491 Skilled Work Regional (Provisional) visa (subclass 491) – Main applicant

At a Glance

Item	Details
Visa name	Skilled Work Regional (Provisional) 491
Visa type	Temporary provisional visa
Stay	5 years from grant
Cost	From AUD6,140 main applicant
Eligibility timing	Under 45 when invited
Invitation deadline	Apply within 60 days
Work rights	Any occupation, designated regional areas
Study	Study in designated regional areas
Medicare	Not stated in the source
Travel facility	Multiple entries while valid
Permanent residence	Subclass 191 after three years
Citizenship	Not stated in the source
Family sponsorship	Eligible relative may sponsor
Family members	Include family unit members
Visa record	Digitally linked to passport
Points requirement	At least 65 points
English requirement	Competent English at invitation
Apply from	In or outside Australia

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Purpose

This provisional visa is for skilled workers who want to live and work in regional Australia.

You may:

• Stay in Australia for 5 years from grant.
• Live, work and study in a designated regional area.
• Work for any employer and in any occupation, subject to visa work and residence conditions.
• Travel in and out of Australia as often as you wish while the visa is valid.
• Attend free Adult Migrant English Program classes, if eligible.
• Apply for the Permanent Residence (Skilled Regional) visa (subclass 191), if eligible.

You cannot extend this visa. To remain longer, you must apply for another visa.

Eligibility

You must:

• Be invited to apply after submitting an Expression of Interest (EOI) in SkillSelect.
• Be nominated by a state or territory government agency, or sponsored by an eligible relative.
• Be under 45 when invited. You may apply if you turn 45 after invitation.
• Have an occupation on the eligible skilled occupation list for subclass 491.
• Have a suitable skills assessment at the time of invitation.
• Score at least 65 points. You must meet the score stated in your invitation, which may be higher.
• Have at least Competent English at the time of invitation.
• Meet health and character requirements.
• Repay, or arrange to repay, Australian Government debts owed by you or relevant family members.
• Sign the Australian Values Statement if aged 18 or older.

Skills assessment

Your skills assessment must generally have been obtained within 3 years before invitation and remain valid. If based on an Australian qualification obtained while holding a student visa, the course must have been CRICOS registered.

Alternative evidence may be accepted for:

• Medical practitioners: specified Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency registration.
• Barristers and solicitors: admission to practise law in an Australian state or territory.

Nomination or eligible-relative sponsorship

State and territory governments set their own nomination criteria.

An eligible relative sponsor must be:

• At least 18 years old.
• Usually resident in a designated regional area.
• An Australian citizen, Australian permanent resident, or eligible New Zealand citizen.
• Your relative, or your partner’s relative if your partner also applies.

Eligible relatives include parents, children, siblings, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, grandparents and first cousins, including specified adoptive and step-relatives.

The Department must approve the sponsorship before visa grant.

Regional residence and work conditions

You and family members who hold this visa must live, work and study in a designated regional area.

Your nomination must not be withdrawn before grant.

Check your individual visa conditions in your visa grant letter or through VEVO.

Permanent residence restrictions

You may apply for permanent residence through the Skilled Regional visa (subclass 191), if eligible.

Until you have held the subclass 491 visa for 3 years, you cannot:

• Make a valid application for a Partner visa (subclass 820).
• Be granted certain permanent skilled, employer, business and global talent visas, including subclasses 186, 189, 190 and 858.

Cost

The visa application charge starts from AUD6,140 for the main applicant.

Additional charges apply for family members included in the application. Other possible costs include health examinations, police certificates and biometrics.

A second instalment of AUD4,890 may be payable for each applicant aged 18 or older who does not have functional English. Pay this only if requested before grant.

Pacific Island and Timor-Leste concession

From 1 July 2026, a lower visa application charge applies to eligible applicants using a valid passport from:

• Federated States of Micronesia
• Fiji
• Kiribati
• Nauru
• Palau
• Papua New Guinea
• Republic of the Marshall Islands
• Samoa
• Solomon Islands
• Timor-Leste
• Tonga
• Tuvalu
• Vanuatu

Eligible family members receive the lower charge based on the primary applicant’s passport.

Where and when to apply

You may be in or outside Australia when applying and when a decision is made, but not in immigration clearance.

If applying in Australia, you must hold a substantive visa or a Bridging visa A, B or C. Otherwise, the application is invalid.

You have 60 calendar days from invitation to lodge the visa application. This deadline cannot be extended.

An EOI is not a visa application, does not create a bridging visa, and does not allow you to remain in Australia lawfully after your current visa expires.

Family provisions

You may include members of your family unit when lodging your application.

You may add a dependent child after lodgement but before a decision, using Form 1436.

Family members applying with you must meet health and character requirements. Non-accompanying family members must meet character requirements and may need to meet health requirements.

Family members who did not apply with you may be able to apply later as subsequent entrants.

Dependent children

A child aged over 18 but under 23 must be dependent on you or your partner. A child aged 23 or older must be dependent because of physical or cognitive limitations.

For a child under 18 migrating without a person who has legal authority over where they live, provide:

• Form 1229, or a statutory declaration giving consent; or
• A court order or evidence that home-country law permits migration.

Required evidence

Provide evidence supporting all claims made in your EOI and visa application, including:

• Passport identity pages and any national identity card.
• Change-of-name evidence, if applicable.
• Skills assessment or accepted professional registration.
• Competent English evidence.
• Evidence for points claims, such as qualifications, employment, Australian study, regional study, partner skills or Professional Year.
• Relationship and family evidence.
• Health examinations, if requested.
• Police certificates and military records, where required.
• Form 80 and Form 1221 for character assessment.
• Sponsor evidence and sponsor declaration, if relative-sponsored.

Employment evidence

To claim skilled employment points, provide evidence for employment before invitation, such as:

• Employer references.
• Contracts.
• Payslips.
• Tax records.
• Superannuation records.

Employer references must identify the employer, employment dates, positions, employment type, duties, salary, and authorised signatory contact details.

Police certificates

Provide an Australian Federal Police complete disclosure National Police Certificate if you spent 12 months or more in Australia during the past 10 years since turning 16.

Also provide overseas police certificates for each country where you spent a total of 12 months or more during that period since turning 16.

Australian state or territory police certificates are not accepted for this purpose.

Document format

• Translate all non-English documents into English.
• Provide both originals and translations.
• Scan or photograph documents in colour and clearly.
• Combine all pages of one document into one file.
• Document certification is not required.

Application steps

1. Check your occupation, skills assessment, English and points eligibility.
2. Submit a free EOI through SkillSelect for the subclass 491 Invited pathway.
3. Obtain state or territory nomination, or indicate eligible-relative sponsorship.
4. Receive an invitation to apply.
5. Gather documents proving all EOI claims and other criteria.
6. In SkillSelect, select Apply for visa and continue in ImmiAccount.
7. Attach documents and pay the first visa application charge.
8. Keep your transaction reference number.

Each applying family member needs their charge paid and documents attached.

After applying

The Department may request health examinations, biometrics or further information. Attach missing documents promptly; the Department may decide the application without requesting more evidence.

If you apply in Australia, a Bridging visa A may take effect when your current visa expires. Do not request cancellation of your current visa; cancellation may make you unlawful and cause the Bridging visa A to cease.

Tell the Department promptly about changes to:

• Contact details or passport.
• Relationship status.
• Family composition or a newborn child.
• Errors in the application.
• Withdrawal intentions.

Use Form 1023 to report incorrect answers.

Travel and visa record

You may leave and return to Australia as often as you wish while the visa remains valid. Time outside Australia does not extend the visa period.

Your visa is digitally linked to your passport. No visa label is issued.

If granted outside Australia, enter Australia before the date specified in the grant letter.

Important warnings

• An invitation does not guarantee visa grant.
• Do not apply if you cannot prove the invited points score or other eligibility criteria.
• If you do not apply after two invitations, your EOI will be removed from SkillSelect.
• You must remain lawful while waiting for a decision.
• Comply with all visa conditions and Australian laws.
• New Zealand passport holders should check border processing carefully. The source states that a Special Category visa grant may affect permanent-residence eligibility.