not know yet. Here is the official page, Home Affairs' adequate health insurance page.
Your family: your partner and your or your partner's dependent children can go on the same application, each with their own fee and papers: for your partner, a current marriage certificate or enough documents to prove a de facto relationship; for each child, a birth certificate, with Form 1229 for a child under 18 where consent is needed and Form 47a for a dependant aged 18 or over. You cannot add anyone after you submit; a family member not included can lodge a subsequent entrant application. Everyone aged 16 or over must meet the character requirement. Read on immi.homeaffairs.gov.au, 19 October 2026.
Source: Home Affairs, Skills in Demand visa, Core Skills stream, read 21 October 2026.
Your clock: how long your test result stays valid, worked out from your test date, which you enter in your plan: the visa takes a test sat within 3 years before you apply. Enter it in your plan
Home Affairs' visa pricing estimator
Open the visa's Core Skills page
Home Affairs' visa pricing estimator
Home Affairs' processing time guide
The order of priority for skilled visas
Free to do yourself. The visa charges go to Home Affairs, never through Rekoja.
The desk can prepare this file with you.I am stuck
Explain this step more simply
After an employer nominates you, apply online for the 482 visa. It costs from AUD 4,015 (about ₦3.7m) for you, more for each family member, and you need health insurance for everyone.
Where the official answer lives: Home Affairs' Core Skills page for the Skills in Demand visa holds the official answer; its sufficient English page holds the scores.
- 11Cannot start yet: opens when your visa is granted
Travel and arrive
Fly once the visa is granted, land, and start with your sponsor within 90 days.
See what this step needs
"You must begin your employment within 90 days of: entering Australia, if you are outside Australia when grant the visa." Read on immi.homeaffairs.gov.au, 8 October 2026.
Keep your health insurance for your whole stay: "Primary and secondary visa applicants are personally liable for healthcare costs while in Australia." Read on immi.homeaffairs.gov.au, 8 October 2026.
Whether Medicare covers you: we do not know yet. Here is the official page, Services Australia's reciprocal health care agreements; ask Services Australia.
Who pays your flight to Australia: we do not know yet. Here is the official page, the sponsor's obligations; ask your employer.
When you leave Australia, your sponsor's obligations include paying "travel costs to enable sponsored people to leave Australia". Read on immi.homeaffairs.gov.au, 8 October 2026.
Never sell what you live on, and never borrow against your first payslip.
Source: Home Affairs, Skills in Demand visa, Core Skills stream, read 8 October 2026.
Your clock: the last day to start work, 90 days after you land, worked out from the day you land in Australia, which you enter in your plan: begin work within 90 days of entering Australia. Enter it in your plan
Services Australia's reciprocal health care agreements
Open the visa's Core Skills page
Services Australia's reciprocal health care agreements
Free. The desk is not offered once you land.
I am stuck
Explain this step more simply
Fly after your visa comes, keep your health insurance for your whole stay, and start work within 90 days of landing.
Where the official answer lives: Your employer's start letter, and Home Affairs' Core Skills page for the Skills in Demand visa.
- 12Cannot start yet: opens when you start with your employer
Your first payslip
Check your first payslip against your contract, and set up your tax file number.
See what this step needs
Check your first payslip against your contract. Your nomination had to meet the Core Skills Income Threshold, AUD 79,423 a year for nominations lodged from 1 July 2026 to 30 June 2027, about ₦73.9m, and the annual market salary rate for the job. Read on immi.homeaffairs.gov.au, 8 October 2026. At ₦931 to the Australian dollar, 20 October 2026 (the CBN's US dollar rate of 20 October 2026 times the Reserve Bank of Australia's of 20 October 2026).
Your tax file number, how you apply and how long it takes: we do not know yet. Here is the official page, the Australian Taxation Office's tax file number page; ask the Australian Taxation Office.
You work only for your sponsor, in the occupation you were nominated for, for up to 4 years, and your family can live, study and work in Australia. Read on immi.homeaffairs.gov.au, 8 October 2026.
Send home what you can spare, not what you need. Never borrow against your next payslip.
Source: Home Affairs, salary requirements, read 21 October 2026.
Open the Australian Taxation Office's tax file number page
Open the Australian Taxation Office's tax file number page
Home Affairs' salary requirements
Free.
I am stuck
Explain this step more simply
Check your pay matches your contract, and get your tax file number, the number your tax is kept under.
Where the official answer lives: Your employer's payroll answers on your payslip; the Australian Taxation Office on your tax file number.
The employer board
Each row: employer, job, the pay as written, whether it sponsors the Skills in Demand visa, the closing date, the date it was checked and the site it came from.
No vacancy on this board yet, 8 October 2026.
Job sites open on their own pages. Rekoja lists, it does not introduce, and no one may charge you for a job or for sponsorship.
See everything about this route
Cost. About ₦4.6m for the board's fees and the OSCE (AUD 4,957: the IQNM assessment AUD 410, the OSCE AUD 4,000, the registration application AUD 346, the registration fee AUD 201); about ₦8.4m with the visa's base charge (AUD 4,015). Not the NCLEX-RN, the trip to Australia for the OSCE, the NMCN's fees, the English test, the criminal history check or flights. The board's fees from 9 October 2026 and the visa's charge read 19 October 2026.
Who pays.You pay the board's fees. The employer that sponsors you pays every cost of sponsoring and recruiting you and may not pass any of it to you; paying an employer for sponsorship is illegal. Read on immi.homeaffairs.gov.au, 8 October 2026.
How long. How long the board's stages take: we do not know yet; the board's team answers it on your own application. The visa: on Home Affairs' processing time guide, half of Core Skills applications are decided within 4 months and 90% within 9 months (updated 29 September 2026). Visas for healthcare jobs are in the first priority group for skilled visas from 19 September 2026. Your tests and your job search set the real length. Read on immi.homeaffairs.gov.au, 19 October 2026.
Who it fits.A nurse registered with the NMCN, with at least 1 year of relevant work experience for the visa, and the board's English scores: IELTS Academic 7 overall and in listening, reading and speaking, with 6.5 in writing, or the same level in OET, PTE Academic or TOEFL iBT. Here is the official page, checked 8 October 2026.
Family.Your partner and your or your partner's dependent children, on the same visa application, each with their own fee. Read on immi.homeaffairs.gov.au, 8 October 2026.
Your papers. Your passport and two more identity papers, your qualification papers, your English result, and an international criminal history check when Ahpra asks for it. Which NMCN papers Ahpra needs: we do not know yet.
The official page for this route. Checked 8 October 2026. Naira at the official rate of 20 October 2026. Australian figures are a cross rate through the US dollar.
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Free. About two minutes.