Migration Amendment (New Skilled Regional Visas) Regulations 2019

New Visas Regulation 2019

From 16 November 2019

Introducing two new regional skilled visas and changes to its point system.

1) Visa subclass 491:
Skilled Work Regional (Provisional) visa (Subclass 491), a new and enhanced points-tested visa to assist regional Australia, for applicants nominated by a state or territory government agency or sponsored by an eligible family member residing in a designated regional area.

2) Visa subclass 494:
Skilled Employer Sponsored Regional (Provisional)) visa (Subclass 494), a new and enhanced employer-sponsored visa to assist regional Australia, with two streams: Employer-Sponsored and Labour Agreement.

Old visa 489 & 187 superseded by these new visas.

Changes to the point system for 491 visa:

• 15 points for nomination by a State or Territory government agency or sponsorship by a family member residing in regional Australia, to live and work in regional Australia;
• 10 points for a skilled spouse or de facto partner;
• 10 points for certain Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) qualifications;
• 5 points for a spouse or de facto partner with ‘competent English’;
• 10 points for applicants without a spouse or de facto partner

For detailed report please see the link below.

https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/F2019L00578/Explanatory%20Statement/Text?fbclid=IwAR1FoyHJ4ruambS725vV-tvWOx0-lSoNZaM8iTvO1dMmVMGLyjfvPyZeQ0I