Skilled regional sponsored visa (subclass 489)

Author: Arcade Visas

SKILLED REGIONAL SPONSORED VISA (SUBCLASS 489)

This provisional Visa is granted for a period of 4 years for individuals who cannot meet the Skilled Independent Visa pass mark. This visa provides a pathway to a permanent visa in Australia.

The basic requirement of this visa is to get sponsorship either from a sponsoring State or Territory regional area or eligible relative living in a designated area. Applicants should also meet the points test by scoring 60 including the points from the relative/ state sponsorship. This visa is designed by the Australian Government to address skill shortages in designated areas of Australia.

The Skilled Regional Sponsored Visa through the state is a provisional Visa only and applicants under this category must live for 2 years and work for at least 12 months in a Specified Regional Area of Australia which is a mandatory condition to further apply for a Permanent Residency.

Features of the Skilled Regional Sponsored 489 visa Sub Class 489 Visa:

  • Applicants are allowed to live, work and study in a relative sponsored designated area /state sponsored regional area of Australia for a period of 4 years.
  • Provides a pathway to a permanent visa in Australia
  • Applicants are allowed to apply for a permanent visa after the applicant has lived for 2 years in a designated area/regional areas of Australia.
  • The applicant can score 10 points if sponsored by State/ Territory Government or 10 points if sponsored by an eligible relative currently living in a designated area.
  • Applicants can take their immediate family members, provided they meet the requirements of health, character and English language.
  • Allows the dependents to study and work in designated areas of Australia.

Am I Eligible for Subclass 489?

Eligibility of Skilled Regional Sponsored visa (Subclass 489):

The applicants have to satisfy the basic requirements to migrate under the Skilled Regional State or Relative Sponsored Visa and must secure 60 points to file the Visa.

Age: 18 – 49 years.

English language: The applicant should prove that he/she meets the English language of competence or vocational level by submitting the test results before the application is submitted. The applicant should also meet the English Language threshold. If the applicant needs 10 or 20 points under Proficient English he/ she should score 7 or more bands in IELTS.

Nominated occupations: The applicant should nominate an occupation on the Medium and Long-term Strategic Skills List (MLTSSL) if he/ she wishes to live in the designated area, the applicant should apply for relative sponsored Visa.

Skill Assessment: It is mandatory for an applicant to get a positive skill assessment for a nominated occupation before the application is filed.

Maintenance funds: The applicants should show sufficient maintenance funds to obtain sponsorship from state territory if applying for state /territory nominated regional visa.

Health & character requirements: The applicant has to meet all the health and character requirements.

Extended Stay Pathway

A candidate can also apply for the 489 visa subclass 489 if he holds a provisional visa in subclass 496, 495, 487 or 475.

What Will The visa 489 subclass 489 Let You Do

The 489 visa subclass 489 allows you and your family to:

  • stay in Australia for up to four years.
  • live, work and study in a specified regional area of Australia.
  • travel in and out of Australia while the visa subclass 489 is valid.

The 489 visa subclass 489 provides a pathway to permanent residence through the Skilled-Regional (Residence) visa (subclass 887).

If you are invited to apply for 489 visas (in the Invited Pathway), you will have 60 days to do so. Invitations are based on claims you made in your expression of interest, so your application must be consistent with the information you provided in your expression of interest and it must be supported by evidence.

489 visa Processing time.Stream75 per cent of applications processed90 per cent of applications processedState/Territory Nominated visa9 months12 monthsSkilled RegionalUnavailable due to low volume of applications.Unavailable due to low volume of applications.