Your Career Australia
Your Australian visa
options - in plain English
“The visa system looks complicated from the outside. Once you understand the three main routes, it becomes much simpler. Let me walk you through it.” — Jane Donnelly, Founder, Axia Bridge
One thing to say upfront
Axia Bridge is not a migration agent — and that's deliberate.
We don't provide visa advice and we don't lodge visa applications. That work is regulated for good reason and should be handled by specialists who do nothing else.
What we do is verify your skills, build your Employer Ready Profile, and connect you to trusted, MARA-registered migration specialists (the people legally qualified to manage your visa application) when the time is right.
The right people for each part of the journey, in the right order.
Route 1 - Working Holiday Maker visa
Most people use this visa to find a job. We flip that job first, then the freedom to explore.
If you're a UK or Irish national under 35 with no dependent children, the Working Holiday Maker visa (subclass 417) lets you live, work and travel in Australia for up to a year, with options to extend.
Axia Bridge secures you a job offer first. You arrive with income, confidence and a plan already in place.
For care and early years professionals this is particularly powerful. Many Australian employers operate across multiple sites and states, giving you flexibility to experience different parts of the country while you build relationships on the ground.
The adventure of a Working Holiday. The security of a job you already have.
Talk to us about whether this route fits your situation
Route 2 - Employer-sponsored visas
The most common career route for UK and Irish professionals moving to Australia and the heart of what we do.
The Skills in Demand visa (subclass 482) is the headline route. Employer-sponsored, valid for up to four years, with your employer invested in you arriving and settling well.
Two pathways lead from there to permanent residency in Australia:
- Employer Nomination Scheme (subclass 186) — direct permanent residency sponsorship, common for senior roles.
- Skilled Employer Sponsored Regional visa (subclass 494) — regional areas, often with additional incentives and faster timelines'
A verified skills assessment and a strong Employer-Ready Profile make the biggest difference here. Employers sponsor people they're confident about. We make sure you give them every reason to be.
Route 3 - Points tested skilled migration
No employer sponsor needed — but it's a competitive route.
The points-based system awards points for age, English level, qualifications and work experience. It includes:
- Skilled Independent visa (subclass 189) — no sponsor, no state nomination needed.
- Skilled Nominated visa (subclass 190) — nominated by an Australian state or territory.
- Skilled Work Regional visa (subclass 491) — for regional areas, with a pathway to permanent residency.
A positive skills assessment is required for all three.
What if you're over 35 or your situation is more complex?
The Working Holiday route may be closed to you — but other doors stay open.
Employer sponsorship under subclass 482 has no upper age limit. Skilled migration has age thresholds, but a wider window than most people assume.
We know this territory well, including where the less obvious routes are. We'll tell you honestly which pathways are realistic for your situation. If a particular route isn't viable, we'll tell you that too and show you what is.
We'd rather get you somewhere sensible than nowhere with a smile.
How Axia Bridge supports you
Preparing your skills assessment
Building your Employer Ready Profile
Connecting you to verified Australian employers who are actively sponsoring
Introducing you to MARA-registered migration specialists for the visa work
Our service is completely free. The only fees you’ll face are the official government and authority fees — paid directly to them, never to us.
Where do you start?
Whichever visa route you eventually take, the skills assessment is the right first step for most people.Not sure if that's true for you? Start the assessment anyway. We'll tell you within the process if a different route makes more sense.
Free. Clear from the first click. And the moment everything else begins.
We’ve navigated this system ourselves — from sponsored worker to permanent resident to citizen. We know which routes work, which ones are harder than they look, and where the real opportunities are. That knowledge is yours to use.