494 Visa

494 Visa: Skilled Employer Sponsored Regional (Provisional) Visa

Employer Sponsored Stream

494 Visa: Employer Sponsored Stream: With this visa, you can

live, work and study only in designated regional areas of Australia for 5 years
travel to and from Australia as many times as you want while the visa is valid
if eligible, apply for permanent residence after 3 years from the time your visa is granted

Specified region

You can live, work and study only in a designated regional area. Designated regional areas include all of Australia except for Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.

How long you can stay

This is a provisional visa. You can stay in Australia for a period of 5 years from when your visa is granted.

494 Visa: Employer Sponsored Stream: Stay longer

You can’t stay in Australia longer by extending this visa. Explore your visa options.

If eligible, you can apply for permanent residence after 3 years from the time your visa is granted.

Include family

You can include members of the family unit in your application. You can:

include them when you submit your visa application
add a dependent child after you submit but before the Australian immigration officers at the Department of Home Affairs decide on your visa application

Family members who apply for the visa with you must meet health and character requirements.

Family members who do not apply for the visa with you might also have to meet health and character requirements.

If your partner or dependent children are not included in this application, you must tellthe department of Home Affairs the reason why. For example, they already hold Australian citizenship or are a permanent resident.

494 Visa: Employer Sponsored Stream: Cost

This visa costs AUD4,045 for the main applicant, AUD2,025 for each dependent 18 years and over, and AUD1,010 for each dependent under 18 years.

It costs an additional AUD4,890 if any dependent applicants who are 18 years and over do not have functional English. This extra charge is called a second instalment.

The Visa application fees will usually increase on 1 July every year. To work out what your visa will cost use the Visa Pricing Estimator. The estimator does not take into account the second instalment or other costs.

You will have to pay other costs including English language tests, health checks, police certificates and biometrics.

494 Visa: Employer Sponsored Stream: Apply from

You can be in or outside Australia when you apply for the visa and when the Australian immigration officers at the Department of Home Affairs make a decision on your application, but not in immigration clearance.

If you are applying in Australia, you must hold either of the following visa otherwise your application will not be valid:

a substantive visa, or
a Bridging visa A, Bridging visa B or Bridging visa C

494 Visa: Employer Sponsored Stream: Processing times

The Australian immigration officers at the Department of Home Affairs assess applications on a case-by-case basis, and actual processing times can vary due to individual circumstances including:

whether you have lodged a complete application, including all necessary supporting documents
how quickly you respond to any requests for additional information
how long it takes to perform required checks on the supporting information provided
how long it takes to receive additional information from external agencies, particularly in relation to health, character, and national security requirements

494 Visa: Employer Sponsored Stream: 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 you are granted the visa
the visa grant date, if you are in Australia you are granted the visa

You must only work in your nominated occupation and only work for your nominating employer in regional Australia. If you do not, the Australian immigration officers at the Department of Home Affairs might cancel your visa.

Travel

You can travel out of Australia and return as many times as you want while the visa is valid.

The time you spend outside Australia does not extend the visa.

Visa label

The Australian immigration officers at the Department of Home Affairs will digitally link your visa to your passport. You will not get a label in your passport.

494 Visa: Employer Sponsored Stream: Age

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

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

- you are nominated as an academic (University Lecturer or Faculty Head at Academic Level A , B, C, D or E) by a university in Australia
- you are nominated as a medical practitioner and have been employed in that occupation for 3 years immediately before you apply as the holder of a Temporary Work (Skilled) visa (subclass 457) or Temporary Skill Shortage (TSS) visa (subclass 482) visa, with at least 2 years of this time employed in regional Australia
- 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 Australian university

you have held a Special Category visa (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
you
- have held a subclass 457 visa or TSS visa for the last 3 years immediately before you apply
- have worked in your nominated occupation for the employer who nominated you at all time during those 3 years
- had annual earnings for each of those 3 years, that were equal to or greater than the Fair Work High Income Threshold that applied at the end of the relevant year

Be nominated by an approved sponsor

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

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

Before you can apply for the visa, your employer will need to lodge a nomination application for you. They will only be able to do this if they are an approved work sponsor or have at least lodged an application to become a standard business sponsor.

Have relevant skills, qualifications and work experience

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

You must undertake a skills assessment to demonstrate this – see Have a positive skills assessment below.

If it is not mandatory for you to undertake a skills assessment, you are still required to provide other evidence to demonstrate that you meet this requirement – see ‘Skills and qualifications documents‘ under the Step by step tab.

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

Generally, you should have gained your experience within the last 5 years. The period does not need to be continuous. The Australian immigration officers at the Department of Home Affairs might consider equivalent part-time work. They do not consider casual work.

494 Visa: Employer Sponsored Stream: Have a positive skills assessment

You must have your skills assessed as suitable for the nominated occupation by the relevant assessing authority. The assessment will show the department of Home Affairs you have the skills to work in the nominated occupation.

The skills assessment must be undertaken before your application is lodged. A skills assessment obtained for a Temporary Graduate visa (subclass 485) is not a valid assessment for this visa.

You do not need to complete a skills assessment if at the time of application you held a Temporary Work (Skilled) visa (subclass 457) or Temporary Skill Shortage visa (subclass 482) for the nominated occupation and in order to be granted that visa, you were required to demonstrate your skills by providing a suitable skills assessment.

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

you are nominated as an academic (University Lecturer or Faculty Head at academic Level A, B, C, D or E) by an Australian university
you have held a Special Category visa (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

Have this level of English language

You must have at least Competent English to be granted this visa.

494 Visa: Employer Sponsored Stream: Meet health requirement

You and any family members who apply for the visa with you must meet health requirement.

If requested, family members not accompanying you to Australia might also need to meet health requirement.

494 Visa: Employer Sponsored Stream: Meet character requirement

You and your family members aged 16 years and over who apply for the visa with you must meetcharacter requirement.

Family members not accompanying you to Australia must also meet the character requirement.

Important: if you are sponsored by an accredited sponsor, you are not required to obtain police certificates from countries other than Australia provided you attach a reference from your accredited sponsor confirming that you are of good character and that you have not been convicted of any criminal offences. You must still, however, provide any required Australian police clearances where applicable or when requested to do so.

Not have had a visa cancelled or a previous application refused

You might not be eligible for this visa if you have had a visa cancelled or refused while you were in Australia. Check if visa cancellation affects your eligibility.

Have paid back your debt to the Australian government

If you or any family members (including those who don’t 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.

494 Visa: Employer Sponsored Stream: 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 bookletand
sign an Australian Values Statementthat confirms you will respect the Australian way of life and obey Australian laws

Source: https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/visas/getting-a-visa/visa-listing/skilled-employer-sponsored-regional-494/employer-sponsored-stream#Overview