Skilled Work Regional Visa (Subclass 491)

The 491 visa, Skilled Work Regional (Provisional) subclass 491 visa will enable eligible skilled workers and their families to live, work and study in designated regional areas of Australia for 5 years. Visa holders will be eligible to apply for a Permanent Residence visa after three years. Applicants for this visa must be nominated by:

an Australian state or territory government agency or
Sponsored by an eligible family member residing in a designated regional area and be invited to apply for the visa, following submission of an Expression of Interest (EOI) in SkillSelect.

Subclass 491 Skilled Work Regional (Provisional) visa replaced the 489 visa. The 491 visa is a skilled and a points tested visa . It has a 45 year age limit and requires a positive skills assessment.

The visa validity period is 5 years. Conditions, namely 8579 will be imposed which will enforce the government’s intentions that visa holders live, work and study only in regional areas. Visa holders may move between regional areas. Regional areas are defined as any area excluding Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, Perth and Gold Coast are classified as regional areas. You may work in any occupation and for any employer in line with the work and residence conditions attached to your visa.

Holders of the new provisional visas will also be unable to apply for most other skills based visas in Australia unless they have completed at least three years in a designated regional area, unless exceptional circumstances exist. Additionally, similar to current arrangements for the subclass 457 and 482 visa program, holders of the new provisional visas can be negatively impacted by sponsor non-compliance.

The new 491 visa permanent pathway will be:

Subclass 191 Permanent Residence (Skilled Regional): To meet the requirements of the permanent visa applicants must have held a subclass 491 or 494 visa for at least 3 years, have complied with the conditions on that visa. You do not have to show earnings of at least $53,900 per annum for three years.

Benefits of the 491 visa:

Priority processing of regional applications
Incentives for migrants to stay in regional areas longer term as they build ties through workforce and community participation- access to medicare
More points available to subclass 491 visa applicants

Ranking systems for an invitation to apply for a 491 visa

First: Applicant with a skilled partner OR applicants without a partner
Second: Applicant with a partner who can demonstrate Competent English (but does not have the skills for skilled partner points)
Third: Applicant with a partner who is ineligible for either competent English or Skilled partner points.

Migration definitions

Definition	Locations	Regional incentives
Major Cities	Sydney Melbourne Brisbane	– NA
Cities and major regional centres	Perth Adelaide Gold Coast Sunshine Coast Canberra Newcastle/Lake Macquarie Wollongong/Illawarra Geelong Hobart	– Access to the dedicated 25,000 regional places. – Priority processing on regional visas. – Access to the Regional Occupations List – more jobs compared to non-regional lists. – International students studying at regional universities will be eligible to access an additional 1 year in Australia on a post-study work visa.
Regional centres and other regional areas	All other locations	– Access to the dedicated 25,000 regional places. – Priority processing on regional visas. – Access to the Regional Occupations List – more jobs compared to non-regional lists. – International students studying at regional universities will be eligible to access an additional 2 year in Australia on a post-study work visa. – Priority in negotiating region-specific Designated Area Migration Agreements (DAMAs).

Nomination by an Australian state or territory government agency

If you are nominated for the visa, we will invite you to apply. All state and territory government agencies have their own criteria for deciding who they will nominate. Each state has its own requirements:

New South Wales
Northern Territory
Queensland
South Australia
Tasmania
Victoria
Western Australia

Sponsorship by an eligible relative (Family stream)

Please note that for the 491 family stream your occupation must be on the MLTSSL list. Your sponsor must be:

18 years old or older
usually resident in a designated area of Australia
be an Australian citizen, an Australian permanent resident, or an eligible New Zealand citizen
be your or your partner’s eligible relative

An eligible relative can be:

a parent
a child or step-child
a brother, sister, adoptive brother, adoptive sister, step-brother or step-sister
an aunt, uncle, adoptive aunt, adoptive uncle, step-aunt or step-uncle
a nephew, niece, adoptive nephew, adoptive niece, step-nephew or step-niece
a grandparent, or
a first cousin

Sponsorship must be approved before you can be granted a visa.