The 494 Regional Visa
Following the promise to ease congestion in metropolitan cities, the Australian Immigration Department introduced new Visas in November 2019. The Skilled Migrant Regional Visa, 491 and the Skilled Employer Sponsored Regional Visa, 494 were designed to help Australian regional areas to boost the local economy.
The 494 Regional Visa replaces the 187 Regional Sponsored Migration Scheme (RSMS), that has been in operation for several years in Australia and has been a good option for a lot of people on Working Holiday Visas as well as those on the 457 and 482 visas moving to Australia from the UK.
The 494 Regional Visa is a 5-year Visa that allows the applicant and their family to move to Australia for up to 5 years with possibility of applying for Permanent Residence after 3 years. The 494 Visa is a good start for those thinking of emigrating to Australia on a permanent basis.
To apply for the 494 Visa, you will also need to be nominated by a Sponsor who is a legally operating Business in Australia and Located in the Designated Regional Area. This is in essence a Regional Business looking to employ you.
The Business will need to Lodge a Nomination before you can apply for your Visa. So, you need to find yourself an employer based in regional Australia who will employ you and be able to go through the process of Sponsoring you for the 494 Regional Visa.
You will only be able to work for the Nominated Employer under the 494 Visa. This means that you would need to stay with that employer until either you can progress to Permanent Migration or your leave the employer in which case you will either need to leave Australia or find another employer to sponsor you, or move onto another visa type. You would also need to meet the normal Health and Character requirements as well as not having any debts to the Australian Government.
You would also need to begin your employment within 90 days of receiving the Visa. This is an important point as you need to plan for this and be ready to start work within the three months. So you should be looking at where to live, schools for those with children, transport links and so on.
Requirements
To be eligible for the 494 Visa you will need to be:
– Nominated to work in an occupation which appears to on the Skilled Occupation List for the 494 Regional Visas. When you look on the Skilled Occupations list you will be able to see a variety of Occupations and you can search by occupation at the top. The Occupations have next to them a key as to what applications can be made for the occupation you have chosen. Most Australian Visa for Emigration requires applicants to have an occupation in demand in Australia.
– You will need to have at least 3 years of work experience behind you in the nominated occupation; this is becoming a fairly standard request from Australian local State Governments as 3 and even 5-year employment periods are required from overseas applicants.
– You will also need to have your Skills assessed by the relevant Skills Assessment Authority unless an exemption applies. You will need to have a Skills assessment in the selected occupation that you are applying under. The skills assessing bodies are also set out in the key for the Skilled Occupations List. Australian Immigration Lawyers such as Taylor Hampton Solicitors can assist you in Skills assessments and indeed the Application as a whole.
– You will only be able to work for the sponsor or an associated entity unless an exemption applies. Under the Legislation you can only work for the Nominated Sponsor under this Visa. There are exemptions but these are limited.
– When Emigrating to Australia you need to be under 45 years of age, unless an exemption applies. Once again, as with the rule on working for others there are very limited exemptions on Age.
– You need to meet the minimum English Language Proficiency which is Competent English This is a requirement now for nearly all skilled visas. If you hold an eligible passport such as the UK, Ireland, USA, New Zealand and Canada then you will meet this requirement. If not, you would need to undertake an approved English Language assessment course the most popular of these being the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) or one of the other approved exams.
So, once you have a job offer in the region that you want to settle in, you may also want to look at employing an Australian Immigration Lawyer to assist with the Visa application process. There are various firms that can assist you either in the UK or in Australia. One highly experienced firm that can assist you is Taylor Hampton Solicitors Emigrate to Australia.
