As evident from its name, the Permanent Residence (Skilled Regional) Subclass 191 visa Australia is a permanent skilled regional visa established as a pathway for the Skilled Work Regional (Provisional) Subclass 491 Visa. It was introduced in 2019 at the same time as the subclass 491 visa however, new applications could not be lodged until 16 November 2022, to allow for the three-year requirement.
Subclass 191 visa is unique in its implementation because it is also a pathway for another provisional visa which is the Skilled Employer Sponsored Regional (Provisional) Subclass 494 Visa. Unlike the Employer Nomination Scheme Subclass 186 Visa which requires sponsorship from the employer at the PR stage, subclass 191 does not have this requirement.
The purpose of the subclass 191 visa is to reward migrants who migrated to a Designated Regional Area (DRA) of Australia through a State Sponsorship (Visa 491), a Family Relative Sponsorship (Visa 491) or through a Regional Employer Sponsorship (Visa 494) and stayed there for at least three years.
Benefits of the 191 Visa
The subclass 191 visa is a permanent visa so all the benefits of an Australian PR visa also apply to visa 191. Comparing this to visa 190 which is similar in process, the subclass 191 visa has one benefit that is not available to individuals who are granted a Subclass 190 State Nominated Visa. That benefit is the freedom to live, work and study anywhere in Australia. It should be noted that at the time they are granted the subclass 191 visa, the applicants would be living and working in a DRA but as soon as the subclass 191 visa is granted, they would be free to move to anywhere in Australia. The table below presents a comparison of subclass 190 and subclass 191 visas.
| Feature | Visa 191 | Visa 190 |
|---|---|---|
| Permanent Visa | Yes | Yes |
| Medicare Eligibility | Yes | Yes |
| EOI In SkillSelect | No | Yes |
| Partner can be added | Yes | Yes |
| Residency restrictions | None | Yes. Expected to reside in the nominating State for at least 2 years |
| State Nomination | Not Required | Required |
| Employer Nomination | Not Required | Not Required |
| Available Occupations | Not Applicable | 427 (MLTSSL + STSOL) |
| Extra points | Not Applicable | 5 |
| Pathway to Citizenship | Yes | Yes |
How Does the 191 Visa Pathway Work?
There are two important things to note about the subclass 191 visa pathway. Firstly, there is no distinction in the subclass 191 criteria whether a subclass 491 visa holder or a subclass 494 visa holder is seeking the subclass 191 permanent residence pathway. Secondly, the subclass 191 visa application would not be the trigger for the Department of Home Affairs to assess whether the applicant meets the legal requirements for the subclass 191 visa. This is because the Department would already have known from the subclass 491 monitoring program whether the visa holder is complying with the visa conditions i.e. residence in DRA.
As subclass 191 visa is a pathway to permanent residency after visa 491 as well as a pathway to residency after visa 494, it has simplified requirements allowing for a straightforward conversion from visa 491 to 191 or from visa 494 to 191. It is therefore possible for a 491 or 494 visa holder to apply for the subclass 191 visa when they have completed the requisite stay in a DRA and complied with the monitoring program.
Who can apply for the subclass 191 visa?
The subclass 191 pathway is available to holders a subclass 491 visa or a subclass 494 visa who meet the eligibility requirements that are explained below in detail. Briefly, the subclass 191 visa requires that the subclass 491 or the subclass 494 visa holder has:
- held that visa for at least three years
- lived, worked and studied in an area that was a designated regional area of Australia at the time the subclass 491 or the subclass 494 visa was granted
- obtained three income tax assessments from the Australian Taxation Office
- complied with the monitoring requests from the Department and complied with the conditions imposed on the subclass 491 or the subclass 494 visa.
Visa Requirement – Held the visa 491 or 494 for at least three years
This is a key requirement for access to the subclass 191 pathway and it operates as a 191 visa eligibility or valid application requirement rather than a criterion for consideration after the application has been lodged. It effectively means that if an applicant tries to submit their online subclass 191 visa application less than three years from the date of approval of their subclass 491 or subclass 494 visa, they will simply not be able to submit the application or pay the fee.
This requirement ensures that there is no congestion in the Department’s subclass 191 visa processing pipeline and therefore no resources wasted from considering applications where the three-year requirement is not met.
Visa 191 Requirement – Compliance with conditions
It is important to note that the Skilled Work Regional (Provisional) Subclass 491 Visa and the Skilled Sponsored Regional (Provisional) Subclass 494 Visa are both granted with four mandatory conditions. This requirement is about compliance with all the four mandatory conditions. It has been deliberately worded in a unique manner as two different tests and therefore deserves a close understanding.
Test 1 (Conditions 8578, 8580 and 8581)
This test separates the above three conditions and requires that the visa holder has ‘complied substantially’ with these conditions. This means that if the compliance was not a 100% but say 80% or 90%, that may be considered ‘substantial compliance’ and therefore satisfactory. For example, condition 8578 requires the visa holder to notify the Department within 14 days of a change in one of six circumstances, so an omission to notify one of the six circumstances but notifying a change in the remaining five circumstances could be considered ‘substantial compliance’.
Test 2 (Condition 8579)
The second test is only about condition 8579 and requires that the visa holder has ‘complied’ with this condition. This means that anything short of 100% may be considered a breach of this condition and therefore grounds for refusal. This is the requirement that during the period they hold the subclass 491 visa, they must have lived, worked and studied in a DRA.
Visa 191 Income Requirement
The legislation for the subclass 191 visa includes a requirement that the applicant provides evidence that their taxable income for the last three income years is at least equal to the amount specified by the Minister. At the time the subclass 191 visa was introduced, this income was expected to be set at around A$54,000 per annum however, on 20 June 2023, the Department announced that the Minister would not be specifying any amount for this purpose.
This decision was possibly taken in recognition of the fact that salaries in DRAs are generally less than those in major capital cities and that not every subclass 491 visa holder would be working full-time or in their nominated occupation. The effect of this announcement is that three tax assessment notices from the Australian Taxation Office are sufficient to meet this requirement regardless of the income earned.
191 Visa Processing Time
The Permanent Residence (Skilled Regional) Subclass 191 Visa process is a direct application to Home Affairs when the applicant considers they are eligible. This processing time, available from the Home Affairs website, is currently 9 months, however, there are factors that might contribute to longer processing times.
For example, the subclass 191 is not counted as part of the annual permanent migration program so as the end of the program year approaches (i.e. Feb onwards), the processing focus generally shifts to finalizing applications that count towards the annual planning level and therefore 191 processing may take a lower priority. The other contributor to slower processing is applications that are not decision ready i.e. are lacking in key documentation that needs to be requested from the applicant and can cause delays.
191 Visa Cost
The cost estimate for a subclass 191 visa is very straightforward because the only cost/fee payable is the Home Affairs visa application charge. There are no costs for any other steps such as English testing, skills assessment, State nomination etc. because these requirements do not apply to the subclass 191 visa. Therefore, for the main applicant, the fee is currently A$505 whereas for their partner (adult dependent) this is A$250 and A$130 for each dependent under 18 years of age. There may also be the cost of medical examinations or repeat police clearances but this is not mandatory in every case.
Common Mistakes Made by 191 Applicants
Despite the subclass 191 pathway sounding seemingly straightforward, small omissions or inadvertent errors can turn to costly mistakes. One key example is listed below.
- Issues with monitoring requests – As explained under the Skilled Work Regional (Provisional) Subclass 491 Visa and the Skilled Sponsored Regional (Provisional) Subclass 494 Visa, compliance with visa conditions requiring stay in a DRA is done through regular monitoring requests. The Department will generally contact the 491 or 494 visa holder by email and ask them to provide evidence that they are living, working or studying in a DRA.
If the visa holder does not respond to the monitoring request or responds with insufficient or incorrect information, this may give rise to a potential breach with Condition 8580. It is therefore important that any such gap or inaccuracy is addressed in the subclass 191 visa application.
How a Registered Migration Agent Can Help?
Despite the highly objective requirements for the subclass 191 visa, the application process requires extreme caution to make sure the application is thoroughly prepared and the assessment goes smoothly. Assure Visa Pty Ltd is highly experienced in subclass 191 visa with a high success rate. You can contact us to start a discussion on how we can help you.
Assure Visa can assist you by:
✓ assessing whether you are ready for the 191 visa in all respects
✓ addressing issues if any, arising from your compliance with the 491 monitoring
✓ preparing a decision-ready application
Please take a couple of minutes to read our guidance on how to choose a registered migration agent, including why you should consider Assure Visa Pty Ltd to assist you. You can Contact Us to start a discussion on how we can help you.
Why Choose Assure Visa?
✓ Over 30 years’ experience in Australia’s immigration environment
✓ Personalized service from your first consultation to outcome
✓ Top feedback from former clients
✓ Proven track record of getting positive outcomes for clients
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Frequently asked questions
Whilst this would be correct in most instances, it may not be true for every situation. Eligibility for the subclass 191 visa is based on two key requirements and both must be met for the subclass 191 visa to be approved. The first requirement is that at least three years have passed since the approval of the provisional visa and the second requirement is about three income tax assessments from the Australian Taxation Office. It is therefore possible that one requirement is met but the other is not met.
For example, if a subclass 491 visa was granted on 10 July 2021, the logical conclusion would be that the applicant is eligible to apply for the subclass 191 visa on 10 July 2024. However, as it cannot be assumed that the tax assessment would be completed within 10 days of the financial year end on 30 June, the third income assessment may not be available by 10 July 2024. In this extreme situation, the applicant would need to wait for more than three years.
Yes. By law, there can be no conditions imposed on the subclass 191 visa so the restriction to live, work and study in a DRA is lifted once the subclass 191 visa is granted.
The subclass 191 visa has no age limit. This means that if an applicant was under 45 years of age when the subclass 491 or subclass 494 was granted but is more than 45 years age at the time of visa 191 application, this should have no impact on the subclass 191 outcome because there is no age related criterion under subclass 191.