Although the subclass 491 Skilled Work Regional visa is for 5 years, it provides a very clear pathway to Australian permanent residency. Briefly, you need to live and work in the nominating State for 3 years before you can apply for subclass 191 Permanent Residence (Skilled Regional). You can work in any occupation.

Typically, a pathway for an Australian skilled visa would include the following steps:

• Skills assessment with an Australian authority
• English language test (IELTS General or Academic, TOEFL iBT, PTE Academic or Cambridge C1 Advanced Test)
• Expression of Interest in SkillSelect
• Invitation from State / Territory Immigration to lodge a nomination application
• State / Territory nomination application

Subclass 491 Skilled Work Regional / 190 Skilled Nominated

• Visa eligibility assessment, including your migration points, nominated occupation, State / Territory nomination and subclass pathways, costs, visa criteria and conditions, processing times, procedures and any other questions which you might have
• Representing you with the skills assessment process before the assessing authority
• Drafting and lodging your Expression of Interest in SkillSelect
• Preparing your State / Territory nomination application and representing you before the local immigration authorities
• Preparing your visa application and all required supporting documents and representing you before the Department of Home Affairs until they make a decision on your skilled visa

We practice a creative approach and look ‘outside the box’ so that you do not miss any skilled migration opportunities because your matter might be a non-standard one. We have experience with a broad range of occupations and assessing authorities. A nominated occupation for migration purposes is often not determined simply by a position title but by your responsibilities and competencies. As skilled migration is a competitive process, our aim is that you utilise all available opportunities in this process.

No, skilled migration is a competitive and non-guaranteed process. Migration agents are prohibited by law from guaranteeing a successful outcome. From our side, we support each stage of the process by careful preparation of your documents and relevant submissions. If there are several skilled migration options you could utilise, we advise you to participate in available opportunities.

Some assessing authorities offer currently offer priority processing skills assessment. Where it is possible, we advise you about these possibilities. State and Territory migration authorities and the Department of Home Affairs do not offer fast-tracking. From our side, we lodge decision-ready cases which are ready for assessment which increases the chances for faster processing.

We advise about the fees and disbursements individually for each client. As a general guide only, you can take into account the following expenses:

• Our professional fee AUD$4,800 for 491 / 190 visas or AUD$3,900 for 189 / Global Talent visas
• Skills assessment fee payable to the assessing authority approximately AUD$500 – 1,000
• Visa Application charge payable to the Australian Department of Home Affairs AUD$4,240 for the main applicant, AUD$2,120 for the spouse, and AUD$1,060 for each dependent child
• Medical examination

Translation of documents

We provide an individual list of documents after a careful assessment of all your circumstances. As a general guide only, a skilled visa application requires identity and character documents, CVs, educational documents, employment references, proof of paid employment, English language test reports.

• Visa charge payable to the Australian Department of Home Affairs and other disbursements
• Health and character waiver requests and submissions
• PIC4020 waivers

We will inform you in advance if your matter falls in one of the above categories.