Australian Immigration Daily News

Overview 

The Migration Amendment (New Skilled Regional Visas) Regulations 2019 created the Skilled Work Regional (Provisional) (Subclass 491) and the Skilled Employer Sponsored Regional (Provisional) (Subclass 494) visas which commenced on 16 November 2019.

These two visas provide a period of stay in designated regional areas of Australia of up to five years. The Permanent Residence (Skilled Regional) (Subclass 191) visa was also created at this time. The Subclass 191 visa has two streams - the Regional Provisional stream and the Hong Kong stream.

The Regional Provisional stream of the Subclass 191 visa commences on 16 November 2022 and is the permanent pathway for Skilled Regional Provisional (Subclass 491 and 494) visa holders.

To be eligible for this stream, holders of either of the pathway Subclass 491 and Subclass 494 visas are required to demonstrate at least three years continuous residence in a designated regional area of Australia while meeting other eligibility requirements.

Once granted, the Subclass 191 visa in the Regional Provisional Stream allows the holder to live and work anywhere in Australia permanently.

The Migration Legislation Amendment (Hong Kong) Regulations 2021 created a dedicated pathway to permanent residence from 5 March 2022 for Hong Kong and British National Overseas (BNO) passport holders that hold one of three eligible pathway visas namely:

- the Temporary Work (Skilled) (Subclass 457) visa,

- the Temporary Skill Shortage (Subclass 482) visa and

- the Temporary Graduate (Subclass 485) visa.

 Source: Migration-Amendnent-Subclass-191-visas-waiver-of-conditions-regulations-2022.pdf

and

Migration-Amendment-subclass-191-visas-waiver-of-conditions-regulations-2022-explanatory-statement.pdf