The Skilled Regional (provisional) visa, also known as Subclass 489 is a pathway offered by Australia and is specifically designed for international skilled workers. Given that the applicant meets the eligibility requirements, they additionally need to have all the necessary skills to get a nomination as this pathway requires an invitation.

Important Note: This visa has been closed by the Australian Government. It has been replaced by Skilled Work Regional Provisional Visa (Subclass 491) w.e.f 16th November 2019.

The Visa Subclass 489 is a temporary visa that is granted to the applicants for 4 years. The visa is for those whose experience, skills, as well as abilities, are highly in demand in Australia's regional territories or selected states. It grants the applicant permission to live and work simultaneously in Australian Regional Territories for four years in a stretch. All that the candidate is required to do is choose a job profile from the list of relevant occupations and get sponsored by a specific state or territory in Australia.

Application Cost:

AUD 4,115/- (Primary Applicant)

AUD 4,890/- (Additional Applicants)

Eligibility Requirements

A candidate needs to meet these basic requirements in order to be eligible to apply to Home Affairs Australia.

• The selected occupation must be listed in the "Combined List of Eligible Skilled Occupations"

• The applicant must score a minimum of 65 points

• Grab an application for a state or territory sponsorship

• Be under 45 years of age

• Must have a positive skills assessment from the respective skills assessing authority

• Meet the minimum band score requirements in the acceptable English Language Proficiency Exams

• Fulfill the health and character requirements necessary for Australia's Immigration

• Have sufficient work experience in order to meet the state or territory requirements

• Submit an Expression of Interest

• Must live for at least 2 years after the visa is issued

Documents Required

This skilled worker visa allows eligible candidates to live and work in Australia. At the time of application, there are specific documents that one needs to submit, some of them being:

• Passport

• Proof of identity & resident status

• Documents of work experience

• Educational Qualification documents

• Language proficiency

• Medical Reports & Police Clearance Certificate

Application Process

The process to apply under skilled migration Australia for this visa is rather simple.

1. Receive an invitation

After submitting an Expression of Interest you will receive certain points on the basis of which you will receive an invitation to permanently migrate to Australia. This invitation is very important to live or work in Australia under this visa subclass.

2. Get a positive skill assessment

Obtaining a positive skills assessment mean classifying your job as an eligible occupation in Australia. For this, you need to check if your work or job profile falls under the skilled occupation list of Australia.

3. Be a certain age

To apply for this visa subclass, you need to be less than 45 years of age. Any applicant crossing the 45 years mark will be deemed ineligible to apply or receive a nomination.

4. Score 65 points

Based on the information that you have provided at the time of submitting your application, you will be given certain points. If you can receive at least 65 points then you have a good chance of receiving a positive nomination.

5. Meet the English language requirements

The test for language proficiency cannot have been undertaken more than 3 years before the date of invitation. You also need to score a minimum level of points to apply for visa 489.

6. Obtain a positive health and character certificate

Apart from fulfilling other requirements, you must also submit a positive health report and pass on their character test to get a successful nomination to permanently live and work in Australia.

Benefits

There are certain advantages tagged with this visa being:

• Stay for 4 years

• Live, work and/or study in Australia's specific regions

• Permission to travel to & from the country up until the validity of the granted visa

• After a certain period, apply for Australia PR

There are many more types of visa categories under the Skilled Migration Program of Australia. The experts at Visa Walk can give you a personalized profile assessment along with a free visa consultancy session. We assist in skilled, study, business, investor, and many more visas.