- You can be in or outside Australia, but not in immigration clearance when you apply for the visa and when a decision is made on your application. If you apply in Australia, you must hold a substantive visa or a subclass 010 Bridging A visa, a subclass 020 Bridging B visa or a subclass 030 Bridging C visa, otherwise your application will not be valid.
- You must submit an expression of interest (EOI) in SkillSelect to let us know you would like to apply for the visa. In your EOI, you must indicate if an eligible relative is going to sponsor you for this visa or if you want a state or territory government agency to nominate you.
- You must be either nominated by an Australian state or territory government agency or indicate that you will be sponsored by an eligible relative.
All state and territory government agencies have their own criteria for deciding who they will nominate. See State and Territory Government Nomination Criteria section for details.
To be sponsored by an eligible relative, your sponsor must be;
- 18 years old or older
- usually resident in a designated area of Australia
- be an Australian citizen, an Australian permanent resident, or an eligible New Zealand citizen
- be your eligible relative or your partner’s eligible relative if your partner is also applying for this visa
DOHA must approve your sponsorship before you are granted a visa.
- You must have a suitable skills assessment at the time you are invited to apply. The assessment must be undertaken by an assessing authority listed against your occupation in the list of eligible skilled occupations.
You will need to provide a copy of this skills assessment with your application. Your skills assessment must have been obtained in the 3 years before the date of your invitation. If the assessment was for a shorter period, that period must not have passed.
If your skills were assessed on the basis of a qualification you got in Australia when you held a student visa, the qualification must be from studying a course registered on CRICOS.
- You must be aged under 45 to be invited to apply for the visa. You can still apply for the visa if you turn 45 after you are invited to apply. If you turn 45 after you submit your EOI but before you are invited to apply, you will not receive an invite.
- Your occupation must be on the combined list of eligible skilled occupations for a Skilled Regional (subclass 491) visa.
- The subclass 491 is a points-tested visa. You must be able to obtain at least 65 points on our points test to be eligible for this visa. If you cannot obtain 65 points you will not be invited to apply.
If you get an invitation apply for the visa, you must prove the claims you make in your EOI application is being assessed by DOHA
Use the points calculator to check how many points you might score.
- At the time of invitation, you must have at least competent English. This translates to you having at least 6 for each of the 4 components in IELTS or at least 50 for each of the 4 components for PTE Academic)
- You must apply for the visa within 60 days from the date of your invitation.
- You and any family member included in this application must meet all the health and character requirements
- You or any family member must not have any debt to pay to the Australian government. If you or any family members (including those who do not apply for the visa with you) owe the Australian Government money, you or they must have paid it back or arranged to pay it back.
- If you are 18 years of age or older, you must: have read, or had explained to you, the Life in Australia AND confirm you will respect the Australian way of life and obey Australian laws when you sign an Australian Values Statement
Note: If you have had a visa cancelled or previous application refused, you may not be granted a visa.