I had few clients enquiring recently about 491 visa, as it isn’t as popular as 189/190 visa and still people are not clear about its requirements and conditions. Below details should help you understand it better.
This visa is part of General Skilled Migration (GSM) stream of visas so lot of requirements of GSM visa like English Test/Skill Assessment/Age requirement/Point Test is same.
It is a provisional Visa compared to other Skilled Migration Visas (189/190) which are permanent visas. It’s not permanent but it provides a confirmed pathway to permanent visa once you have lived and worked in regional part of Australia for 3 years.
This visa is promoted by Australian Govt to grow the regional areas of Australia and hence there is a mandatory condition to live and work in regional Australia before you can be eligible for permanent visa.
Permanent Visa Pathway for 491 visa holders
The permanent visa pathway is 191 visa (under Regional Provisional Stream) and it’s a definite pathway if you have lived and worked for 3 years in regional area.
There is no minimum income threshold, but you need to provide Australian Taxation Office (ATO) notice of assessment for 3 years out of the 5 years to confirm that you have worked in regional part of Australia.
191 is a permanent visa and provides all the benefits of permanent resident of Australia and there is no obligation of staying/working in Australia once this visa is received.
Why chose 491 over other skilled Visas (189/190)
- Adds 15 points to your score if you have an eligible relative or Australian state/territory nominating you:
- It allows relatives to nominate you, so if you have an eligible sponsor living in regional area, they can nominate you for this visa.
- Australian state or territory can nominate you
- Skill list considered for state sponsorship is covering much more occupations as it includes ROL (Regional occupation List)
What is regional area?
Anything other than Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane is considered regional in Australia. There are defined post codes at below link and all these post codes are considered regional:
