SA Skilled Regional Provisional Visa 491

This is a provisional visa which allows you to live and work in South Australia for up to five years.

State nomination from South Australia provides you with 15 additional points to help you qualify for a visa under the Department of Home Affairs point test.

If you live and work in South Australia for three years on the subclass 491 visa and meet the minimum taxable income level for at least three years (see the Department of Home Affairs website), you may be eligible to apply for permanent residency through the subclass 191 Permanent Residence (Skilled Regional) visa. 

Requirements:

State nomination requirements include:

1. Commitment to South Australia – You need to commit to living and working in South Australia for two years from when you arrive, with a view to long-term settlement
2. Age – under 45 years at the time of nomination
3. Occupation – this must be listed on the State Nominated Occupation List as available.  Access to a supplementary occupation list and ‘special conditions apply’ occupations are available in some circumstances. The following category applies—

•  You are a High Points applicant with at least 8 years of work experience in my nominated or closely related occupation and Superior English; or
• You have worked in a skilled occupation in South Australia for the last 12 months; or
• You are a High Performing Graduate who has continued to reside in South Australia post-graduation and have completed one of the following qualifications from a South Australian public university (within the last two years) with the required Grade Point Average (GPA) 
•  You are an Interational Graduate of South Australia who is currently working for the last 6 months in a skilled occupation in South Australia; or
• You are an Interational Graduate of South Australia who has continued to reside in South Australia post-graduation for at least 5 years and is currently working for the last 3 months in a skilled occupation in South Australia.

Please note: the high points category is closed for some occupations.

1. Skills Assessment – a positive General Skilled Migration skills assessment from the relevant authority
2. Work experience – at least one year of skilled work experience in the last three years. Some occupations have a higher work experience requirement. If you are an international graduate of South Australia, you may be able to access a work experience waiver.
3. English – ability to meet Immigration SA’s minimum English language requirement for your occupation.  If you are a passport holder or citizen of the United States, United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada or New Zealand, you don’t need to provide an English test result
4. Financial capacity – sufficient funds to settle in South Australia
5. SkillSelect Expression of Interest (EOI) – you need to have an EOI which meets the Department of Home Affairs criteria and Immigration SA nomination requirements.

English Requirement:

You must meet the English language level required for your nominated occupation.  Exemptions may apply for international graduates of South Australia.

1. Immigration SA accepts the following English language tests:

IELTS                    –  International English Language Test System (Academic or General)

OET                       –  Occupational English Test (For Health Professionals only)

PTE Academic       –  Pearson Test of English Academic

TOEFL iBT           –  Test of English as a Foreign Language, internet Based Test

CAE                       –  Cambridge English: Advanced

The English Language test that you provide will need to be less than three (3) years old at the time you apply for your visa, not at the time of nomination decision. If you are submitting a Cambridge English: Advanced (CAE) test, the test must have been taken on or after 1 January 2015.

1.2. You must give permission to Immigration SA to view your PTE Academic test, OET or CAE results through your online English test account (For OET, only tests taken after September 2018 apply). If Immigration SA cannot view your PTE Academic, OET or CAE scores online, your state nomination application will be refused. Please note you need to give permission to Immigration SA – Department for Innovation and Skills, in addition to the Department of Home Affairs.

2. The Immigration SA English requirement for your occupation will be detailed on the Lists of State Nominated Occupations as: Competent in each score (or Competent Plus overall), Competent Plus in each score (or Proficient overall) or Proficient in each score (or Proficient Plus overall).  If you meet the higher overall score requirement, no band score can be below Competent English. For details of the minimum scores required for your particular English test, view the English test comparison table.

3. Passport holders and citizens of the United Kingdom, Canada, New Zealand, United States of America, or the Republic of Ireland are exempt from providing an English test result.

4. If you are currently registered to practice as a health professional or education professional in South Australia, you can upload a current registration certificate to practice in South Australia and provide an English language test result which meets the ‘Competent’ requirement. You do not need to meet any additional English requirements listed on the State Nominated Occupation Lists.

5. If you are currently working in a skilled occupation in South Australia (minimum 20 hours per week), you only need to meet the minimum Australian Immigration Department requirement of competent English (unless your occupation requires registration in South Australia.

6. Some skills assessing authorities may have a higher English language requirements that you will be required to meet. Please check with your skills assessing authority prior to applying.

7. If your occupation requires registration or licensing in South Australia, you will need to ensure you meet English requirement set by the registration or licencing authority to work in South Australia. Occupations with registration requirements include trades, education and health professions.

How to apply:

1. Lodge an expression of interest in SkillSelect, choose South Australia as your preferred state and select either 190 –Skilled Nominated visa or the 491– Skilled Work Regional (Provisional) visa.
   – Make sure you record your EOI ID number as you will need this for your state nomination application.  
2. Submit a state nomination application through the Immigration SA website. 
3. Track your application online. Once a decision on a nomination application has been made it will be reflected on the Immigration SA application page.
4. If you are approved for state nomination, you’ll receive an email from the Department of Home Affairs inviting you to apply for your visa.
5. Lodge your visa application with the Department of Home Affairs.

Any application fees paid are not refundable.

Fees:

	Application Type	SA
Skilled migrants	State nominated skilled – 190 permanent	$200
State nominated skilled – 489 regional provisional	$200
Business migrants	Business 188 provisional	$500
Business permanent 888/892/893	$750
Business 132 permanent	$750
Business retiree 405	$500
SA Employers	Employer Nominated – RCB advice by State Government agency	Nil
Supporting Innovation in South Australia (SISA)	Temporary Activity (subclass 408)	$200
DAR DAMA Endorsement Costs	Temporary Skill Shortage (subclass 482)	Nil

A credit card and processing surcharge of 0.5% is charged in addition to the fees listed.

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