Skilled Work Regional (Provisional) Visa
Subclass 491

The 491 visa allows skilled workers to live and work in designated regional areas of Australia for up to 5 years, based on nomination by a state or sponsorship by an eligible family member. It offers a pathway to permanent residency after 3 years, provided certain conditions are met.

*All Fields marked with asterisk are required

What Does Visa Let You Do?

You can include your partner and children on your application. At the time of decision your children cannot be older than 23 unless they financially rely on you because they are incapacitated for work due to the total or partial loss of their bodily or mental functions.

This is a temporary visa. Once it is granted it allows you:

to travel to, enter and remain in Australia for 5 years from the date of grant.
live, work and study only in a part of Australia that was a designated regional area at the time the visa was granted.
apply for permanent residence, if eligible, through the Permanent Residence (Skilled Regional) visa (subclass 191) – which commences on 16 November 2022.

Subclass 491 - Skilled Work Regional (Provisional)

HOW THIS VISA WORKS

You can be in or outside Australia when you apply for this visa. If you are in Australia at the time of application you have to hold a substantive visa or bridging visa A, B or C.

Who Is Eligible For This Visa?

General Requirements:

You meet the required points for the visa (65 points is the minimum). Points are comprised of a number of factors such as age, qualifications, English fluency, work experience in Australia and overseas, qualifications obtained in Australia, state sponsorship and partner qualifications.
At the time of the invitation, you cannot be older than 45.
You have a valid positive skills assessment of your qualifications.
Undertook an English language test (IELTS, OET, TOEFL, iBT, PTE Academic or Cambridge English: Advanced) and achieved the required score.
All dependents who are 18 or older have to have at least functional English. Alternatively, $4,890 per person who does not have functional English will have to be paid.

Steps in the process

You have to be nominated by a state or territory or your relative who is your parent, child or step-child, a brother, sister, adoptive brother, adoptive sister, step-brother or step-sister, aunt, uncle, adoptive aunt, adoptive uncle, step-aunt or step-uncle, nephew, niece, adoptive nephew, adoptive niece, step-nephew or step-niece, grandparent or a first cousin. Your relative he has to be at least 18yo Australian citizen, Australian permanent resident or eligible New Zealand citizen. Your sponsor also has to be usually resident in a designated regional area.

If you are sponsored by your relative your occupation must be on the Medium and Long-term Strategic Skills List. If you are nominated by state or territory your occupation must be on the Medium and Long-term Strategic Skills List, Short-term Skilled Occupation List or Regional Occupation List.

Lodgment of the Expression of Interest (EOI) – The EOI is a system which gives the Government the tools to prioritize and rank prospective migrants in order of merit, selecting the ‘brightest and best’ migrants and/or candidates to fill labour market shortages. It also gives the Government the tools to tweak the type of occupations most needed, curb those occupations where there are too many applications and manage the general mix of occupations accepted in each program year.
Receive an invitation from the Department of Home Affairs;
Lodgement of the Visa application within the period stated in the invitation.

About Skill-Select

It is important to understand that an Expression of Interest (EOI) is not a visa application and will not result in a bridging visa in Australia. Furthermore, any claims made in an EOI which cannot be substantiated in a visa application, for example, English fluency, qualifications, work experience, will lead to a refusal of the visa application.

Currently the following postcodes are considered to be a designated regional area:

NSW	2259, 2264 to 2308, 2500 to 2526, 2528 to 2535 and 2574 2250 to 2258, 2260 to 2263, 2311 to 2490, 2527, 2536 to 2551, 2575 to 2739, 2753 to 2754, 2756 to 2758 and 2773 to 2898
VIC	3211 to 3232, 3235, 3240, 3328, 3330 to 3333, 3340 and 3342 3097 to 3099, 3139, 3233 to 3234, 3236 to 3239, 3241 to 3325, 3329, 3334, 3341, 3345 to 3424, 3430 to 3799, 3809 to 3909, 3912 to 3971 and 3978 to 3996
QLD	4207 to 4275, 4517 to 4519, 4550 to 4551, 4553 to 4562, 4564 to 4569 and 4571 to 4575 4124 to 4125, 4133, 4183 to 4184, 4280 to 4287, 4306 to 4498, 4507, 4552, 4563, 4570 and 4580 to 4895
WA	All postcodes except for: 6000 to 6038, 6050 to 6083, 6090 to 6182, 6208 to 6211, 6214 and 6556 to 6558.
SA	All postcodes except for: 5000 to 5171, 5173 to 5174, 5231 to 5235, 5240 to 5252, 5351 and 5950 to 5960.
TAS	All postcodes except for: 7000, 7004 to 7026, 7030 to 7109, 7140 to 7151 and 7170 to 7177
NT	All postcodes
ACT	All postcodes

Related Visa Types

Skilled Employer Sponsored Regional (Provisional) Visa Subclass 494

Permanent Resident Visa – (Skilled Regional) Subclass 191

Skilled Nominated Permanent Visa Subclass 190

What type of visa are you looking for?

We are a team of immigration specialists guiding individuals, families and corporates who aspire to migrate to Australia. Our migration consultancy has a successful track record in visa approval, with a fair fee structure.

Employer Sponsored Visa

Australian employers can sponsor skilled workers, whether already in Australia on a visa or applying from overseas, to meet skill shortage positions in their business.

Skilled Worker Visa

Skilled workers with qualifications and experience in demand can apply for visas to live and work in Australia permanently.

Partner Visa

Partner visas allows an Australian citizen or permanent resident to sponsor their spouse, de facto partner or fiancé to be with them in Australia.

Student or Graduate Visa

International students can study in Australia and apply for post-study temporary work visas.

Subclass 491 Frequently Asked Questions

What is an Expression of Interest (EOI)?

An EOI is not a visa application, it is an application that you would like to be invited to apply for a skilled visa. It’s an online form, with no fee which asks you a series of questions about how you intend to score your points for a subclass 189, 190 or 491 visa application. It is imperative that your points are calculated accurately so that when a visa application is lodged after being granted an invitation, the points in the visa application are the same as the points claimed in the EOI. An EOI does not result in a bridging visa.

I have lodged an EOI. Does that mean I will get an invitation?

No, not necessarily. You must obtain a minimum of 65 points to lodge an Expression of Interest. The higher the points, the more likely it is that you will receive an invitation to lodge a visa application.

However, depending on the volume of applications with the same occupation received by the Department of Home Affairs, a higher score than 65 is usually required to be granted an invitation to lodge a visa application. As an example, accountants may require 90 points or more to be granted an invitation whereas high school teachers may only require 80 points. The way the Department of Home Affairs will issue an invitation depends on a lot of factors, which could be what occupations are in most need at that point in time, such as medical occupations in the covid – 19 era receive the most invitations.

I am a holder of a subclass 491 visa. Can I apply for a subclass 189 or 190?

If you are a holder of a subclass 491 or 494 you must have held that visa for at least 3 years before you can lodge an application for a subclass 189 or 190. You will have to meet all criteria of that visa subclass in order to be granted the new visa.

Skilled WORK REGIONAL (PROVISIONAL) Visa Subclass 491