2024 New Regional Visas Guide

2023 New Regional Visas Guide

-with Skilled Points Calculator

**One permanent regional visa from November 2022.  

Skilled Work Regional (Provisional) SWR – subclass 491 visa 

Skilled Employer Sponsored Regional (Provisional) SESR Visa – Subclass 494  

Permanent Residence (Skilled Regional) visa – Subclass  191  

The upcoming 491 and 494 visas will require visa holders to live and work in regional Australia.  Options include having a relative sponsor, being nominated by an employer, or being assessed under the points test.

The minimum requirements of subclass 491 visa

At the time that you are invited to apply for this visa, you must: 

  • be under 45 years of age 
  • nominate an eligible skilled occupation that is included on the relevant Medium and Long-term Strategic Skills List (MLTSSL)Short-term Skilled Occupation List (STSOL) or Regional Occupation List (ROL) 
  • have your skills assessed by the appropriate Australian skills assessing authority as suitable for your nominated occupation (must not be a subclass 485 skills assessment). If your skills assessment is based on an Australian qualification while holding a student visa, that qualification must have been CRICOS registered 
  • have competent English
    NOTE: In each case, the test must have been undertaken within the last three years (with the exception of the CAE test, which must be dated on or after 1 January 2015)

  • score at least 65 on the relevant points test (which takes into account your age, English competency, qualifications and work experience, amongst other factors) 
  • be nominated by an Australian State or Territory government agency OR be sponsored by an eligible relative who resides in a designated area of Australia 
    NOTE: In order to be ‘eligible’, your (or your partner’s) relative must be an Australian citizen, Australian permanent resident or eligible NZ citizen; at least 18 years old; and a close family member (i.e. a parent, child, sibling, grandparent, aunt, uncle, niece, nephew, or first cousin)

What’s so different about the new Skilled Regional visas?

  • Applicants for the new Skilled Work Regional (Provisional) visa will have access to more points for regional nomination/sponsorship. If you currently do not have enough points for other skilled visas and you are interested in moving to a regional area, these visas could be a good option.
  • The new visas will also be eligible for priority processing.
  • The two new skilled regional provisional visas will require the holder and their families to live and work in a regional area for three years.
  • Visa holders will need to report any change of circumstances to the Department of Home Affairs within 14 days.
  • Additionally, visa holders may be required to attend an interview or provide supporting evidence to demonstrate that they are living and working in regional Australia.

How long will the period of stay in a regional area need to be?

  • Visas are granted with a validity period of up to five years and provisional visa holders will be required to live and work in regional Australia for that period.
  • Regional provisional visa holders will be eligible to apply for permanent residence after three years

What is ‘regional Australia’?

The definition of Regional Australia is  simplified  to include all of Australia except for the following metropolitan areas:

  • Sydney;
  • Melbourne;
  • Brisbane

Read for more information about Australian postcodes that make up the regional areas.

A full list of postcodes defining regional areas will become available on the Department of Home Affairs website in the future.

What effect will this have on the points test?

Five additional points will be awarded for regional nomination or sponsorship (i.e. on top of the current 10 points), making it 15 points for state/family nomination.

What effect will this have on occupations?

  • the new Skilled Employer Sponsored Regional (Provisional) visa will have 673 eligible occupations (Over 450 more occupations than closest non-regional equivalent visa).
  • the new Skilled Work Regional (Provisional) visa will have 504 eligible occupations (77 more than closest non-regional equivalent visa).

Option 1 – Skilled Work Regional (Provisional) SWR – subclass 491 visa

If you are interested to work in Queensland, please refer the below link to find out more.

For Australian Department of Home Affairs (HA) criteria, please visit

– Removing occupations

The Australia government is tightening skilled Work Regional (Provisional)(subclass 491) by removing occupation from the Queensland Skilled Occupation Lists (QSOL).

The following occupations are no longer be the approved and will be removed from QSOL. Please ensure you do not apply for any occupations below to avoid invalid application.

Onshore and Offshore -IT

Onshore –Accounting

Offshore -Engineering

•ICT Business Analyst ANZSCO 261111

•Systems Analyst

ANZSCO 261112

•Developer Programmer ANZSCO 261312

•Software Engineer ANZSCO 261313

•Software and Applications Programmers nec

ANZSCO 261399

•ICT Security Specialist ANZSCO 262112

•Computer Network and Systems Engineer

ANZSCO 263111

•Analyst Programmer ANZSCO 261311

 

•Accountant (General) ANZSCO 221111

•Management Accountant ANZSCO 221112

•Taxation Accountant ANZSCO 221113

•External Auditor

ANZSCO 221213

•Internal Auditor

ANZSCO 221214

 

•Civil Engineer ANZSCO 233211

•Mechanical Engineer

 ANZSCO 233512

•Electrical Engineer ANZSCO 233311

•Engineering Technologist

 ANZSCO 233914

 

 

Please ensure you have checked the applicable regions before you apply for this visa:

Applicable regions are

  • Excludes Greater Brisbane Area and the Gold Coast. Includes the following postcodes: 4124 to 4125, 4133, 4211, 4270 to 4272, 4275, 4280, 4285, 4287, 4307 to 4499, 4515, 4517 to 4519, 4522 to 4899.

Employment

  • Employment can be undertaken in the following ways:
    • Work for one or more employers
    • 2 part-time jobs
    • Work in open business as an owner or operator

Eligibility

To be eligible, you must satisfy both the Australian Department of Home Affairs and Business and Skilled Migration Queensland (BSMQ) criteria.

The Australian Department of Home Affairs (HA) criteria are:

  • Obtain more than 65 points
  • Have a positive skill assessment in your nominated occupation
  • under 45 years of age
  • meet the minimum English language requirement of COMPETENT
  • submit additional documents if invited to lodge an application for a subclass 190 or subclass 491 visa

BSMQ requirements are:

  • have an occupation on the QSOL ‘Working in Queensland’ list
  • If you are lodging an EOI for a 491 visa you must be LIVING and WORKING (full-time post qualification, minimum 35 hours per week) in REGIONAL Queensland in your nominated occupation for the past 3 months IMMEDIATELY prior to EOI submission.
  • evidence of ongoing employment with a Queensland employer registered in Australia for a further 12 months (minimum of 35 hours per week).
  • For the 491 it must be an ongoing employment in a REGIONAL area for a further 12 months (minimum 35 hours per week).
  • commit to living and working in Queensland for 2 years from visa grant.

 

If you are interested to work in Queensland, please refer the below link to find out more.

For Australian Department of Home Affairs (HA) criteria, please visit

If you are interested to work in Victoria, please refer the below link to find out more.

– New nomination requirements

Due to high demand in Australia’s labour market, the skilled Work Regional (Provisional)(subclass 491) visa will commence on 18 November 2019. This visa enables points-tested workers to live, study and work in designated regional areas for 5 years and applicants can include their family member in their application.

New nomination requirements for this visa are:

  • Age requirement: the applicant must be under 45 years of age
  • Language requirement: All applicant must have a competent level of English and acquire IELTS at least 6 in each band score or equivalent. (unless you are a citizen of the USA, UK, Canada, Republic or Ireland or New Zealand)
  • Occupation: your occupation must be feature in the skilled occupation list
  • Offer of employment: All applicant must provide evidence of a current offer of employment in regional area of Victoria. This must be in your nominated occupation and full-time work for at least 12 months.
  • Positive Skills Assessment
  • CV: Your updated CV.

In addition, financial resource requirement, you must have money to support yourself and your family.

ONSHORE APPLICANTS

Australian dollars (A$)

Working in nominated occupation  

$20,000

Not working in nominated occupation

See offshore requirements below

 

OFFSHORE APPLICANTS

 

Number of dependents

Australian dollars (A$)

Individual applicant

$30,000

1

$35,000

2

$40,000

3

$50,000

4

$60,000

5

$70,000

6+

$80,000

 

Application Process

  1. Lodge your Expression of Interests EOI online through the Department website.
  2. Prepare your documents
    • Resume or CV
    • 491 visa Declaration form
    • Skills assessment
    • English language test results
    • Evidence of a genuine job off or employment located in a designated regional area of Victoria
  3. Lodge your nomination application through the Live in Melbourne Website
  4. Lodge your visa application with the Department of Home Affairs
  5. Notify the Statement Government your visa outcome.

 

Fees

There is no application fee.

Processing Time:

The average processing time is currently 12 weeks.

If you are interested to work in Victoria, please refer the below link to find out more.

According to the state website, the application of expression of interest have commenced on 16 November 2019 and subsequently, invitations to apply for WA State nomination under the new 491 visa will commence on 21 November 2019. To be eligible, you must satisfy the following requirements:

  1. Eligibility of Expression of Interest (EOI)

–  Submit an EOI

– Score at least 65 points

– Have a suitable permanent migration for your occupation

– Have a nominated occupation on Western Australian Skilled migration occupation list WASMOL or Graduate occupation list GOL.

Eligibility

To be eligible to apply for this state nomination, you must meet the following requirements:

  • Have a relevant occupation on a skied occupation list
  • Have a suitable skills assessment for the occupation,
  • Satisfy the points test;
  • Under 45 years of age at the time of invitation;
  • Have Competent English;
  • Submit an Expression of Interest;
  • Nominated by a state or territory government agency or be sponsored by an eligible relative;
  • Be invited by the Department to apply; and
  • Meet public interest criteria including health and character requirements

Eligibility

The State nomination requirements include:

  1. Commitment to South Australia – live and work in SA for 2 years when you arrive
  2. Under 45 years if age at the time of nomination
  3. Occupation
  4. Skills Assessment – positive
  5. Work experience – at least 1 year of skilled work experience in the last 3 years but if you are an international graduate of SA, you may be exempted
  6. English: MEET THE SA’s min. requirement for your occupation unless you are a citizen of US, UK, Ireland, Canada or NZ
  7. Financial capacity: enough funds to settle in SA
  8. EOI

If you are interested to work in Northern Territory, please refer the below link to find out more.

The Skilled Work Regional (Provisional) visa subclass 491 will re-open on Monday 9 December 2019 and the application fee is AUD300.

Eligibility

To be eligible or this visa, you must:

  • Meet the Australian Government requirements, The Australian Department of Home Affairs (HA) criteria 
  • Be nominated by the NT Government
  • Meet all other Australian Government visa requirement for permanent residence for you and your dependant in your application
    • Age
    • Health
    • Character (if applicable)

NT Government will still consider your application of one of the following applies and you need the NT residency and work requirements for onshore applicant)

  • Your skilled occupation is feature in the NT Migration Occupation List
  • If you don’t have a skilled occupation that is feature in the above NT Migration Occupation list buy on the Australian Government’s current list of eligible skilled occupations:
    • You must provide strong evidence of good employment prospects in the NT in your skilled occupation or a closely related skilled occupation
  • successfully completed an eligible enrolled course (full-time and for at least two years at a college or university in the NT)
  • have a skilled occupation on the Australian Government’s current list of eligible skilled occupations and you can demonstrate strong, well established family connections in the NT.

If you are interested to work in Northern Territory, please refer the below link to find out more.

If you are interested to work in Tasmania, please refer the below link to find out more.

To be eligible to apply for state nomination, you must meet the following requirements set out by the Department of Home Affairs. You must have:

  • not yet turned 45 years of age
  • nominated an occupation on the relevant list of eligible skilled occupations
  • a valid and positive skills assessment for your nominated occupation
  • at least ‘Competent’ English language proficiency
  • at least 65 points on the Department of Home Affairs points test.

Requirements

  • demonstrated ability and commitment to establishing yourself, and any dependents, in Tasmania with a view to your prospects for long-term settlement in the state
  • demand for your particular skills and expertise, and your ability to find work in Tasmania
  • the suitability and transferability of your qualifications, skills and experience – including any specialist capabilities – to the needs of Tasmania’s labour market
  • the skills and background of dependent family members
  • level of English language competency
  • the likelihood of you obtaining a personal income that would meet the minimum taxable income requirement for the subclass 191 Permanent Residence (Skilled Regional) visa (currently AU$53,900 per year for at least 3 years in the next 5 years)

There are 5 nomination categories available:

Category 1 – Tasmanian Graduates (1-year full-time study)

  • Graduated from a CRICOS registered tertiary institution in Tasmania
  • Either a degree or a diploma or trade qualification with at last 40 weeks
  • Your course must be full time and on site in Tasmania
  • You must live in Tas for at least 1 year during your period of study
  • You and your dependents are currently living in Tas
  • Evidence of ongoing genuine commitment

Category 2 – Working in Tasmania (at least 6 months full time employment in Tasmania)

  • Worked in Tas for at least 6 months (at least 35 hours per week in one full time or 2 or more part time jobs) immediately before your application (You don’t have to be working in your nominated occupation) with evidence
  • Your job must fill a genuine, ongoing skill shortage in Tas
  • You and your dependents are currently living in Tas
  • Evidence of ongoing genuine commitment
  • Employer: must be a well-established business that has been actively operating in Tasmania for the past 12 months
  • A genuine need for your position within the business

This visa does not include non-skill shortage occupation, this includes employment in relating to: 

  • Supermarkets
  • Service statements
  • Limited service restaurants such as cooks, chef and café/restaurant managers
  • Massage clinics
  • Taxi/uber driving

Category 3 – Overseas applicant (TSOL) – skills and experience in TSOL

  • nominated occupation must be listed on the TSOL
  • You or your dependent have not lived in another Australian state with the last 12 months
  • Achieved the English requirement for your occupation
  • Meet the requirement of your occupation
  • Evidence indicate that there are sufficient employment opportunities (at least 5 but no more than 8 opportunities) in your occupation
  • You have skills and recent experience relevant to the opportunities or relevant to the Tasmanian economy
  • If your occupation is classified as High Demand and you satisfy the specified requirements, employability evidence is not required
  • Sufficient financial assets to fund your migration and settlement in Tasmania for at least 6 months while you seek employment

Category 3A – Oversea applicant (job offer)

  • Have a formal job offer in your nominated occupation in Tasmania
  • You or your dependent have not lived in another Australian state with the last 12 months
  • Employer: must be a well-established business that has been actively operating in Tasmania for the past 12 months
  • Genuine need for your position within the business (existing, current and genuine need and ongoing need for your position)

Category 4 – Overseas applicant (job Offer) (living overseas, full-time job offers with a well-established Tasmania business)

  • must have an IMMEDIATE family member who
    • is an Australian Permanent Resident or an Australian Citizen for a minimum of 12 months before lodgement
    • currently residing in Tasmania an has been for a minimum of 12 months
    • is a parent, brother, sister, child, aunt, uncle or grandparent
    • agrees to support and assist you in the process of gaining employment in Tasmania

Category 5 – Small Business Owner (living and operating a successful business in Tasmania for at least 6 months)

  • Must be living in Tas at the time of lodgement
  • demonstrate that you have established and operated your business (solely owned) in Tasmania for at least 6 months
  • demonstrate that the business is highly likely able to give you a personal income that would meet the minimum taxable income requirement set by Home Affairs for the subclass 191 Permanent Residence (Skilled Regional) visa.

Currently, that is AU$53,900 per year for at least 3 years in the next 5 years.

If you are interested to work in Tasmania, please refer the below link to find out more.

Skilled Work Regional (Provisional) Subclass 491 Visa - FAQs

The Subclass 491 is a provisional (temporary) visa which allows you to live and work in regional Australia for up to 5 years. The Subclass 491 visa is for people who wish to settle in regional Australia who have an occupation which is in high demand in Australia’s labour market. As the holder of a Subclass 491, you are entitled to stay in Australia for 5 years from the date of the grant, live, work and study in a designated regional area and travel to and from Australia as many times as you want.

For the purpose of Subclass 491 visas, most locations of Australia outside major cities such as Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane are classed as designated regional areas for migration purposes.

A list of postcodes that specify designated regional areas is available by clicking on this link.

Before you apply, you must satisfy a list of requirements. Each State has different requirements. Please refer to our 2019 New Regional Visas Guide for more information.

Yes, you do. You must have been invited, in writing by the Minister, to apply for this visa.

The time of invitation date is critical for the assessment of whether you satisfy the criteria for a Subclass 491 visas. We strongly recommend our clients to update their EOI (expression of interest) in SkillSelect for any changes in circumstances or in points-tested factors.

At this stage, there are no standard processing times available for this visa subclass. Please refer to our website for future updates.

Our website offers comprehensive information about the Subclass 491. You can click on this link for more information.

Option 2 – Skilled Employer Sponsored Regional (Provisional) SESR Visa – Subclass 494  

Age

You must be under 45 years of age when you apply for the visa.

You are exempt from this criteria if any of the following applies to you:

  • you are nominated as an academic (University Lecturer or Faculty Head at Academic Level A , B, C, D or E) by a university in Australia
  • you are nominated as a medical practitioner and have been employed in that occupation for 3 years immediately before you apply as the holder of a Temporary Work (Skilled) visa (subclass 457) or Temporary Skill Shortage (TSS) visa (subclass 482) visa, with at least 2 years of this time employed in regional Australia
  • you are nominated as a scientist, researcher or technical (scientific) specialist at ANZSCO skill level 1 or 2 by an Australian scientific government agency or Australian university
  • you have held a Special Category visa (subclass 444) or New Zealand Citizen Family Relationship visa (subclass 461) visa for the last 3 years immediately before you apply and have worked for the employer who nominated you, in the nominated occupation, for at least 2 years during that time
  • you
    • have held a subclass 457 visa or TSS visa for the last 3 years immediately before you apply
    • have worked in your nominated occupation for the employer who nominated you at all time during those 3 years
    • had annual earnings for each of those 3 years, that were equal to or greater than the Fair Work High Income Threshold that applied at the end of the relevant year

Nomination

You must be nominated by an employer whose business is lawfully operating in Australia.

You must be employed to work in the nominated occupation and in a position within the sponsoring business or an associated entity of that business, located in a designated regional area of Australia.

Qualifications/ Work Experience

You must undertake a skills assessment to demonstrate this – see Have a positive skills assessment below.

If it is not mandatory for you to undertake a skills assessment, you are still required to provide other evidence to demonstrate that you meet this requirement – see ‘Skills and qualifications documents‘ under the Step by step tab.

You must have been employed in the nominated occupation for at least 3 years on a full-time basis and at the skill level required for the nominated occupation.

Generally, you should have gained your experience within the last 5 years. The period does not need to be continuous. The Department might consider equivalent part-time work. The do not consider casual work.

Skills Assessment

You must have your skills assessed as suitable for the nominated occupation by the relevant assessing authority. The assessment will show us you have the skills to work in the nominated occupation.

The skills assessment must be undertaken before your application is lodged. A skills assessment obtained for a Temporary Graduate visa (subclass 485) is not a valid assessment for this visa.

You do not need to complete a skills assessment if at the time of application you held a Temporary Work (Skilled) visa (subclass 457) or Temporary Skill Shortage visa (subclass 482) for the nominated occupation and in order to be granted that visa, you were required to demonstrate your skills by providing a suitable skills assessment.

You are exempt from this criteria if any of the following applies to you:

English

You must have at least Competent English to be granted this visa

Health requirement

You and any family members who apply for the visa with you must meet the health requirement.

If requested, family members not accompanying you to Australia might also need to meet our health requirement.

Character requirement

You and your family members aged 16 years and over who apply for the visa with you must meet the character requirement.

Family members not accompanying you to Australia must also meet the character requirement.

SBS

You must be, or have applied to become a standard business sponsor.

See how to:

LMT, unless exception

You must be unable to find an Australian citizen or permanent resident with the skills and experience needed to fill the nominated position.

You must do labour market testing to show us you can’t find an Australian to do the work, unless an exemption applies.

Annual MSR

If the nominee will be paid an annual salary of less than AUD250,000, you must determine and show us that you will pay the nominee at least the annual market salary rate (AMSR) for the nominated position.

Regional Certifying Body must also assess the annual market salary rate.

Genuine Position

The position associated with the nomination must be genuine. This means that the position must exist and be what it says it is. Things we consider for genuineness include:

  • whether the skills and duties of the position are consistent with the skill level and the tasks of the nominated occupation as listed in ANZSCO
  • whether the position is consistent with the nature of your business (for example, whether it fits  clearly within the scope of the activities of the business and the scale of your business)
  • whether the position was created just to help your nominee stay in, or migrate to Australia.

The position must also be full-time and likely to exist for at least 5 years.

Written contract

Your nominee must be engaged under a written contract of employment to work only for your business or an associated entity of your business, unless the occupation is exempt.

A copy of the contract signed by the nominee and the employer must be provided with your nomination.

The terms and conditions of the nominee’s employment must not include an express exclusion of the possibility of extending the period of employment.

No adverse information

There must be no adverse information known about your business or any person associated with your business, unless it is reasonable for us to disregard known adverse information.

Next Step: 191 – Permanent Residence (Skilled Regional) visa 

Eligibility 

  • The primary applicant must have held a regional provisional visa for at least 3 years 
  • Earned a minimum taxable income for three years as the holder of a regional provisional visa; and  
  • Have lived, worked and studied in a designated regional area of Australia for minimum three years.  

Visa Application Charge 

  • TBA 

How to apply 

  • Provide evidence of a minimumtaxable income for three years  
  • Provide evidence showing having complied with the conditions of the regional provisional visa; particularly the requirement to live, work and study in a designated regional area of Australia. 

Visa period 

  • Indefinite 

Visa conditions 

Unknown at this stage (Probably Nil) 


Please follow the link below for FREE INITIAL CONSULTATION

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Tel: 02-8203 2999

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