Skilled Regional (Provisional) Visa (Subclass 489)

To be eligible for this visa, you must:

1. Either be sponsored by a “Relative” (see below) living in a “Designated Area” (see below), or be nominated by a State or Territory Government
2. Meet the pass mark in the skilled migration points test, which is currently 60 points. You can be awarded points for a number of factors, most commonly, your age, your educational qualifications, your work experience and your English language ability, though points are also awarded for a range of other factors.
3. Be aged between 18 and 44 (inclusive)
4. Pass a “Skills Assessment” in your occupation with the relevant skills assessment authority
5. Sit an English language exam to show that you have “Competent” English or higher, meaning you must score 6.0 or more on all four components of the IELTS test, or an equivalent score on another English language test accepted by the Department of Immigration and Border Protection (DIBP)
6. Meet health and character requirements

To be sponsored by a relative, that relative must be an Australian Citizen or Australian Permanent Resident and must be your:

1. Parent
2. Brother or Sister
3. Uncle or Aunt
4. Nephew or Niece
5. Grandparent
6. First Cousin

If you are sponsored by a relative, your educational background and/or work experience must be relevant to an occupation on the Medium and Long-Term Strategic Skills List.

If you are sponsored by a relative, you will have to live for 2 years and work full-time (35 hours or more) for 12 months in a “designated area” of Australia to be able to apply for permanent residency through the Skilled Regional (Permanent) Visa.

For NSW, a designated area includes anywhere except Sydney, Newcastle and Wollongong. For Queensland, it includes anywhere except the Brisbane Metropolitan area. For other states and territories, anywhere in the state or territory is a designated area. The relative who sponsors you must live in one of these areas.

To obtain state or territory nomination, your educational background and/or work experience must be relevant to an occupation that is either on the Medium and Long-Term Strategic Skills List or Short-Term Skilled Occupation List.

If you are successful in gaining nomination by a State or Territory Government, you must live for 2 years and work full-time (35 hour or more) in a regional and low population growth area to later transition to permanent residency.

1. In NSW, this includes anywhere except Sydney, Newcastle, the Central Cost and Wollongong.
2. In Queensland, this includes anywhere except the greater Brisbane area and the Gold Coast.
3. In Victoria, this includes anywhere except the Melbourne Metropolitan areas.
4. In Western Australia, this includes anywhere except Perth and surrounding areas.
5. In Other states and territories, this includes anywhere in the given state or territory.

All applicants need to pass a skills assessment. The skills assessment authority which will assess your skills depends on what occupation you are applying under.

The eligibility criteria for each skills assessment authority is different.  For the majority of skills assessment authorities, the assessment will be based on the applicant’s qualifications and work experience, though in some cases English language ability and registration in Australia is required.

You can lodge the visa either inside or outside of Australia. If you lodge the application in Australia, you will be granted a Bridging Visa which will allow you to stay in Australia until the visa is processed. If you lodge your application in Australia, you must be in Australia for the visa to be granted.

If you lodge your application outside of Australia, you must be outside of Australia for the visa to be granted.

Our experienced immigration lawyers have handled many successful Skilled Regional Visa applications. We will ensure your application is given the best prospects of success.

We offer all our prospective clients an initial meeting, during which we will thoroughly explain the law surrounding this visa to you and inform you of the process moving forward.

To organise an initial consultation with us, please contact one of our experienced immigration lawyers on (02) 9590 3987.