Visa Description

Skilled Regional (Permanent Residence) Visa (Subclass 191)

The Permanent Residence (Skilled Regional) visa (Subclass 191) is designed to enable provisional GSM (Subclass 491) and SESR (Subclass 494) visa holders who have met specific residence and work requirements to apply for a permanent visa.

To encourage settlement in Australia’s regional or low-growth metropolitan areas, visa 191 applicants must have complied with the condition that they live, work, or study in a designated regional area while holding their GSM or SESR visa.

This visa is also designed to enable Hongkonger applicants to apply for a permanent visa.

Highlights

  • You may be in or outside Australia to lodge a valid visa application.
  • This visa allows you to work, study and live in Australia.
  • There are 2 different visa streams: Regional Provisional Visas and Hong Kong (Regional).
  • This is a Permanent Resident visa and allows you to stay in Australia indefinitely.

Key Eligibility requirements

COMMON CRITERIA TO ALL STREAMS
  • You must nominate the correct visa stream.
  • You must satisfy specific Public Interest criteria and Special Return criteria.
  • You must meet all relevant health and character requirements.
REGIONAL PROVISIONAL VISAS STREAM
  • You must hold a regional provisional visa and must have held that visa for at least 3 years.
  • You have complied with the visa conditions of your previous visas.
  • You must have had a taxable income at or above a specific income threshold (if any applies) for at least 3 years while holding your eligible visa.
HONG KONG (REGIONAL) STREAM
  • You must hold a Hong Kong passport or a British National (Overseas) passport.
  • You must hold an eligible visa (this is an eligible Subclass 457, Subclass 482 or Subclass 485) and must have held that visa for at least 3 years.
  • You have complied with the visa conditions of your previous visas.
  • During the 3 years ending immediately before the date of application, you did not live, work or study in a part of Australia that was not a designated regional area. Exceptions may apply.
  • You have been usually resident in Australia for at least 3 years immediately before the date of the application.