What Do Australia’s New Visas Mean to You?

Australia’s Minister for Immigration, Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs recently announced a list of changes to the country’s immigration laws, which is due to come into effect in November. 

This will have an effect on South Africans’ upcoming and pending applications for entry into the country. Most worth taking note of are three new types of visas. What are they and what do they mean to you and your efforts to enter Australia?

Skilled Work Regional Visa Subclass 491

This visa will benefit skilled workers who are nominated by certain regions of Australia or by a family member that is resident in the country. It is a point-tested visa and supersedes the subclass 489 visa. Essentially, this visa changes the point requirements you would have to meet in order to be granted this visa. The changes to the point calendar will be discussed in another blog.

Skilled Employer Sponsored Regional (Provisional)Visa Subclass 494

This is a new employer-sponsored visa. It was also created to benefit regional Australia. Employers who have nominated foreign workers would fall under regional sponsorship, as stipulated in the Migration Act. This doesn’t really affect your side of the visa application too much. What it does do is make it beneficial for employers in certain Australian regions to seek out and nominate appropriately skilled workers. If you are a worker with a skill set which is in demand in Australia, this is good news for you.

Permanent Residence (Skilled Regional) Visa Subclass 191

This is the new subclass of permanent residence visa, which follows on from the previous two visas. You would only be able to apply for this if you are a holder of a 191 or 491 visa.

To find out more about these visas, what they mean to you and how you can make the most of them in your move to Australia, contact Tri-Nations Migration. We can help you with your emigration paperwork.