Have you lived and worked in regional Australia on a 491 or 494 visa? The Permanent Residence (Skilled Regional) visa (subclass 191) rewards your commitment with a direct path to permanent residency in Australia.
🧭 What Is the Subclass 191 Visa?
This visa is designed for skilled workers who have contributed to Australia’s regional areas under a provisional skilled visa. It lets eligible applicants and their families stay in Australia permanently, without requiring sponsorship or nomination.
🔀 Streams Under Subclass 191
✅ 1. Regional Provisional Stream
Available for those who have held a 491 or 494 visa for at least 3 years while living and working in designated regional areas.
Key Eligibility Criteria:
- Hold a subclass 491 or 494 visa for a minimum of 3 years
- Provide 3 ATO Notices of Assessment from the 5-year visa period
- Complied with all visa conditions during your stay
- Meet health and character requirements
- Sign the Australian Values Statement
💡 Note: While there’s no minimum income threshold, the ATO-issued Notices of Assessment are mandatory.
✅ 2. Hong Kong Stream
This stream supports Hong Kong or British National (Overseas) passport holders who have lived in regional Australia and contributed through work or study.
Key Eligibility Criteria:
- Hold a valid Hong Kong or BN(O) passport
- Hold an eligible 457, 482, or 485 visa for at least 3 continuous years
- Have been usually resident in a designated regional area
- Worked or studied in a regional area during that time
- Complied with visa conditions throughout
- Meet English language, health, and character requirements
📌 Applicants without functional English may be requi
red to meet additional conditions.
👨👩👧👦 Including Family in Your Application
You can include members of your family unit:
- At the time of lodging the application
- Or after lodgement but before the visa decision
All family members must meet health and character criteria. This also applies to newborns and adult children who were previously included in your eligible visa.
🌐 Apply From Anywhere
You can apply for this visa whether you are inside or outside Australia, as long as you are not in immigration clearance at the time of decision or application.
⏳ Processing Times Vary Based On:
- Completeness of your application and documents
- Timely response to departmental requests
- External checks (health, character, security)
- Migration program availability
All applications are assessed on a case-by-case basis.
🧾 Visa Benefits
Once granted, this visa allows you to:
- ✔ Stay in Australia permanently
- ✔ Work and study freely across the country
- ✔ Enrol in Medicare (Australia’s public healthcare scheme)
- ✔ Travel to and from Australia for 5 years
- ✔ Sponsor eligible relatives to join you
- ✔ Apply for Australian citizenship (if eligible)
🚀 Expert Support from Migration Guru
The Subclass 191 visa might look simple on paper—but demonstrating compliance, preparing ATO documentation, and assessing family eligibility can be complex.
Migration Guru can help by:
- Verifying your eligibility
- Reviewing your regional work and residence records
- Assessing and organising ATO assessments
- Guiding your family inclusion
- Managing your complete application process from start to finish
Contact Migration Guru Today
- Phone: +61-7-3036 3800
- Email: info@migrationguru.com.au
- Website: migrationguru.com.au
- Facebook: Migration Guru