Skilled Work Regional (Provisional) Subclass 491

Being one of the prosperous Western nations, Australia offers a great standard of living and high domestic income. From around the world, people choose to live in Australia for different reasons, and the skilled work regional (provisional) subclass 491 visa offers the opportunity to work, live and study therein for up to 5 years, which helps with that.

The Subclass 491 visa type is for the skilled workers who are willing to work and live in regional Australia. The information below will be helpful in understanding the Visa and its requirements, along with other important details.

Skilled Work Regional (Provisional) Subclass 491 Visa

Subclass 491 Visa, or a provisional visa, allows the applicant and their family members to stay within the designated Australian regional area. To meet up the requirements of a visa, the Australian state or territory government agency must nominate the applicant to apply, or they must get sponsored by the eligible relative who resides in the designated regional area following the submission of an Expression of Interest through SkillSelect. After 5 years, the visa holders will be eligible for making an application for PR.

Visa subclass 491 applicants must have their designated occupation listed under the Skilled Occupation List. The applicant must also have a suitable skills assessment for the occupation that’s in question. Further, apart from getting an invitation to apply, the applicant must meet the occupation requirements and satisfy the SkillSelect points test.

Subclass 491 Visa- Benefits

Becoming an Australian citizen comes with certain benefits. They are,

• Having the life-long opportunity to earn and to live in Australia.
• Enroll on the Australian government health scheme.
• Pursue higher education.
• A chance for the spouse to apply as a primary applicant.
• Under the sponsorship, the applicant’s family or the eligible relatives can also become permanent residents as the subsequent entrants.

Skilled Work Regional (Provisional) subclass 491 Visa- Eligibility Criteria

• The applicant must get nominated to apply by the end of the Australian territory government agency or state territory government agency. If not, they must have the eligible relative who can sponsor the applicant.
• The applicant must have the occupation listed on the skilled occupation list of the state.
• Applicant must be invited to apply and must satisfy the points test.
• The applicant has a suitable skills assessment by the assessing officer for their occupation. The skills assessment must be obtained 3 years before the invitation date. In case the assessment was for a shorter period and then the given period mustn’t have passed. If the skills are assessed based on the qualification of the applicant in Australia when they were holding the student visa, the qualification must have been received through the study of a course that’s registered under CRICOS.
• The applicant submits an Expression of Interest.
• The applicant must be competent in English.
• Applicants satisfy the requirement of having good character and health.
• The applicant’s age remains below the age of 45 years.

Subclass 491 Visa- Points needed for Application & How to Earn it?

Getting at least 65 points is a part of the eligibility criteria to get an invitation for application. If the applicant can score more than 65, they will have the upper hand over the other applicants.

The points to be satisfied are dependent upon different factors. Some of them are,

• Applicants’ age can help them gain up till- 30 points
• Educational background- 15 points
• Work experience in Australia and abroad- 15 points for outside Australia and 20 points for in Australia.
• English proficiency through IELTS- 20 points
• Apart from the above, there are some changes that have been made within the skilled migration points. It is highly likely to affect the Skilled Work Regional (Provisional) subclass 491 Visa.

The changes within the point system are,

• Allotment of 15 points to the applicant with the provisional or State Government nomination or sponsorship from the family member that resides permanently in Australia.
• Allotment of 10 points for the individual who has educational qualifications in some specific branches of engineering, technology, mathematics and science.
• Allotment of 10 points if the applicant’s partner successfully undergoes the skill assessment and also the language competency test.
• Allotment of five points if the partner has suitable language proficiency as required by the Australian immigration policy.

Considering the points system, invitation to the application is provided priority-wise for state nominations and,

• Applicants having a skilled partner or if they are a single applicant, they receive top priorities.
• The applicant, with the partners, who might not have the relevant skills but they remain competent in the English language, receive second priority.
• Applicants with the partners having no skills and neither the language competency receive the last priority.

Skilled Work Regional (Provisional) subclass 491 Visa- Documentation Requirement

To make an application, the supporting documents are to be provided concerning the information that has been provided within the Expression of Interest. The document list includes,

• Police clearance certificate
• Language competency report
• Passport and
• Marriage certificate.

For the applicants who are aged between 18 to 23 they will be required to submit,

• Passport
• Birth certificate
• Evidence for financial dependency and
• Case-specific adoption papers

For any applicant who remains above the age of 23 but remains dependent upon parents due to cognitive issues or physical impairment, the following documents will be required to be submitted,

• Passport
• Birth certificate
• Case-specific adoption papers
• Evidence for financial dependency and
• Medical reports that can address the condition of the applicant.

The documents asked for in relation to the claims made on Expression of Interest are,

• Skills assessment
• Australian skilled employment
• Study in regional Australia
• Work experience in Australia
• Language assessment
• Education qualification according to Australian standards
• Partner skills
• Specialist Education

In case the applicant is getting sponsored, the sponsor will be needed to offer the below-mentioned documents,

• Declaration by the sponsor
• Permanent residency Proof
• Proof of being eligible relative
• Age proof that the applicant is either 18 years or above the age of 18.

Skilled Work Regional (Provisional) subclass 491 Visa- Cost

Skilled Work Regional (Provisional) subclass 491 Visa costs for the primary applicant is AUD 4,115. For the subsequent entrant of the eligible family members, the separate cost gets involved.

• Primary applicant- AUD 4,240
• Dependent who is of 18 years and above- AUD 2,120
• Dependent who is below the age of 18- AUD 1,060

Apart from the above, for every applicant and the dependent, the biometrics costs AUD 60, and medical costs come to around AUD 350. The cost of a police clearance certificate depends from case to case.

Skilled Work Regional (Provisional) subclass 491 Visa- Processing Time

There isn’t any specific time to get the 491 Visa processed. However, the regional application processes get much more priority.

In general,

Government Nominated Regional

• 75% of the visa gets processed in 58 days.
• 90% of the visa gets processed in 76 days.

Family-Sponsored Regional

• 75% of the visa gets processed in 57 days.
• 90% of the visa gets processed in 71 days.

Skilled Work Regional (Provisional) subclass 491 Visa- Application Guide

There are many steps involved when applying for a 491 visa. So, begin by checking one’s occupation within the skilled occupation list, then go ahead step-by-step to finally apply for the visa.

• Start with checking your designated profession within the skilled occupation list that is published by the Australian government every year.
• Get the skill set evaluation through the respective Australian organisation.
• As the Australian government is known to follow the points system for the visa application, the applicant must make sure that through all the assessments, they can get at least 65 points to get the invitation to apply.
• As part of the next step, apply by writing down an Expression of Interest that is to be addressed to the Home Affairs, Australia using SkillSelect. SkillSelect carefully assesses the 65 points, and then the applicant is allowed to apply.
• The applicant will be asked by the end of the Department of Home Affairs to apply for candidacy after EOI acceptance. Then the applicant must submit the supporting documents within 60 days. So, it is advised to start collecting the supporting documents beforehand instead of waiting for EOI.
• Once the documents are collected, they are to be submitted to Immiaccount. The applicant will also be required to pay the required fees and complete all of them within the time frame of 60 days.
• After the application is submitted, an email login is received. Use it to log in to Immiaccount to check the application status.
• With the visa getting approved, the applicant receives an email with the visa grant number, the starting date of the Visa and all the terms and conditions related to it. In case any help is needed regarding the visa application or if the applicants, by any chance, get stuck in between or on any step, taking help from the visa consultant will be the right choice.

Skilled Work Regional (Provisional) subclass 491 Visa- Allowed Stay

After receiving the 491 visas, the applicants can stay in Australia for 5 years. Remember that no extension is provided for the skilled regional visa. Although after 3rd year, if the applicant is willing to continue living in Australia, they can make an application for permanent residency, in case they fulfil all the required conditions for it.

Converting Subclass 491 visa to 191 PR visa

One can easily convert a 491 Visa to a permanent residency visa or a 191 Visa to become an Australian citizen. To do it, the applicant,

• Need to have a valid visa within the visa subclass 191.
• Must have resided within regional Australia for a time frame of at least 3 years.
• Must have the full-time work experience of at least 1 year within the Australian economy.
• Must have met the pre-levied requirements of the health and character by the Australian government.
• Has either made the arrangement of paying back outstanding that to the Government of Australia or has already paid back the debt to the government.
• In the last three consecutive years, has earned AUD 53,900 or more annually.

If the applicant can fulfil all the above-mentioned requirements, then they can apply to work regionally in Australia and even live with the family and then transition from the professional visa to the temporary visa.

Notable changes between 489 Visa and 491 Visa

• 491 visa allows the applicant to stay in Australia for 5 years, while a 489 visa allows the applicant to stay there for 4 years.
• To apply for Visa Subclass 491, the applicant needs to make an application for Subclass 191 PR visa. While for the visa Subclass 489, an application will be required to apply for Subclass 887 PR visa.
• The processing time for a 489 visa is around 4 to 9 months, but in the case of a 491 visa, there does not exist a standard time that’s set for the processing.
• Applicants under a 491 visa get 3 years of time for applying for a permanent visa. However, in the case of subclass 489, the time is only 2 years for a PR visa application.

Family Members Considered for Subsequent Visa

The applicants who can be included within the 491 visa application are,

• Partner
• Dependent children
• Dependent stepchildren

When including the de facto partner or the married partner, they can be either of the opposite sex or the same sex. In this respect, the applicant will be required to prove that,

• The relationship between them is continuing and genuine.
• That the applicant and the partner live together and they do not live separately permanently.
• Then the partner is at least of the age 18 years when the application gets lodged, excluding exceptions.
• That the partner is not related to the applicant by family.
• That the applicant and the partner have a mutual commitment to sharing life to the exclusion of others.

When including the children, the child must be,

• The applicant’s child or the step-child from either previous (certain circumstances) or current circumstances
• The child is not married or engaged or has a de facto partner, and they must be either under the age of 18, or over the age of 18 but have not turned 23 yet, and they are dependent on the applicant and the applicant’s partner.
• Above the age of 23 years but unable to earn themselves a living because of cognitive limitations or physical limitations, and they are dependent on either the applicant or the applicant’s partner. In this case, that child will be required to meet the health requirement of Australia.
• Dependent child of the child who remains eligible under the above 2.

In consideration of the children and the partner, the family members above the age of 18,

• They must have English proficiency.
• They must abide by Australian value systems.
• They must be in complete power with the health and character requirements of the Australian government.
• Anyone with a cancelled visa here is not eligible for application.

Sponsor by Eligible Relative

In the case of the 491 family stream, the applicant’s occupation must be listed in the MLTSSL list. Further, the sponsor must be,

• Either 18 or above the age of 18.
• Resident within the Australian designated area.
• Australian citizen or permanent resident or eligible New Zealand citizen.
• Either the applicant’s or the applicant’s partner’s eligible relative.

In the given case, the eligible relative can be either,

• Parent
• child/step-child
• Brother or Sister- including adaptive and step.
• Aunt or uncle – including adoptive and step.
• Nephew or Niece- including adoptive and step.
• First cousin
• Grandparent

There isn’t any requirement within the regulations or the policy that the applicant and sponsor are required to live within the same regional area. Sponsors can continue to meet sponsorship requirements that they agreed to, irrespective of the living place.

Get your Subclass 491 Visa today

Skilled Work Regional (Provisional) subclass 491 Visa is quite an excellent choice to obtain permanent residency in Australia. But, of course, there are a lot of procedures that one is required to follow, and it becomes quite vital that all the paperwork is completed on time in order to have the best chance for the success of the application. It is due to these reasons that it’s advised to work with a reputable and reliable migration expert or consultant who can help throughout the application process. Also, do not forget that immigration legislation changes quickly and therefore, having a helping hand and a