Skilled Employer Sponsored Regional (Provisional) visa (subclass 494)

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 in the 3 years immediately before you apply have worked in that occupation in a designated regional area of Australia for 2 years as the holder of a Temporary Work (Skilled) visa (subclass 457) or subclass 482 visa. The nominated position is in a designated regional area of 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.
• As a subclass 457 or 482 visa holder, you have been working in the nominated occupation for the nominating employer for a period of at least 2 years during the 3 years ending immediately before you apply, and your earnings for each year of that period were at least as much as the Fair Work High Income Threshold.

You must be nominated by an 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. They will only be able to do this if they are an approved work sponsor or have at least lodged an application to become a standard business sponsor.

If you are the primary visa applicant, you must show that you have the skills, qualifications and work experience necessary to perform the nominated occupation. 

You must undertake a skills assessment to show this – see Have a positive skills assessment below.

If it is not mandatory for you to undertake a skills assessment, you are still required to provide other evidence to show that you meet this requirement – see 'Skills and qualifications documents'.

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. We might consider equivalent part-time work. We do not consider casual work.

You must have your skills assessed as suitable for the nominated occupation by the relevant assessing authority. The assessment will show us you have the skills to work in the nominated occupation.

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 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 and your family members aged 16 years and over who apply for the visa with you must meet our character requirement.

Family members not accompanying you to Australia must also meet the character requirement.