Skilled Work Regional (Provisional) Subclass 491 Visa

The Skilled Work Regional (Provisional) (subclass 491 visa) is for skilled workers who want to live and work in regional Australia for upto five years, After working for at least 3 years in the regional area of Australia, The applicant can apply for a permanent residency visa.

For a 491 visa, the Applicant does not require to be a sponsor by any employer. However, you must be nominated by the state or territory government or get sponsored by an eligible family member living in regional Australia.

The 491 is a point tested visa especially for the skilled workers, whose occupations are listed on the skilled occupation list. To be applicable you must score the minimum score of 65. With this visa, you are not allowed to stay or work in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. However, you are allowed to work in the capital of the state you are nominated by in Australia.

The 491 visa comes with a lot of benefits including:

• The applicant can stay in Australia for 5 years from the date visa has been granted.
• The applicant is allowed to live, work and study in a designated region of Australia
• You can travel to and from Australia as many times as you want, while the visa is valid.
• You can apply for permanent residence after three years, if eligible
• You are allowed to take your family members with you in your visa application.
• Additional points (15 points) will be granted to applying for a 491 visa.

To be eligible for the Skilled Work Regional (Provisional) visa, The applicant must meet the basic requirements to be applicable.

• Applicant must be nominated by a state or territory government agency or be sponsored by a suitable relative to apply for a 491 visa.
• Applicant must have an occupation on a relevant Skilled Occupation List
• You must have suitable skill assessment results for the occupation ( must be in previous 3 years before the date of your invitation)
• Applicant must be invited to apply for the visa
• Applicant have to successfully pass the points test (65 or more)
• Must be under the age of 45 to apply
• Must have at least competent English language proficiency skills- IELTS (6.0 Overall)
• Applicant must meet health and character requirements.

For a 491 visa, the applicant should be a sponsor by a state or territory government agency. To nominate a skilled worker every government agency have their own requirement criteria for the occupations listed in a skilled occupation list. However, you must meet the basic requirement before preparing yourself for the individual state or territory requirements.

The state or territory requirements are different for every occupation by the state to state. You can contact the agency directly to find out more about the nomination process and requirement. However, we recommend contacting an immigration expert to process your application so you can get all the state-required information in one place and you can easily decide in which state your visa is applicable and decide where to go.

Below is the list of state and territories to get nominate from, you can visit the state website to check the requirements of an individual state or territory. Or you can contact an immigration agent.

ACT Australian Capital Territory:

Eligibility details and requirements for Australian capital territory nominations.

New South Wales:

Recently, the NSW (new south wales) has been generous at providing state nomination. The requirements are is not that tough for some occupations. You can the latest information for NSW state by clicking here.

Victoria:

Victoria has listed few occupations for nomination. You can click here to get the information about the Victoria state requirement for a 491 visa.

Northern Territory:

The applicant has to meet the certain conditions mentioned here to be eligible for northern territory nominations.

Queensland:

The Queensland government has different rules depends on the occupations of a skilled worker, whether you are in Queensland or overseas or in a different state of Australia. Check requirement details here.

South Australia:

You must meet certain conditions if your occupation is in the south Australia State nominated occupation list. You can check additional details here

Tasmania:

Tasmanian government requirements differ as to if you are graduated from Tasmania, worked in Tasmania, or overseas applicant. You can check additional information here.

Western Australia:

Click here to find more details about Western Australia conditions for nomination

The application process to apply for a 491 visa is quite simple it can be broken down into six steps, we have mentioned the application process below.

Step one- The applicant has to submit an EOI (expression of interest) to the DHA. The WOI will notify the state or territory government that the skilled worker is available to nominated for a particular occupation.

Step two- Once The state or territory nominates you, The applicant will receive a formal invitation to submit a visa application.

Step three- After getting an invitation, The applicant has to prepare the required documents and proceeds with the visa application within 60 days of the invite.

Step four- Applicant has to lodge the visa application online.

Step five- Department of Home Affairs reviews and processes the visa application.

Step six- If your application gets approved, you will receive a notice representing the visa conditions, visa grant number and commencement date of the visa. This means your visa is granted and you can travel to Australia.

There is no actual processing time for the 491 visa. However, it is possible that your application gets delayed by the department of home affairs if certain circumstances occur:

• whether you have included all necessary supporting documents to lodge an application.
• how quickly the applicant will respond to any additional information requests.
• how long it took for the department of home affairs to perform required checks on the supporting information applicant has provided
• how long it takes to receive additional information of an applicant from external agencies, particularly in relation to health, character, and national security requirements.