494 Visa

Skilled Employer Sponsored Regional

(Provisional) Subclass 494

Overview

The 494 Visa allows skilled workers to be sponsored by an Australian employer in a regional area for up to five years

With this visa, you can:

Live, work, and study only in designated regional areas of Australia for 5 years
Travel to and from Australia for 5 years
If eligible, apply for permanent residence after 3 years from the date your visa is granted.

To be eligible for this visa, you must:

Be nominated to work in an occupation on the relevant skilled occupation list
Have at least 3 years of relevant work experience in your nominated occupation
Hold a relevant skills assessment, unless an exemption applies
Work only for your sponsor or an associated entity, unless an exemption applies
Be under 45 years of age, unless an exemption applies
Meet minimum standards of English language proficiency

Pathways to permanent residence

If eligible, you can apply for permanent residence after holding your subclass 494 visa for 3 years.

However, unless you have held your subclass 494 visa for at least 3 years, you cannot:

Submit a valid application for a subclass 820 (Partner) visa
Be granted any of the following visas:

-Subclass 132 (Business Talent)
– Subclass 186 (Employer Nomination Scheme)
– Subclass 188 (Business Innovation and Investment (Provisional))
– Subclass 189 (Skilled (Independent))
– Subclass 190 (Skilled (Nominated))
– Subclass 191 (Skilled Regional) (Regional Provisional Stream)
– Subclass 858 (Global Talent)

Apply from

You can be in or outside Australia when you apply for the visa and when we make a decision on your application, but you must not be in immigration clearance.

If you are applying from within Australia, you must hold one of the following visas; otherwise, your application will not be considered valid:

A substantive visa, or
A Bridging Visa A, Bridging Visa B, or Bridging Visa C.

Your obligations

You and your family must comply with all visa conditions and Australian laws.

You must begin your employment within 90 days of:

Entering Australia, if you are outside Australia when the visa is granted
The visa grant date, if you are in Australia when the visa is granted

You are required to work only in your nominated occupation and only for your nominating employer in regional Australia. Failure to comply may result in the cancellation of your visa.

Travel

You can travel out of Australia and return as many times as you wish while the visa is valid. However, any time spent outside Australia does not extend the duration of the visa.

Visa Label

We will digitally link your visa to your passport, so you will not receive a physical label in your passport.

Your Path to the Skilled Employer Sponsored Regional Visa 494

Getting an offer of employment from an Australian company is one of the best routes to living in Australia – and if your job offer happens to be in regional Australia, there are even more visa options available to you. One such option is the Skilled Employer Sponsored Regional (Provisional) Visa Subclass 494, which is a temporary visa that allows you to work in the country for up to five years. After three years, you may become eligible to obtain permanent residency in Australia.

How Australian Skilled Migration Can Help You Get Your 494 Visa

With the help of experienced migration experts in Melbourne, you can work towards getting your Skilled Employer Sponsored Regional Visa Subclass 494 in a way that gives you a high chance of having your application accepted. And here at Australian Skilled Migration, we are proud to maintain a team of some of the most highly trained and experienced migration specialists in Australia.

After working for many years in the recruitment industry, our founder knew from first-hand experience just how important overseas workers were to the Australian economy. Consequently, from 2010 onwards, he set about building a migration agency that would make the whole process of applying for and obtaining visas easier and more affordable than it had ever been before.

Make Use of Our Tools & Resources to Obtain Your Regional Skilled Employer Sponsored Visa Sublcass 494

Our website is full of useful tools and reliable information which you can use to make informed decisions regarding your journey towards residency in Australia. You can use our visa finder to determine whether the Regional Skilled Employer Sponsored Visa Subclass 494 is the right choice for you, as well as finding out whether you meet the current entry requirements by making use of our free downloadable Skilled Workers Occupations List and other information. Alternatively, get in touch with a member of staff if you have any specific questions and we’ll be happy to provide you with personalised advice. Read Less

If you would like to apply for another employer sponsored visa, you may be eligible to apply for one of the below employer sponsored visas instead:

482 TSS Visa
186 Visa (ENS)
187 Visa (RSMS) DE CLOSED

Main Applicant

You may be eligible to apply for a 494 visa

Nomination

You must be nominated by an employer whose business is lawfully operating in Australia.

You must be employed in your nominated occupation and in a position within the sponsoring business or an associated entity located in a designated regional area of Australia.

Before you can apply for the visa, your employer must submit a nomination application on your behalf. They can only do this if they are an approved work sponsor or have at least lodged an application to become a standard business sponsor.

Age

You must be under 45 years of age when you apply for the visa.

You are exempt from this requirement if any of the following applies to you:

You are nominated as an academic (University Lecturer or Faculty Head at Academic Levels A, B, C, D, or E) by a university in Australia.
You are nominated as a medical practitioner and have worked in that occupation in a designated regional area of Australia for at least 2 years as the holder of a Temporary Work (Skilled) visa (subclass 457) or Temporary Skill Shortage (TSS) visa (subclass 482) in the 3 years immediately prior to your application. The nominated position must also be in a designated regional area.
You are nominated as a scientist, researcher, or technical (scientific) specialist at ANZSCO skill level 1 or 2 by an Australian scientific government agency or university.
You have held a Special Category visa (subclass 444) or New Zealand Citizen Family Relationship visa (subclass 461) for the last 3 years immediately before you apply and have worked for the employer who nominated you in the nominated occupation for at least 2 years during that time.
As a subclass 457 or 482 visa holder, you have been working in the nominated occupation for the nominating employer for at least 2 years during the 3 years immediately before you apply, and your earnings for each year of that period met or exceeded the Fair Work High Income Threshold.

Have relevant skills, qualifications and work experience

If you are the primary visa applicant, you must demonstrate that you have the necessary skills, qualifications, and work experience to perform the nominated occupation.

You are required to undergo a skills assessment to prove this—see “Have a positive skills assessment” below.

If a skills assessment is not mandatory, you must still provide other evidence to meet this requirement—see “Skills and qualifications documents.”

You must have been employed in the nominated occupation for at least 3 years on a full-time basis, at the required skill level.

Generally, this experience should have been gained within the last 5 years. The period does not need to be continuous, and equivalent part-time work may be considered. However, casual work will not be taken into account.

Have a positive Skill Assessment

You must have your skills assessed as suitable for the nominated occupation by the relevant assessing authority. This assessment confirms that you have the skills needed to work in the nominated role.

The skills assessment must be completed before you lodge your application. Note that a skills assessment obtained for a Temporary Graduate visa (subclass 485) is not valid for this visa.

You do not need to complete a skills assessment if, at the time of application, you hold a Temporary Work (Skilled) visa (subclass 457) or Temporary Skill Shortage visa (subclass 482) for the nominated occupation, provided that you demonstrated your skills through a suitable assessment for that visa.

You are exempt from this requirement if any of the following applies to you:

You are nominated as an academic (University Lecturer or Faculty Head at academic Levels A, B, C, D, or E) by an Australian university.
you have held a New Zealand Subclass 444 or New Zealand Citizen Family Relationship visa (subclass 461) visa for the last 3 years immediately before you apply and have worked for the employer who nominated you, in the nominated occupation, for at least 2 years during that time

English
You must have at least Competent English to apply for this visa

Health & Character
You must meet the health and character requirements (Unless you are exempt)

Not have a had a visa cancelled or a previous application

We will take your immigration history into account when deciding on your application, which means you may not be eligible for this visa if you have had a visa canceled or refused.

In some cases, you may still apply for a permanent visa despite having a visa canceled or an application refused—see “Limitations on applications in Australia.”

Have paid back your debt to Australian government

If you or any family members (including those not applying for the visa with you) owe money to the Australian government, you or they must have either repaid the debt or made arrangements to do so.

Sign the Australian values statement

If you are 16 years of age or older, you must:

Have read, or had explained to you, the “Life in Australia” booklet, and
Sign an Australian Values Statement confirming your commitment to respect the Australian way of life and obey Australian laws.