Skilled Regional Work Visa

The latest subclass 491 visa, known as Skilled Work Regional Visa, will permit eligible skilled employees and their families, to work, live and study in selected regional sectors of Australian territory for a span of 5 years. Subclass 491 visa holders will be qualified to apply for a PR (Permanent Residence) Visa after 3 years.

Applicants for subclass 491 visa

Visa holders will be eligible to apply for a Permanent Residence visa after three years. Applicants for this visa must be nominated by:

• Australian territory or state government agency or
• Is funded by the relevant family member living in the selected regional sector and is invited to apply for a subclass 491 visa after submitting a declaration of interest (EOI) to SkillSelect.

The Skilled regional (temporary) Work visa for subclass 491 of skilled work will replace the current visa 489 and will start on November 16, 2019. Visa 491 is a competent and point-verified visa. It has an age limit of 45 years and demands a positive evaluation of skills.

Validity for Skilled Regional Work visa is 5 years. Conditions will be introduced, namely 8579, which will impose the implementation of the government's intentions to ensure that visa holders can study, work and lives only in selected regional areas. Visa holders can move between regions. Regional areas are well-defined as any region except Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne. Essential Variation: Gold Coast and Perth are categorised as regional areas. The applicant can work in any profession and for any employer according to the working and living conditions attached to his visa.

Holder of new subclass 491 visa is not eligible to apply for a majority of other skills-based Australian visas unless he has completed at least three years in a selected regional district, unless there are emergency situations. In addition, similar to the present provisions for the visa program of subclasses 482 and 457, holders of latest temporary visas may be adversely affected by the mismatch of sponsors.

The new permanent route to latest visa 491 will be as follows:

Permanent residence, subclass 191 (qualified regional): To fulfil the eligibility criteria of a PR visa (from November 2022), the candidate must have a visa of subclass 494 or 491 for a minimum time span of 3 years, comply with the provisions of this visa and meet the mandatory requirements for taxable income. Applicant must show wages of at least $ 53,900 per year for three years. Your spouse may also be the primary applicant for a permanent residence visa if he or she can validate these criteria.

The Points Table

The applicant can use the points table to calculate his test. To calculate your scorecard points, Click Here

The subclass 491 visa (Skilled Regional Work Visa) is especially designed for those who want to live and work in a selected regional sector and have relatives residing in the designated area, or the state or territory government to fund them. Sponsorship or nomination is a basic condition that the applicant must fulfill to obtain this visa. Visa 491 subclass is a four-year temporary visa that allows the applicant to apply for permanent residence in Australia, if follows the proper criteria. In order to lodge an accurate application for visa 491, one has to first apply for skill evaluation, submit an EOI by SkillSelect followed by receival of invitation of application.

• This basic visa is intended for trained employees selected by the Australian territory or state or funded by a relative living in a nominated region in Australia.
• Skilled Region Work Visa has a validity period of 5 years, and Visa 491 holder must work and live in the selected regional space.
• The application may include certain family members, including members not encompassed in the previous subclasses 487, 495, 475 and 496 of the applications.
• The 491 visa permits holders of temporary visas of subclasses 487, 496, 495 and 475 to reside in Australian territory for up to 62 months from the granted date of the current visa.

Requirements

Applications are submitted by invitation only. If the candidate wants to be invited to apply for Visa 491, he must:

• submit an EOI and be funded or nominated
• have a profession that is included in the list of relevant skilled qualified professions
• have an appropriate assessment of skills for that job
• should be below the age of 45 when the invitation is allotted
• meet the requirements of the English language
• Should have score of minimum 60 on the point test

Who can be a sponsor?

A sponsor must be related to you or your partner, at least 18 years of age and resides in Australia. The relative must be an Australian citizen, permanent resident or Eligible New Zealand Citizen. The following relatives can sponsor for the Subclass 489 visa:

• Parents
• First cousins
• Brothers and sisters
• Nephews and nieces
• Uncles and aunts
• Grandparents

Your sponsor must provide certain documents in accordance with DHA requirements.

Where should your sponsor live in Australia?

If the applicant is funded by a relative, his sponsor must be an inhabitant in a designated area of ​​Australian territory during the period of sponsorship.

Sponsor's declaration

One of the essentials for applying for a visa is that the candidate is funded by a sponsor who lives in a designated region of ​​Australian territory. The sponsor has to submit a statement to the department that they will deliver information and additional settlement regarding support to the candidate within the first two years of his stay in Australian territory. The sponsor should complete 491 sponsor’s declaration form and post it to the department, processing your 491-visa application.