New Regional Provisional Visas
The Department of Home Affairs has announced that there will be two new skilled regional provisional visas introduced in November 2019. To be eligible for either of these new visa pathways applicants will be required to live and work in a regional area of Australia for at least three years before they’re eligible to apply for permanent residence.
Skilled Employer Sponsored Regional (Provisional) visa
What we know so far:
- 9000 places have been allocated
- ‘almost’ 700 eligible occupations
Features:
- priority processing
- access to additionally skilled occupations
- five-year validity
- available November 2019
- applications lodged prior to the commencement date will continue to be processed as usual
- three years living and working in a regional area to be eligible for PR
New permanent visa pathway
A new permanent visa pathway, the Permanent Residence (Skilled Regional) Visa, will also be available for holders of the new regional provisional visas in November 2022. This new permanent visa will provide further incentives for migrants to bring their skills to regional Australia and grow the Australian economy.
Regional Australia – Definition
All of Australia will be defined as ‘regional’ except the metropolitan areas of Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Gold Coast and Perth.
Designated Area Migration Agreements – DAMA’s
Three new DAMA’s have been announced:
- Kalgoorlie-Boulder (Goldfields) WA – 73 occupations – 500 people per year
- Regional South Australia – 114 occupations – 750 people per year
- Adelaide City Technology and Innovation Advancement Agreement – 60 occupations – 300 people per year