Skilled Work Regional Visa
Subclass 491
(Temporary)
Overview
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As a provisional visa, Skilled Regional visa (Subclass 491) is designed for workers whose professional skills are sought after in a designated regional area of Australia and can make an immediate contribution to Australian economy, especially in the wake of COVID-19.
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Holders of this visa will be allowed to live, study and work in a designated regional area of Australia for 5 years. Permanent residency through Subclass 191 visa will become available after as soon as 3 years if eligible.
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It is points-based, meaning you must meet the threshold points requirement (minimum 65) to be eligible to apply.
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You may claim points based on a range of factors, such as age, work experience, educational background and English competency.
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It is invitation-based, meaning the Immigration generally picks the top-calibre (highest-scored) applicants in each round based on their submitted Expressions of Interest (EOI) and issue them invitations to apply for this visa. Please note different occupations may require vastly different scores to be invited.
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Similar to Skilled Nominated visa (Subclass 190), nomination (or sometimes sponsorship) for Subclass 491 visa is essential. However, you can be sponsored by either a state/territory government or an eligible relative in Australia. Each state and territory has its own nomination requirements that change from time to time.
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You may include your family in your visa application so your entire family can migrate together.
Eligibility
be between 18 and 44 years old (inclusive)
confirm your occupation is on the relevant occupation list
score at least 65 points on points test
have at least competent English (please note certain occupations, such as Accountant, are required to have a higher level of English proficiency)
have specific amount of work experience, including 12 months of full-time (or equivalent part-time) experience in the nominated occupation in the last 3 years, for certain occupations as required by skills assessing authorities (if applicable)
obtain a successful skills assessment for your occupation
be sponsored by an Australian state/territory government or an eligible relative
- for nomination by an Australian state/territory government, meet the relevant state/territory nomination criteria
- for sponsorship by an eligible relative, the sponsorship must be approved by the Immigration
meet health and character requirements
be invited by the Immigration to apply for this visa
Process
Step 1 – Confirm and Choose Occupation
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Confirm your occupation is on the relevant occupation list and you are eligible.
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You may choose the most closely related occupation from the list if its prescribed job duties generally describe what you do in your job.
Step 2 – Lodge Skills Assessment
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Lodge a skills assessment in your selected occupation to a designated skills assessing authority.
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The purpose of skills assessment is for the Immigration to ensure your professional skills are recognised in Australia and therefore can effectively address the skills shortage in your profession in the country.
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The application fee and turnaround time both vary with different assessing bodies.
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If the assessment comes out positive, you may move on to Step 3.
Step 3 – Submit Expression of Interest (EOI)
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Submit Expression of Interest (EOI) to the Immigration. To do this, you need to be able to claim at least 65 points based on your educational background, age and English proficiency among other factors.
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Essentially, EOIs allow the Immigration to have a clear view of the detailed background of every single applicant seeking to migrate to Australia, so the Immigration can make an informed decision on which applicants should be issued a formal invitation to apply for Subclass 189 visa based the value of their particular skillset to Australian society.
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Each EOI is valid for 2 years after submission but can be re-submitted. EOI is free of charge in any circumstance.
Step 4 – Apply for State/Territory Nomination
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Upon receiving the invitation, an application for state/territory nomination must be lodged with 14 days.
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Each state and territory has different requirements for nomination. In some cases, there are different requirements for different occupations even with the same state or territory.
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Application for state/territory nomination may incur an application fee depending on the specific state/territory. Processing time also changes with each state/territory.
Step 5 – Apply for Subclass 491 Visa
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You must apply for Subclass 491 visa within 60 days upon the approval of state/territory nomination or relative sponsorship, or the nomination/sponsorship will expire.
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The visa application usually needs to be decision-ready, meaning all supporting documents must be submitted to the Immigration when lodging the visa application. Accidentally missing documents risks a visa refusal.
Nomination and Sponsorship Further Explained
Nomination by State/territory Government
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To maximise your chances of securing state/territory nomination, we can help you apply for nomination from multiple states/territories at no extra charge you meet the requirements.
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Criteria of state/territory nomination often vary, sometime even without prior notice, in order to meet the specific and changing needs of the employment and economy sectors of each state/territory of nomination, so it’s always a good idea to kick-start the process immediately if you are eligible.
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There may be a quota (limitation) on the number of nominations that can be approved by a state/territory for certain occupations during a financial year, which is another reason you are strongly advised to act fast.
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State/territory nomination gives you an additional 15 points in points test, which can be claimed as early as when submitting EOI for Subclass 190 visa.
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You are required to live, study and work in a designated regional area of your nominating state/territory for 5 years following the visa grant. However, you may become eligible for the permanent Subclass 191 visa after 3 years, in which case you may live anywhere in Australia upon the grant of the visa.
Sponsorship by An Eligible Relative
Please note you may be sponsored by a relative only if your occupation is on the medium and long-term occupation list. In addition, your relative can sponsor you if he/she is:
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aged 18 or older
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an Australian citizen, permanent resident, or eligible New Zealand citizen
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usually resident in a designated regional area of Australia
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your or your partner’s eligible relative
Pathway to Permanent Residency
As above mentioned, Subclass 491 provides a pathway to Permanent Residence Skilled Regional visa (Subclass 191) visa if you:
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have lived and worked in any occupation for at least 3 years in a designated regional area while on Subclass 491 or 494 visa
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have had an annual taxable income of at least $53,900 in each year
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have complied with the conditions of your Subclass 491 or 494 visa
Location
Applicants may be in or outside Australia at the time of application and visa grant.
Duration of Stay
This is a permanent visa that allows you to stay permanently in Australia. However, its travel facility expires after 5 years so you will need to apply for Resident Return Visa (Subclass 155 & 157) or Australian citizenship (if eligible) if you wish to travel overseas and back to Australia after the expiry date.
Tricks and Common Reasons for Refusal
1 – Failing to Demonstrate Professional Skills Properly Against Skills Assessment Criteria
Apparently, skills assessment is the first step and challenge of the entire Subclass 190 visa process as it can be complex and even confusing, requiring an exquisite and to-the-point demonstration of your skills not only in the form of supporting paperwork, but sometime also practical/technical assessment. Therefore rushing into skills assessment without knowing exactly what a skills assessing body is looking for is highly risky and quite often leads to an unfavourable outcome. This is why hiring an immigration professional to assist you right at the beginning is important.
2 – ”Irrelevant” Work Experience
One of the most unfortunate yet common scenarios is the applicant’s work experience is deemed irrelevant to their chosen occupation by skills assessing authority. This is typically because the authorities decided the applicant was not actually performing the job duties they claimed and that even the applicant had chosen a wrong occupation to start with. When this happens, things go straight to square one, which is certainly frustrating. We have had numerous clients that went through exactly this before turning to us for professional assistance.
We hence noticed it is not they didn’t do those jobs, but they simply failed to present their day-to-day professional activities in the submitted paperwork in a proper and acceptable manner to the assessing body. In view of this, we have made it part of our routine to thoroughly check through and revise every client’s work references, résumé and other employment-related paperwork where possible to ensure they are in line with what the authorities expect from your occupation so that you end up with a big smile.
3 – Failing to Convince Nominating State/territory
Some of the nomination criteria of State/territory governments are discretionary rather than black-and-white. We have seen applicants simply submit the most basic supporting documents to state/territory government without arguing their cases effectively and sufficiently. Knowing clearly what the government hopes to see in a résumé and the rationale behind it, our team always go out of our way to make you stand out among other applicants.
4 – Unfamiliarity with How the Australian Immigration Works and Its Mentality
In many cases, applicants prepare and submit their supporting documentation in a disorderly way, giving the Immigration a hard time digging through tons of paperwork to get things in the right order when picking up a new visa application. This will potentially lead to endless back-and-forth clarification and explanation, wasting both sides lots of time and can even result in a refusal of Subclass 190 visa.
This is common since applying for a visa, especially a permanent one, is the very first time to most applicants. For this reason, our team have developed our own system for labelling, coding, structuring and, where necessary, cross-referencing documentation so your application can be submitted in the most presentable and logical manner. Making your application stand out among all competitors has been our goal from day one.
5 – Careless Yet Costly Mistakes
Applying for migration is seen as a delicate work of art due to the staggering amount of attention, paperwork, and details involved. A seemingly minor/harmless error such as a typo in your résumé, a date entered wrong, or a tick in the wrong box in the lengthy visa application form can prove costly as the Immigration processes all visa applications strictly in accordance with migration law, in particular Migration Act 1958 and Migration Regulations 1994. Even a small error can be regarded as failing to satisfy a visa requirement and therefore lead to a visa refusal. To minimise such incidents, our team pay extra attention while editing and drafting every client’s paperwork and always proofread and also conduct a final review of documentation before submission.
6 – Applications Not Being Decision-ready
Another common reason for refusal, even instant refusal, for Subclass 190 visa is submitting an application without all the required documentation. This happens when the application was prepared carelessly, or when the applicant was trying to rush an application for whatever reason (e.g. meeting a cut-off date of a major migration policy change which happens almost each and every year and often catches people off guard).
Even with 43 years of team experience, we handle each application cautiously and meticulously like our first to ensure nothing slips through the cracks. Should a sudden change of policy hit and impact you, we are more than capable of advising you how to salvage your application in terms of what documents are mandatory at the time of submission and what can wait so you are never in danger of a straight-up visa refusal upon submission.
Benefits
With this visa, you may:
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migrate to Australia together with your family
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apply for permanent residency when eligible
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potentially bring your extended family members to Australia permanently on parent visa or visa intended for other relatives
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stay and live in Australia for 5 years
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travel overseas and back to Australia without limitations for any purposes (e.g. overseas holiday, visiting family and/or attending family matters in home country)
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access Australia’s public health care scheme (Medicare) which essentially provides free medical consultations, operations and hospitalization for a wide range of medical conditions
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work in Australia without any limitations
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study in Australia without any limitations
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attend free English language course provided by Australian government
Application Fees
You may include your family in your Subclass 190 visa application so your entire family can migrate together.
First Instalment
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Primary applicant: $4240
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Each additional applicant aged 18 or above: $2120
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Each additional applicant under 18: $1060
Second Instalment
A second instalment of $4885 applies for each applicant who is at least 18 and assessed as not having functional English at the time of invitation.
Please note: you may incur third-party charges, for example, for translation, skills assessment, English test, police certificate and health exam.
Processing Time
Kindly note the processing time constantly varies. Please contact us for update.
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75% of applications: 6 months
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90% of applications: 9 months
Our Unbeatable Services - How Exactly We Make It Hassle-free
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Let’s face it – visa applications are complex, especially when you are not an expert in Australian immigration law - that is Migration Act 1958 and Migration Regulations 1994.
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Simply put – our visa and immigration legal services are truly unbeatable.
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This is because our immigration lawyers and registered migration agents in Melbourne do all of the 40 Things in Our Exclusive 5-step Services for you to:
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