Immigration Minister David Coleman on 26 October 2019 announced that Perth and Gold Coast to be reclassified as “regional area” for migration purposes in a bid to discourage skilled migrants from flocking into 3 main metropolitan cities: Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane.

Bird’s-Eye View of Gold Coast

In March this year, the Scott Morrison government announced a downsizing of Australian’s annual permanent migration intake from 190,000 places to 160,000 places for FY2018/19. Among this number, 23,000 places were allocated for skilled regional visas. Following a 124% increase in the number of regional visas granted in the first quarter of this financial year, the government decided to increase the allocation to 25,000, whilst keeping the 160,000 annual migration cap unchanged for the current financial year.

The new definition will come into effect on 16 November 2019. From 16 November 2019, the definition of regional Australia is anywhere in Australia except Sydney, Newcastle, the Central Coast region of NSW, Wollongong, greater Brisbane, and Melbourne metropolitan area.

In this year’s budget, AUD19 million has been allocated for priority processing of regional visas, outlining the government commitment to tackle congestion in major cities and uneven population growth.

This changes will attract more International students and new skilled migrants to Perth and Gold Coast. Below are an overview of the benefits of living & working in regional areas on different visa subclasses:

VISA TYPEADVANTAGESNOTES
Subclass 491: Skilled Work Regional (Provisional) Visa– Priority processing of applications;
– If 3-year regional area residence and income requirements are met, can apply for permanent visa (Subclass 191) from 16 November 2022, without a second nomination stage;
– 5 year grant period instead of the current 4 year grant period for Subclass 489 Skilled Regional (Provisional) visa;
– Extra 5 points for nomination by state or territory government or sponsorship by an eligible family member in a specified/designated regional area;
– Access to 504 eligible occupations (77 additional occupations compared to closest non-regional equivalent visa);


– Visa application can be lodged from 16 November 2019.
Subclass 494: Skilled Employer Sponsored Regional (Provisional) Visa– Priority processing of applications;
– If 3-year regional area residence and income requirements are met, can apply for permanent visa (Subclass 191) from 16 November 2022, without a second nomination stage;
– Access to 673 eligible occupations (over 450 more occupations compared to closest non-regional equivalent visa);
– Eligible for Medicare (health insurance not required);
– Lower cost to employers with only one SAF levy stage for the subclass 494 nomination (compared to the two stages for the current subclass 482 to ENS subclass 186 permanent resident pathway).
– Visa application can be lodged from 16 November 2019.
Subclass 485: Temporary Graduate Visa– Option to apply for the second 485 visa for graduate from the regional campus of a registered university or institution with a higher education or postgraduate qualification, provided the applicant maintain ongoing residence in regional area while holding first 485 visa.– The second Temporary Graduate visa will only be available to the first eligible cohort of graduates from 2021.

Leave a comment

AUSDIRECT MIGRATION