Welcome back! Continuing on with requirements that are required by applicants of the Skilled Work Regional (Provisional) Visa (subclass 491), regardless of the stream that they are applying for.
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Read: Skilled Work Regional (Provisional) Visa (Subclass 491) – Part I
Read: Skilled Work Regional (Provisional) Visa (Subclass 491) – Part II (you are here)
The 491 visa has two streams – the State Nomination stream and Family Sponsored stream. These streams have different requirements, but the requirements that follow in this article are put in force by the Department of Home Affairs. These regulations are not likely to change as often as those put in force by States for the State Nomination stream.
Common requirements
Requirements that apply across both streams are set by the Department of Home Affairs. They include:
- Being under 45 years of age at the time of invitation
- Have an occupation on the appropriate occupation list (as above, this is different depending on stream or on State)
- Having a skills assessment for nominated occupation
- Scoring a minimum of 65 points on the General Skilled Migration (GSM) points test
- Having a competent English level
- Meeting health and character requirements
Skills Assessments
Skills Assessments are different for every occupation. To understand what is required to attain your skills assessment, you will need to check with the assessing authority for your occupation. Skills assessments usually ask for applicants to provide evidence of qualifications for their occupation and some work experience. Some skills assessment require report submission, registration with other authorities or provide streamlined pathways for accredited courses. To find out what your assessing authority is, use our handy occupation list. This complete occupation list we created allows you to find which visas you may be able to qualify for based on your occupation.
Find: AILS Complete Occupation List
If you are a medical practitioner
You do not need to submit a skills assessment. The following certificates issued by the relevant assessing authority, Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency as evidence of full registration is sufficient:
- Full/unconditional/general medical registration; or
- Conditional specialist registration – this registration allows the person to practise only in their particular speciality, with no further training or supervision requirements.
If you are a solicitor or barrister
You do not need to submit a skills assessment. The following is sufficient evidence:
- Admission to the relevant State or Territory Legal Admissions Authority; or
- Admission to the Supreme Court of a State or Territory
Points test
You have to score a minimum of 65 points on the GSM points test. Points are scored based on different categories such as age, your relationship status, if you have studied in Australia before and so forth. Applying for the 491 Visa automatically awards you 15 points. This is useful for two situations. One is if you need more points to meet the minimum 65 points. The other is if you have a hotly contested occupation where the average points score is already very high. When it comes to being selected, it is always highest points first than earliest in.
Find: AILS GSM Points Test
English proficiency
You are required to meet a competent level score on an English test. You will not need to prove a competent level of English if you are a citizen of and hold a valid passport issued by the United Kingdom, the United States of America, Canada, New Zealand or the Republic of Ireland.
Read: English proficiency levels and tests
Application
This visa costs $4,045 to apply for. There are further costs if you have dependents on your application and for skills assessments, english tests, medical checks and so forth. It would be wise to prepare a decision ready application (an application that’s so good it’s ready to be approved) so as to avoid incurring further expenses or delays in processing.
There is no published information on how long it takes to process this visa, however we had a client who received his visa grant within 3 days!
If aren’t sure if this visa is for you or you need help with this visa, be sure to reach out. For the foreseeable future we will not be taking face to face appointments to protect your health and the health our team, however, we are still open and here for you! If you need advice, we offer Skype and phone consultations. Call +(02) 8054 2537, 0434 890 199 or book online today to speak to our migration specialists.
