494 Visa Employer Sponsored Stream
This visa enables regional employers to address identified labour shortages within their region by sponsoring skilled workers where employers can’t source an appropriately skilled Australian worker.
Overview
- Stay Duration: 5 years
- Visa Cost: AUD 4,240. There might be additional charges for including family members in your application.
Conditions
As the visa applicant, you must,
- be nominated to work in an occupation on the relevant skilled occupation list
- have at least 3 years relevant work experience in your nominated occupation
- have a relevant skills assessment, unless an exemption applies
- work only for your sponsor or associated entity, unless an exemption applies
- be under 45 years of age, unless an exemption applies
- meet minimum standards of English language proficiency
Eligibility
- You can be in or outside Australia when you apply for the visa and when a decision is made 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
- 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
- You must be nominated by an approved sponsor i.e. your 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.
- You must 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 and have a positive skills assessment.
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. Consult with our expert registered migration agents to learn about the documents required to satisfy this requirement.
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.
- You must have a positive skills assessment.
You must have your skills assessed as suitable for the nominated occupation by the relevant assessing authority.
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
- You must have at least Competent English to be granted this visa.
- You and any family member included in this application must meet all the health and character requirements
- You or any family member must not have any debt to pay to the Australian government. If you or any family members (including those who do not 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.
- If you are 18 years of age or older, you must: have read, or had explained to you, the Life in Australia AND confirm you will respect the Australian way of life and obey Australian laws when you sign an Australian Values Statement.
Note: If you have had a visa canceled or previous application refused, you may not be granted a visa.
494 Visa Labour Agreement Stream
This stream is for skilled workers nominated by employers who have a labour agreement. Labour agreements are developed between the Australian Government (represented by the Department) and employers.
Overview
- Stay Duration: 5 years
- Visa Cost: AUD 4,240. There might be additional charges for including family members in your application.
Conditions
As the visa applicant, you must,
- be nominated to work in a specified occupation under the terms of a labour agreement
- have at least 3 years relevant work experience in your nominated occupation
- have a relevant skills assessment, if this is specified in the labour agreement
- work only for your sponsor
- be under 45 years of age, unless the labour agreement states otherwise
- meet minimum standards of English language proficiency
Eligibility
- You can be in or outside Australia when you apply for the visa and when a decision is made 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
- The nominated occupation must be the subject of a labour agreement between the Commonwealth and the nominator. See the labour agreement under which you will be working.
- Unless the labour agreement states otherwise, you must be under 45 years of age when you apply for the visa.
- You must have relevant skills, qualifications and work experience.
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 if having a skills assessment is specified in the labour agreement.
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. Consult with our expert registered migration agents to learn about the documents required to satisfy this requirement.
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.
- You must have a positive skills assessment.
If having skills assessment is specified in the labour agreement, you must have your skills assessed as suitable for the nominated occupation by the relevant assessing authority.
- You must have the level of English as specified in the labour agreement to be granted this visa.
- You and any family member included in this application must meet all the health and character requirements
- You or any family member must not have any debt to pay to the Australian government. If you or any family members (including those who do not 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.
- If you are 18 years of age or older, you must: have read, or had explained to you, the Life in Australia AND confirm you will respect the Australian way of life and obey Australian laws when you sign an Australian Values Statement.
Note: If you have had a visa canceledcancelled or previous application refused, you may not be granted a visa.
Visa Benefits
- live, work and study only in designated regional areas of Australia for 5 years. Designated regional areas include all of Australia except for Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.
- 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
Note for Sponsors
- You must be an eligible business. Your business must:
- have no adverse information known about it or any person associated with it, or it is reasonable to disregard this information
- pay the Skilling Australians Fund levy when you submit your nomination application
- have complied with Australian immigration and workplace relations laws
- You must have a current labour agreement. You must:
- currently have a labour agreement in place with the Australian Government
- have met any nomination requirements specified in the agreement
- The occupation you are nominating must be listed in the labour agreement as an occupation you can nominate.
Subsequent Entrant
This visa is for members of the family unit of a Skilled Employer Sponsored Regional (SESR) (Provisional) visa (subclass 494) holder who are applying separately for their SESR visa and wish to join the primary SESR visa holder in Australia.
Generally you apply for this visa at the same time as the primary visa applicant. In some instances, this may not be possible. This may occur where the composition of the family changes after:
- the primary visa applicant has already submitted their SESR visa application and it is still pending a decision
- a SESR visa has already been granted to the primary visa holder
When this occurs and you want to join your family member on their visa, you must apply separately by submitting a visa application in your own right. This is known as a subsequentas subsequent entrant.
When you submit your visa application for a subsequent entrant, you are required to attach a written letter from your family member’s work sponsor (employer) extending their sponsorship obligation to include you as a family member in the nomination. This requirement is intended to ensure the employer is aware of all the family members to whom their sponsorship obligations will extend.
Discuss this matter with the work sponsor in the first instance before lodging your subsequent entrant visa application.
Overview
- Subclass: 494 Visa
- Stay Duration: Up to 5 years
- Visa Cost: AUD 4,240. There might be additional chargescharge for including family members in your application.
Conditions
As the visa applicant, you must,
- be a member of the family unit of a primary Skilled Employer Sponsored Regional (SESR) visa holder.
Eligibility
- You can be in or outside Australia when you apply for the visa and when a decision is made 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
- You must be under 45 years of age when you apply for the visa.
- You must have a family member who is a primary SESR visa holder, or main applicant for a SESR visa, to be able to lodge a subsequent entrant visa application.
- The work sponsor (employer) with the most recent approved nomination in relation to the primary SESR visa holder, or main applicant for a SESR visa, must agree (or have agreed) in writing to include you as a family member in the nomination.
- You must show that you have Functional English. If you can’t show that you have Functional English, you will need to pay the second installmentinstalment.
- You and any family member included in this application must meet all the health and character requirements
- You or any family member must not have any debt to pay to the Australian government. If you or any family members (including those who do not 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.
- If you are 18 years of age or older, you must: have read, or had explained to you, the Life in Australia AND confirm you will respect the Australian way of life and obey
Australian laws when you sign an Australian Values Statement
Note: If you have had a visa cancelled or previous application refused, you may not be granted a visa.
Visa Benefits
- stay in Australia while the visa is valid
- live, work and study only in designated regional areas of Australia for up to 5 years
- travel to and from Australia as many times as you want while the visa is valid
General Notes
- This is a provisional visa. As a primary applicant, you can stay in Australia for a period of 5 years. For a subsequent entrant, your visa will expire at the same time as your family member who is the primary SESR visa holder.
- As the main applicant, you must begin your employment within 90 days of:
- entering Australia, if you are outside Australia when the visa was granted
- the visa grant date, if you are in Australia when the visa was granted
You must only work in your nominated occupation and only work for your nominating employer in regional Australia. If you do not, your visa might be canceledcancelled.
- You can’t stay in Australia longer by extending this visa. If eligible, you can apply for permanent residence after 3 years from the time your visa is granted.
Consult with our expert registered migration agents to explore your visa options.
- You can include members of the family unit in your application. You can include them when you submit your visa application OR add a dependent child after you submit but before we decide on your visa application.
- 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 installment
