Subclass 491 Skilled Work Regional (Provisional) visa replaced the 489 visa and commenced from November 16, 2019. The 491 is a skilled and a points tested visa . It has a 45-year age limit and requires a positive skills assessment.

The 491 visa, Skilled Work Regional (Provisional) subclass 491 visa will enable eligible skilled workers and their families to live, work and study in designated regional areas of Australia for 5 years. Visa holders will be eligible to apply for a Permanent Residence visa after three years. Applicants for this visa must be nominated by:

  • an Australian state or territory government agency or
  • sponsored by an eligible family member residing in a designated regional area and be invited to apply for the visa, following submission of an Expression of Interest (EOI) in SkillSelect.

Conditions of 491 visa :

Valid for 5 Years

Must meet 8579 condition, which states that visa holders live, work and study only in regional areas

May move between specified regional areas

Holders of the new provisional visas will also be unable to apply for most other skills based visas in Australia unless they have completed at least three years in a designated regional area, unless exceptional circumstances exist

Must earn an annual salary and taxable income of $53,900 per annum for the three-year period to be eligible to apply for 191 visa

491 Visa Family Stream:

Please note that for the 491 family stream, your occupation must be on the MLTSSL list. Your sponsor must be:

  • 18 years old or older
  • usually resident in a designated area of Australia
  • be an Australian citizen, an Australian permanent resident, or an eligible New Zealand citizen
  • be your or your partner’s eligible relative

An eligible relative can be:

  • a parent
  • a child or step-child
  • a brother, sister, adoptive brother, adoptive sister, step-brother or step-sister
  • an aunt, uncle, adoptive aunt, adoptive uncle, step-aunt or step-uncle
  • a nephew, niece, adoptive nephew, adoptive niece, step-nephew or step-niece
  • a grandparent, or
  • a first cousin

Sponsorship must be approved before you can be granted a visa.