Australian visas for police officers
the 186 labour agreement route, costs and family

Almost every overseas officer who joins an Australian force arrives on the same visa: the Employer Nomination Scheme (subclass 186) visa, Labour Agreement stream. WA Police, South Australia Police and the Queensland Police Service each hold a labour agreement with the Australian Government, and each nominates the officers it selects. You don't choose the visa; the force's agreement does.

That's good news. A 186 is permanent from the day it's granted, so you, your partner and your children arrive as permanent residents with work and study rights, Medicare and, after about four years, a path to citizenship. It's also why this page spends little time on the temporary visas you'll see on migration websites: they aren't the police route.

Most people who move to Australia for work use a visa tied to an occupation list: the points-tested Skilled Independent (189) and Skilled Nominated (190) visas, or an employer-sponsored 482. Each needs your job to appear on the relevant list. Police officer doesn't. When we searched the Core Skills Occupation List and the combined skilled lists on 9 October 2026, "police" and "detective" returned nothing.

No occupation list, no points test: police visas run through labour agreements.

So you can't claim points for your police career, get a skills assessment as a police officer, or ask a state to nominate you as one. The only sponsored route is a labour agreement: a contract between an employer and the Government that allows it to sponsor workers outside the standard lists, on terms (such as age) that can differ from the defaults.

That's also why only WA, SAPOL and Queensland can sponsor you. NSW, Victoria, Tasmania, the NT and the AFP don't hold a police labour agreement, and they recruit citizens and permanent residents only (New Zealand citizens too, for most). Victoria does recognise UK service, but only once you already hold PR. Our overseas hub sets out every force's rules by country.

The order matters. You apply to the force, not to Home Affairs. Once you've passed selection and been offered a place, the force lodges a nomination for you under its labour agreement. Then you lodge your own visa application, including your partner and dependent children, and pay the charges. Home Affairs checks health, character and English before granting.

1. 1

   Apply to the force

   Months 1–4

   WA, SAPOL or Queensland. Selection is largely remote: online or phone interviews, tests and medicals.

2. 2

   Conditional offer

   After selection

   The force confirms it will sponsor you and tells you which documents to gather.

3. 3

   Nomination lodged

   Force lodges

   The force nominates you under its labour agreement. WA's age limit applies at this point.

4. 4

   Visa application lodged

   You lodge

   You apply, add family, pay the charges and book medicals. SAPOL's and Queensland's age limits apply here.

5. 5

   Grant, then move

   Then notice

   Don't resign until the visa is granted. Queensland requires you to hold PR before the academy.

Home Affairs expects 186 holders to work for the nominating employer for at least 2 years and to start within 6 months of entering Australia (or of the grant, if you're already here). The visa also gives you a 5-year travel facility, so you can leave and re-enter freely as a permanent resident for five years.

Home Affairs says Labour Agreement applicants must be under 45 "unless the labour agreement provides otherwise". Two of the three police agreements do. The other important detail is when the age is tested: at nomination in WA, but at visa application in SA and Queensland.

If you're 44, SAPOL is a race against the calendar: allow at least 8 weeks for its remote selection, then time to gather documents before you can lodge. If you're between 45 and 54, WA and Queensland are your options. For SAPOL's full timing see our UK to SAPOL guide.

You'll see these two visas everywhere on migration sites, so it's worth knowing what they are. The Skills in Demand (subclass 482) visa is temporary, for up to 4 years, with Core Skills, Specialist Skills, Labour Agreement and Subsequent entrant streams. It has no age limit, and its path to permanent residence is the 186 Temporary Residence Transition stream after 2 years with the sponsor.

The Skilled Employer Sponsored Regional (subclass 494) visa is a 5-year provisional visa for regional jobs, leading to a permanent visa after 3 years. Home Affairs charges the same as for a 186. Neither is used by any police force we checked: all three sponsoring forces go straight to the permanent 186.

Home Affairs charges the 186 per applicant. The main applicant pays A$6,140, each additional applicant aged 18 or over A$3,070, and each child under 18 A$1,535. Here's what that means for typical families, with the 482 for comparison. Totals are calculated by us from the published charges.

Then add the extras: medicals with a panel physician for every family member, police certificates for adults and any older teenagers who need them, and translations if any documents aren't in English. A UK police certificate from ACRO costs £70 (about A$133 at the RBA's 9 October 2026 rate), so £140 for a couple, plus £48 if you want it couriered internationally.

For a couple with two young children, the visa charges come to A$12,280. In WA you'd get A$6,140 plus A$300 back, so the family still pays A$6,140. In SA the whole family's visa costs are reimbursed on commencement. In Queensland you'd be reimbursed A$6,140 after recruit training, and the $20,000 incentive helps with the rest.

Home Affairs publishes processing times monthly. For the 186 visa, the figures last updated on 29 September 2026 show a big gap between the Labour Agreement stream, which police use, and Direct Entry.

Priority helps. Ministerial Direction 122, in force from 19 September 2026, sets the order in which Home Affairs processes skilled visas, including the 186. Migration lawyers report that occupations related to law enforcement sit in the top priority group, with healthcare, teaching and construction. Priority isn't a guarantee: it changes the queue order, not the checks.

What slows a case down is usually on the applicant's side: a medical that needs further tests, a missing police certificate, an old caution that needs explaining, or a family member added late. Gather everything before you lodge. And don't resign until the visa is granted: our month-by-month timeline shows where your UK notice period fits.

The 186 requires the main applicant to have Competent English. Home Affairs treats a current passport from the UK, Ireland, the US, Canada or New Zealand as proof, so most officers on these pathways never sit a test. If you hold another passport, you'll need an accepted test result at the required level.

The second instalment catches families out. Each family member aged 18 or over who can't show Functional English must pay A$4,890 before the visa is granted, and it buys access to English classes rather than waiving the requirement. For a partner from a non-English-speaking country, check the Functional English evidence list early.

Health examinations

Everyone on the application has a health examination. From overseas, you book with a Home Affairs-approved panel physician using the HAP ID Home Affairs gives you; in Australia it's done through Bupa Medical Visa Services. This is separate from your force's own police medical, which is usually stricter on eyesight, hearing and fitness: see our police medical requirements guide.

Police certificates

For character, Home Affairs wants an overseas police certificate from every country where you've spent 12 months or more in the last 10 years since turning 16, and an Australian Federal Police certificate if you've spent 12 months or more in Australia. That can apply to your partner and older children too, not only to you; Home Affairs tells you which family members need one.

Serving officers sometimes assume their vetting covers this. It doesn't: Home Affairs needs the certificate, and your new force runs its own integrity checks too. Our guide to police background and integrity checks covers what Australian forces look at.

Your partner and dependent children can be included in your 186 application and receive the same permanent visa. Your partner can work for any employer, study, and enrol in Medicare. A dependent child aged 18 or over is charged as an adult and must still meet Home Affairs' dependency rules, so check before you assume an older child can come on your application.

This is where the 186 pulls well ahead of the 482. Children of 482 holders pay public school fees in several states, while permanent residents' children don't. 482 families can't get the Child Care Subsidy or Family Tax Benefit; 186 families can, with Family Tax Benefit Part A after a 1-year waiting period for new permanent residents.

Moving with pets, finding childcare and choosing schools take longer than the visa. Our moving with family guide goes through partners' work, childcare costs, schools and pets.

As a 186 holder you can enrol in Medicare, Australia's public health system, once you're here. Take your passports and visa details to Services Australia. Until you've enrolled, the UK–Australia reciprocal health care agreement covers medically necessary care for people who lived in the UK before arriving, but it ends when your visa expires.

You'll pay the Medicare levy of 2% of taxable income through your tax. Private hospital cover is optional, but Lifetime Health Cover adds a loading if you take it out after your deadline, which for new migrants is the later of the 1 July after your 31st birthday or the first anniversary of full Medicare registration. Our take-home pay calculator includes the levy.

Because a 186 makes you a permanent resident on arrival, the citizenship clock starts the day you land. Home Affairs' residence rule is 4 years living in Australia on a valid visa, including 12 months as a permanent resident, with no more than 12 months away in total over the 4 years and no more than 90 days away in the last 12 months.

The trap for police families is the 90-day rule. A long trip home to see family in your fourth year can push your eligibility back. The citizenship test has a 75% pass mark, and you must get all 5 questions on Australian values right.

On the police route, the force does the hard part: it holds the labour agreement and lodges your nomination. Many officers then lodge their own visa application in ImmiAccount. You're not required to use an agent. But in Australia only registered migration agents and Australian legal practitioners may charge for immigration assistance, so anyone offering paid help should be on the MARA register.

For pay, see what you'd actually earn: WA's Constable 5th year is $102,263 and SAPOL pays transition recruits $83,398 from day one of training. Before you resign, sort out what happens to your UK police pension, which is a separate decision with its own deadlines.