Working and Skilled Visas – Kan Migration Services

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This visa allows you to work and live in Australia temporarily or permanently. If you are skilled personnel, investor, business personnel, or sponsored worker this visa is for you. The following are the sub categories that let you identify with which visa subclass you align the most.

• Skilled Independent (Subclass 189)
This is a permanent resident visa for skilled workers who want to work and live in Australia. It is a points-tested stream and has following key requirements:

One must be under 45 years of age.
One must have a skilled occupation on the relevant Medium and Long Term Strategic Skilled List (MLTSSL).
One must be able to demonstrate ‘Competent English’.
One must meet health and character requirements.
One must have a positive skills assessment from the relevant skills assessing authority in relation to your nominated occupation.
One must obtain the minimum score on the Points Test at the time of invitation to apply for the visa.
One must obtain an invitation to apply for the visa. To be invited you will need to submit an Expression of Interest (EOI) in SkillSelect and meet the required points test on a competitive basis.

• Skilled Nominated (Subclass 190)
This is a points-tested permanent resident visa for workers who have received State or Territory government nomination and want to work and live in Australia. The following are the key eligibility requirements:

One must be under 45 years of age.
One must have a skilled occupation on the relevant State/Territory skilled occupation list.
One must be able to demonstrate ‘Competent English’.
One must have a positive skills assessment from the relevant skills assessing authority in relation to your nominated occupation.
One must obtain the minimum score on the Points Test at the time of invitation to apply for the visa.
One must be nominated by an Australian State or Territory agency.
One must obtain an invitation to apply for the visa. To be invited you will need to submit an Expression of Interest (EOI) in SkillSelect and meet the required points test on a competitive basis.
One must satisfy certain Public Interest criteria and Special Return criteria.
One must meet health and character requirements.

• Skilled Graduate (Subclass 485)
This visa allows recent international graduates to temporarily live, study or work in Australia. This visa has two different streams: Post-study work and Graduate work. The following are the eligibility requirements:

One must hold or have held an eligible student visa in the last 6 months.
One must demonstrate your English proficiency by achieving an overall score of at least 6 with a minimum score of 5 for each of the 4 components on the IELTS test. (Alternative tests can be used including OET, TOEFL iBT, PTE Academic, CAE). Holders of specified types of passports are exempt from this requirement.
One must have adequate arrangements for health insurance.
One must satisfy certain Public Interest criteria and Special Return criteria.
One must meet health and character requirements including having applied for an Australian Federal Police check in the last 12 months.
One must satisfy specific criteria relating to the visa stream you are applying for.

• Skilled Regional (Subclass 887)
This is a permanent visa pathway from the Skilled Regional (Provisional) Subclass 489 visa. This visa is to enable General Skilled Visa holders apply for permanent residency in Australia. The following are its eligibility requirements:

One must be the holder of a prescribed visa.
One must have held a prescribed visa for a total of at least 2 years before making the application.
One must have lived in a specified regional area for a total of at least 2 years while holding a prescribed visa.
One must have worked full-time in a specified regional area for a total of at least 1 year as the holder of a prescribed visa.
One must satisfy certain Public Interest criteria and Special Return criteria.

Skilled Regional Visas
These are the Skilled Work Regional (Provisional) visa (subclass 491) and the Skilled Employer Sponsored Regional (Provisional) visa (subclass 494).

The 491 visas have replaced the formally known Skilled Regional (Provisional) Visa (subclass 489), and the 494 visas has replaced the formally known Regional Sponsored Migration Scheme Visa (subclass 187) – Direct Entry stream.

Applications for the SC 491 and SC 494 regional visas are eligible for priority processing. These visas will encourage migrants to live in regional areas for a longer period than the previous visas.

Commencing on 16 November 2022, the new visas will provide a pathway to a second-stage subclass 191 Permanent Residency regional visa.The 491 visa requires the applicant to be nominated or sponsored by either an Australian state or territory government agency or by an eligible relative. The 494 visa requires the applicant to be nominated by an employer from a business lawfully operating in Australia.

Point of difference for 491 & 494?
One of the principal variances among the 491 and the 494 visas is that the 491 is a ‘points tested’ visa. That means the applicant must score a certain number of points (65) on DOHA’s points table in order to be eligible.

One advantage of the new regional migration scheme is that it offers more points on the points table to 491 visa applicants. The new ‘schedule 6D’ points include:
 15 points for nomination by a State or Territory government agency or sponsorship by a family member residing in regional Australia;
 10 points for a skilled spouse or de facto partner;
 10 points for certain Science, Technology Engineering and Mathematics qualifications;
 5 points for a spouse or de facto partner with ‘competent English’;
 10 points for applicants without a spouse or de facto partner.

• Skilled Work Regional (Subclass 491)
This visa is for those migrants who are interested in either State or Territory government regional nomination or have a family member in regional Australia who can offer sponsorship to them. The following are the requirements for those interested in applying for this visa:

One must be under 45 years of age.
One must have a skilled occupation on the relevant skilled occupation list.
One must be able to demonstrate ‘Competent English’.
One must have a positive skills assessment from the relevant skills assessing authority in relation to your nominated occupation.
One must obtain the minimum score on the Points Test at the time of invitation to apply for the visa.
One must be nominated by an Australian State or Territory agency or sponsored by an eligible relative living in a designated area.
One must obtain an invitation to apply for the visa. To be invited you will have to submit an Expression of Interest (EOI) in SkillSelect and meet the required points test on a competitive basis.
One must satisfy certain Public Interest criteria and Special Return criteria.
One must meet health and character requirements.

• Skilled Employer Sponsored Regional (Subclass 494)
The Skilled Employer Sponsored Regional is a provisional employer sponsored visa. This visa allows businesses operating in Regional Australia to nominate highly skilled candidates for provisional visas. This visa comes with a three-stage process: Sponsorship, Nomination, and Visa Application.
One must meet the following requirements if applying for this visa:

The nomination lodged by your employer must have been approved.
Your employer must be an Approved Work Sponsor.
You must have a genuine intention to perform your nominated occupation.
The position associated with the nomination must be genuine.
You must satisfy certain Public Interest criteria and Special Return criteria.
You must meet health and character requirements.
You must satisfy all Nomination Criteria including specific criteria to the stream you are applying for such as: having an occupation on the relevant list of eligible occupations, having an associated position in a designated regional area or having received a positive assessment from a relevant Regional Certifying Body (RCB) etc.
You must satisfy specific criteria relating to the visa stream you are applying for.

• Temporary Skilled Shortage (Subclass 482)
TSS or Temporary Skilled Shortage Visa enables Australian employers to nominate highly skilled professionals for temporary visas. The visa requires an eligible sponsor. The three-stage process involves Sponsorship, Nomination and Visa application. This visa comes with Short-term, Medium-term, and Labour Agreement Stream.
The key eligibility requirements for all the streams are:

The employer must have applied for approval of the nomination of the occupation, which your visa application relates.
Depending on occupation and nationality, one may be required to complete a relevant Skills Assessment.
The employer must be an Approved Work Sponsor
One must have a genuine intention to perform the nominated occupation and the position must be genuine.
One must have the skills, qualifications and employment background necessary to perform the tasks of the nominated occupation.
One must have adequate arrangements for health insurance.
One must satisfy certain Public Interest criteria and Special Return criteria.
One must meet health and character requirements.
One must satisfy specific Nomination Criteria relating to the visa stream you are applying for such as having an occupation on the relevant list of eligible occupations etc.
One must satisfy specific criteria relating to the visa stream you are applying for.