Australia is focused on encouraging and facilitating highly skilled individuals to live permanently in Australia. Presently, there is a strong push for skilled individuals to spend a significant amount of time living in regional areas and incentives for studying regionally. Not all regional areas are what you would expect of being completely isolated and remote. The seaside resort town of the Gold Coast is considered Regional for the above purposes.
Skilled Visas are becoming increasingly difficult to secure by Australia’s graduates as points required to be invited to apply for a Skilled Visa continue rising. For this reason it is important that graduates have a long-term plan in place from the time they graduate until they are able to meet the requirements of a Skilled Visa. In the current climate, creative thinking and flexible planning are important for international graduates to secure a Skilled Visa if this is their desire.
The Skilled Visa Process
- Lodge and Expression of Interest (EOI) on Skill Select
- Apply for State or Territory nomination (if applicable)
- Wait for an invitation to apply for a Skilled Visa (subclass 189, 190 or 491)
- Apply for the visa (within 2 months)
- Wait for a decision
This is a permanent visa that does not require applicants to seek state or territory nomination nor family sponsorship. You can apply for this visa onshore or offshore. With this visa you can work, study and live anywhere in Australia and may be eligible to apply for Australian Citizenship. You can also sponsor eligible relatives for Permanent Residence including your spouse, de facto partner and/or dependent children.
To be eligible for this visa you must:
- be under the age of 45 at time of application
- have an occupation on the current Skilled Occupation List
- have a current Skills Assessment
- be invited to apply for the visa
- score at least 65 points on the points test
- have competent English
- meet Health and Character requirements
- sign the Australian Values Statement
- have no debt to the Australian government
As this visa does not require nomination or sponsorship it is generally the most sought after by Skilled Migrants. As a result it has become competitive for many occupations and to be invited to apply applicants must score significantly higher than 65 on the points test.
This is a permanent visa that requires applicants to have obtained State or Territory Nomination. Each State and Territory have their own requirements for nominating applicants based on skills shortages at a given time and number of applicants. These are subject to change. You can apply for this visa onshore or offshore.
With this visa you can work, study and live anywhere in Australia and may be eligible to apply for Australian Citizenship. You can also sponsor eligible relatives for Permanent Residence including your spouse, de facto partner and/or dependent children.
To be eligible for this visa you must:
- be under the age of 45 at time of application
- have an occupation on the current Skilled Occupation List
- have a current Skills Assessment
- be nominated by a State or Territory (and this nomination must not have been withdrawn)
- be invited to apply for the visa
- score at least 65 points on the points test
- have competent English
- meet Health and Character requirements
- sign the Australian Values Statement
- have no debt to the Australian government
This is a popular visa among Australia’s international graduates. Five extra points are granted to applicants with state or territory nomination. The nominating State or Territory will usually require that an applicant live in that nominating area for two years post visa grant.
This regional visa was introduced on 16 November 2019 to replace the Skilled Regional (Provisional) visa (subclass 489). This visa is a temporary visa granted for 5 years with a pathway to a permanent visa.
To be eligible to apply for the subclass 491 visa you must:
- be under the age of 45 at time of application
- have an occupation on the relevant Regional Skilled Occupation List
- have a current Skills Assessment
- be nominated by a State or Territory (and this nomination must not have been withdrawn)
- be invited to apply for the visa
- score at least 65 points on the points test
- have competent English
- meet Health and Character requirements
- sign the Australian Values Statement
- have no debt to the Australian government
This visa’s purpose is to encourage Skilled Workers to the regions of Australia. To be eligible to move from this visa to Permanent Residency visa the subclass 191 visa, visa holders must have lived and worked for three years in a regional area and earned over the minimum income threshold which is currently set at $53,900. This is taxable income per annum. It is advised that while holding the subclass 491 visa, employees do not engage in programs such as salary sacrificing and seek advice from an accountant before claiming expenses in tax returns so as not to fall under the income threshold and be ineligible for Permanent Residency.
The bright side of the subclass 491? Employment does not need to be in the nominated occupation to meet the requirements and it can be earned from multiple jobs. Similarly, if you have a dependent partner who meets the income threshold they can become the primary applicant for the permanent visa after three years of earning at this level.
Note: Each State and Territory have their own requirements for nomination under this visa subclass. It is important that applicants are aware of these well in advance as they often require living, studying or working in the area for a certain period before applying for nomination.
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