How to be eligible for the Australian 494 Visa?

Tejaswini Panigrahi
[Published 31 Dec, 2021 | 03:14 PM]
About Author - 6 min read

What is the 494 Visa (Skilled Employer-Sponsored Regional (Provisional) visa)?

Launched in the year 2019, the Australian 494 Visa is a relatively new visa that allows immigration applicants to freely live, study and work in designated regional areas of Australia.

The program was an update to the 187 (Regional Sponsored Migration Scheme) visa and has around 10,000 places in its list where it invites the candidates with the demanded skills in possession of the particular areas.

The candidates can even apply for the Australian PR (Permanent Residency), after staying 3 years in Australia.

The 494 Visa was designed in order to allow the regional employers to meet the labor market shortage by inviting or sponsoring skilled workers from all over the world if the job positions couldn’t get filled up by the Australians.

The program included locations outside the major cities such as Sydney, Melbourne, etc, as regional areas. Perth and the Gold Coast are some of the examples of regional areas.

What are the requirements of the 494 Visa?

• The candidate must be nominated for a job position, following the relevant skilled occupation list.
• They should have at least 3 years of work experience in the nominated occupation.
• Having a relevant skills assessment is also a requirement.
• The candidate should be under 45 years of age.
• Must meet the minimum language proficiency standards.

Eligibility requirements

• You must be nominated by an approved sponsor or employer – This program requires you to be nominated by an approved employer of Australia. The employer has to apply for your nomination before you apply for the visa.

• You must have relevant skills, qualifications, and work experience – Here, the nominations are issued on the basis of skills, qualifications, and work experience. So, you must demonstrate the necessary.

• Job Offer time limit- You must be employed in an in-demand skilled occupation for at least 3 years on a full-time basis. 

• Having a positive skills assessment is mandatory-you must have your skills assessed as suitable for the nominated occupation by the relevant assessing authority, which will prove your skills to be worthy of the occupation.

• You should work only for your sponsor – You can’t work for any other employer except for your sponsored employer.

• Minimum age criteria –You must be under 45 years of age.

• Must meet the minimum language proficiency standard–You have to take a language test like IELTS, TOEFL, PTE, etc, and score above the minimum benchmark.

Upon meeting the criteria, you can start looking for a job with your skill in demand. Your sponsor or Australian employer should already have a labor agreement with the Australian Government, or be willing to apply for one and must be in one of the regional areas of Australia. The regional areas of Australia include Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast, Adelaide, Hobart, Adelaide, Lake Macquarie, Illawarra, Canberra, Newcastle, Geelong, Perth, and Wollongong.

Once your job application is successful, start the application process by creating an ImmiAccount logon.

Wait for the Visa approval process!

494 visa fees and processing time

The fee for the 494 Visa is AU$4,045 for the main applicant and AU$2,025 for each dependent aged 18 years and over. Whereas, the dependents under 18 years of age are charged AU$1,010 for the Visa. This program also has an extra charge called the second installment, for the dependent applicants with no functional English.

What are the 494 visa conditions?

You have to meet some conditions, like:

• You must not be disruptive or harmful to the citizens of Australia or any group of people in the community.
• You should also maintain your health insurance while residing in Australia.
• The visa needs you to stay in your designated ‘regional’ area of employment and continue your employment there.

Documents required to apply for the 494 visa

The documents mentioned below should be in English to get approved:

• Scorecard of English test
  
• ID proof
• Valid passport copies
• Skills Assessment results with the application form (if needed to perform), 
• Educational certificates/licenses/ references from previous employers(if skills assessment is not required)
• Medical certificate proving good health
• proof of obtained health insurance for your stay in Australia
• Police certificate to prove good character
• ID documents, character documents, passport copies, birth certificates, and proof of marriage/ relationship of the dependent if bringing them along.

Planning to move to Australia but don’t know where to start?

Nationwide Visas is right here to help you through a seamless Australian PR visa procedure, with a dynamic team of experienced consultants. Call us now to check if you’re eligible to migrate to Australia in 2023.