You must be under 45 when the Department invites you to apply for the visa.
You can still apply for the visa if you turn 45 after the Department invites you.
The 491 visa is a temporary visa for skilled workers and their families to live permanently in designated regional areas of Australia. This visa can allow you to apply for permanent residency through the Subclass 191 visa pathway.
With this visa, you can:
Further information on individual state and territory nomination requirements can be found in the below links
Nomination allocations are the number of new primary applicants each state or territory can nominate in a program year.
Nomination allocations do not reflect the total number of visa applicants in these categories and do not limit the number of visas able to be granted in these visa categories.
State | Skilled Nominated (Subclass 190) visa | Skilled Work Regional (Subclass 491) visa | |
|---|---|---|---|
ACT | 1,000 | 800 |
|
NSW | 3,000 | 2,000 | |
NT | 800 | 800 | |
QLD | 600 | 600 | |
SA | 3,000 | 800 | |
TAS | 2,100 | 760 | |
VIC | 3,000 | 2,000 | |
WA | 3,000 | 2,000 | |
Total | 16,500 | 9,760 |
To be eligible for a Subclass 491 Visa, you must:
You must be under 45 when the Department invites you to apply for the visa.
You can still apply for the visa if you turn 45 after the Department invites you.
Your nomination occupation must be on the combined list of eligible skilled occupations for a Skilled Regional (subclass 491) visa.
You can only apply for this visa if the Department invites you.
To do this, you must submit an Expression of Interest (EOI) to let the Department know that you would like to apply for the visa. After you have submitted an EOI, the Department will rank you against other applicants for an invitation.
For your application to be valid, you must have a valid skills assessment at the time of invitation from a relevant skills assessment body.
Generally, you must have obtained your skills assessment three years before the date of your invitation.
Delegates of the Minister will now accept a suitable skills assessment for an applicant’s nominated skilled occupation which has been obtained within the 60 day invitation period.
When you submit your EOI in SkillSelect, you will be given an indicative point score. If you do not obtain a score of 65 points, you will not be invited to apply for this visa.
At the time of invitation, you must have at least competent English.
You and family members aged 16 years and over who apply for the visa with you must meet the Department’s health and character requirements.
You must be nominated by the Australian State or Territory Government agency or sponsored by a relative to qualify for this visa.
You will receive an invitation to apply from the State government if you have scored enough points.
Alternatively, indicating that an eligible relative will be your sponsor can enable you to receive an invitation to apply.
We have summarised a cost estimate for a Subclass 491 - Point Tested Stream application as below.
Paid directly to the relevant Skills Assessment body.
EOI is free of charge.
Paid directly to the Department of Home Affairs
Paid directly to the Department of Home Affairs
Paid directly to the Department of Home Affairs
Paid directly to the agency (i.e.; BUPA in Australia) that conducts your medical checks
Paid directly to Australian Federal Police that conducts your character checks
Paid directly to Overseas authorities that conducts your character checks
To begin your permanent residency journey, our Registered Migration Agents will:
Your visa options will largely depend on the nominated occupation that you have chosen in Step 1.
Based on your chosen occupation and current circumstances, we will identify which occupation list you belong to and advise you of the best possible visa options.
We will assist you by applying for your skills assessment with the relevant authority for your nominated occupation.
A skill assessing authority is an organisation that checks that your skills meet the standards they set to work in your nominated occupation.
A suitable skills assessment is mandatory for the GSM process.
Once you receive a positive skills assessment, we will assist you with lodging an Expression of Interest application in SkillSelect.
An Expression of Interest (EOI) is an application made to the Department of Home Affairs and relevant State or Territories expressing your interest in being considered for Subclass 491.
Skill-select will calculate your points based on your qualifications, experience and skills and rank you against other applicants who also wish to migrate to Australia.
Once you have applied for an Expression of Interest, we will assist you to make a nomination application with your preferred state/states you may be eligible for.
State/Territory/Region Nomination
Each state have its own distinct criteria which you will need to fulfil to be nominated for a Subclass 491 Visa.
If you have expressed interested in being nominated then your EOI will be visible to state and territory government agencies and they may nominate you for the visa.
If you are nominated, you will get an invitation to apply for this visa.
Family Sponsored
The Department may also invite you to apply for the visa if you have stated in your expression of interest that you have an eligible relative willing to sponsor you.
When might you receive an invitation?
The Department or any relevant state or territory cannot guarantee indicate if/when you will be invited for a skilled visa. Therefore, we recommend you continue to up-skill and improve your points until you get an invitation. We will continue to update your EOI if:
If you are invited to apply for a visa, you will receive an email notification from the relevant state or territory and an invitation from SkillSelect.
You will then have 60 days from the invitation date to make a valid visa application online before the invitation expires.
Applications received outside of this timeframe will not be valid, and you will need to wait for a further invitation before being eligible to make an application.
Once your visa application is lodged, we will wait to hear from the Department.
Usually, the Department will respond by sending you a “Request for Further Information” – if they require further information/documentation to finalise your application.
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