Skilled Regional Visa

Subclass 491 Temporary Visa leading to Permanent Visa

This visa allows skilled workers to live And work in specified regional areas in Australia for up to four years.

Skilled Visas

Skilled Independent Visa Skilled Nominated Visa Skilled Regional Visa

Employer-Sponsored Visas

Temporary Skill Shortage (TSS) RSMS Employer Nomination Scheme

Other Visas

Temporary Graduate Visa Partner Visa

Start The Process

Your Eligibility Assessment will be done by us

Skills Assessment

Skills Assessment Authority will assess your skills

EOI and State Nomination

Lodge Expression of Interest (EOI) and State Nomination

Department of Immigration

Lodge application with Immigration Department

FEATURES

You need State or Territory Nomination or Relative sponsorship for this visa. This visa option allows you to stay in Certain Regional / Designated areas of Australia for a period of 5 years. For Designated areas, you need to be sponsored by an Australian relative.

State/Territory nomination for this visa provides you with 15 additional points to help meet the Department of Home Affairs points test pass mark of 65 points.

If you are nominated by the State or Territory Government for this visa, you must live in that State/Territory for the period of the entire visa. You will be able to lodge a Subclass 191 Visa application if you have lived and worked in a regional area for three years and should have minimum salary of $53,900 per annum. Once a permanent residence visa is granted, you can live anywhere in Australia. You cannot start living anywhere in Australia before Subclass 191 Visa is granted.

If you wish to apply for this SC 491 visa, you must first obtain a positive skills assessment from your nominated occupation, and then lodge an Expression of Interest & State or Territory nomination application. If this is successful, you will be invited to lodge a visa application.

Points are awarded on the basis of the factors listed in the POINTS TEST. All factors are assessed as they are at the time you are invited to apply for this visa.

ELIGIBILITY

In order to qualify for a Subclass 489 visa, you would need to:

Lodge an EOI, State Nomination and receive an Invitation
Meet the points test pass mark of 65 points
Be under 45 years of age
Be sponsored by a relative living in a designated area or State/territory
Pass a skills assessment in the occupation list of MLTSSL/STSOL/ROL
Have Competent English or higher depending on the points you have
Meet health and character requirements.

This option requires sponsorship by a relative or State/Territory Government

Nomination by a State or Territory Government

Each state/territory has its own list of occupations they desire. Eligibility of which can be met if you have the right English scores/experience etc.

Sponsorship by a Relative Living in a Designated Area

Your occupation should be in MLTSSL. You can apply for this subclass if you have a relative living in the designated area

The relative has to be an Australian citizen, Permanent visa holder or eligible New Zealand, citizen

The following relatives can sponsor

Parents
Brothers and Sisters
Uncles and Aunts
Nephews and Nieces
First Cousins Grandparents

Do I Apply in Australia or Overseas?

You can either be onshore or offshore to apply for this visa. If you are onshore, you need to have a valid visa before applying for this or a bridging visa A, B or C. Once applied, you will be given a bridging visa until the decision of your file comes up, allowing you to stay in Australia till then.

Duration and Conditions

This is a 5-year provisional visa allowing you and your dependents to live, work or study in any regional or low populated areas. The approved regional areas vary depending on whether you are sponsored by a relative or by a State or Territory Government:

State or Territory Government: you can only live in a Regional or Low Population Growth Area
Relative: You can live in a Designated Area

THE PROCESS

Anyone who wishes to apply for this visa MUST first be INVITED to lodge an application by the Department of Immigration. In order to qualify for an invitation, you must lodge an ‘Expression of Interest’ (EOI), which sets out how you meet the requirements for this visa.

STAGE 1: INITIAL ELIGIBILITY

The first step that we will take is to conduct an initial assessment of your eligibility for this visa. This involves reviewing your qualifications, work experience, English language and other circumstances, to establish whether or not you are likely to meet the relevant requirements.

As part of this initial eligibility assessment, we will consider occupation you are likely to be able to nominate, and whether or not you are potentially eligible for a positive skills assessment from the relevant assessing authority for that occupation.

We will then provide you with informed and comprehensive advice about your ability to meet the minimum standards that the Department of Immigration requires migrants to fulfil, in order to qualify for an invitation to apply for this visa.

Note: Our initial assessment of your eligibility does not guarantee that you will (or will not) in fact obtain a positive skills assessment, or be issued an invitation to apply for this visa. In particular, whether or not the Department of Immigration issues you with an invitation will depend upon how your points test score compares to the scores of other potential applicants, and whether or not the Department of Immigration deems your nominated occupation to be required in Australia.

STAGE 2: SKILLS ASSESSMENT

Should our initial assessment indicate that you are eligible for a positive skills assessment and EOI, we will prepare your skills assessment application.

For each skilled occupation listed on the MLTSSL, the Department of Immigration has specified an assessing authority that may carry out skills assessments for that occupation. Only a skills assessment conducted by the relevant assessing authority will be accepted by the Department of Immigration in support of an EOI. We will provide you with a full list of the information and documents required to support your application. When you have provided the necessary details and documents, along with the required assessment fee, we will lodge your application with the applicable skills assessing authority.

STAGE 3: EXPRESSION OF INTEREST (EOI)

Once you have received a positive skills assessment from the skills assessing authority, we will prepare and lodge your EOI. Although you do not need to provide supporting documents at this stage, you MUST be able to provide evidence that the information supplied in the EOI is correct at the time that you are invited to apply for the visa.

You will subsequently receive a result and points score from the Department of Immigration, which is used to rank you against other applicants who have lodged EOIs for this visa. The ranking is based partially on whether or not your occupation is a skill that Australia requires at the time your EOI is assessed. If your EOI is successful, you will be invited to lodge a visa application.

Note: The Department of Immigration retains an EOI for 2 years from the date that it is lodged. During this time, your EOI can be updated if any of your circumstances change (e.g. you obtain a new qualification or skills assessment). If your ranking changes during this 2-year period, based on either your changing circumstances or Australia’s changing skill needs, you may be issued with an invitation to apply for the visa at that point in time.

STAGE 4: STATE OR TERRITORY NOMINATION

Each State and Territory Government publishes a list of occupations in short supply in their area. There may be specific requirements in terms of work experience, English language ability or specialised skills.

STAGE 5: VISA APPLICATION

Once the Department of Immigration has invited you to apply for this visa, we will prepare and lodge your visa application within the specified time frame, together with all of the documents that support the information that you provided in your EOI. This includes your skills assessment, English language test results, qualifications, work references and all other required documents. Should your visa application be approved, you will be granted a permanent visa. You may be either in Australia or overseas when your visa is granted.

OTHER REQUIREMENTS

HEALTH

Main applicant and all of the family members must meet health requirements.

CHARACTER

You must be of good character.
You might be asked to provide police certificates for each country you have lived in for 12 months or more, over the last 10 years (calculated immediately before the time the visa application is lodged), since turning 16 years of age
Police Certificate is valid for 12 months for the immigration purpose.
If you have a substantial criminal record, you cannot pass the character test. For example,
You have been sentenced to 12 months or more in prison.

LOCATION

You can be in or outside Australia when you apply for the visa and when a decision is made.

DEBTS

You must have repaid, or have arranged to repay, any outstanding debts to the Australian government.

VISA CANCELLED OR REFUSED

You might not be eligible to apply for this visa if you have had a visa cancelled or refused while you were in Australia.

VISA APPLICATION FEES

Base Application Charge: AUD 4045
Additional Applicant Charge 18 And Over : AUD 2025
Additional applicant charge under 18 : AUD 1010

PROCESSING TIME

6-12 MONTHS
PLEASE NOTE: The actual time taken by the Department of Immigration to approve an application and grant a visa varies from case to case depending upon an applicant’s particular circumstances, and the amount of supporting information that the Department requires.

COMPARISON SUBCLASS 189/190/491

SUBCLASS 189

65 POINTS

Permanent Residence
State/Territory/Relatives Points cannot be claimed
Occupation should be on the MLTSSL List
State/Territory/Relatives cannot sponsor
Eligible Relatives Points cannot be claimed
Higher points applicants (90-105) are invited
limited quota for some occupations

60 POINTS

Permanent Residence
State/Territory 5 Points can be claimed
Occupation should be on MLTSSL or STSOL OR ROL
State/Territory can sponsor but relatives cannot.
Eligible Relatives Points cannot be claimed
65 points applicants can get invitation
Strict State/Territory Nomination selection

55 POINTS

Temporary Residence
State/Territory or Relatives 15 Points can be claimed
Occupation should be on MLTSSL/STSOL/ROL
State/Territory/Relatives can sponsor
Relative or State/Territory 15 points can be claimed but not both
65 points applicants can get invitation
Permanent Residence easy pathways after 3 years

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

When do I have to meet the English language requirements?

It depends on the occupation you nominate. For example, if you are occupation is the one whose skills assessment authority is Engineers Australia, you have to submit English language evidence at the time of making skills assessment application. If your occupation skills assessment authority is Vetassess then you must have English language evidence at the time of making EOI application as Vetassess does not require English language evidence.

Do I need sponsorship from a Relative or a State?

Yes. You need State or Territory Nomination. Relative cannot sponsor you.

What is an Expression of Interest (EOI)?

An EOI is managed by the SkillSelect program of the Department of Immigration. After lodging an EOI, you will need to wait for the invitation to apply from the Department of Immigration. You will be ranked according to your score on the points test.

When you submit your EOI, you will be shown your points score but will not be able to view your ranking position. This is because your ranking will change as people enter and leave SkillSelect. More points mean a better chance of early invitation.

You will be able to complete an EOI even if you do not meet the pass mark, however, you will not be eligible to be invited to apply for a visa.

Once you have completed your EOI, it is stored in SkillSelect and is valid for two years.