The Australian Government announced a new proposal to introduce two new skilled regional provisional visas from November 2019, and one new permanent regional visa from November 2022. This aligns with the Government’s plan to encourage migrants to move to regional Australia (which will be redefined as anywhere outside of Brisbane, Gold Coast, Sydney, Melbourne and Perth).

The proposed provisional visas would be the:

• Skilled Employer Sponsored Regional visa – requires sponsorship by an employer in a regional area, receives priority processing, and has access to a list of around 700 occupations; and
• Skilled Work Regional visa – requires nomination by a State or Territory government or sponsorship by an eligible family member located in a regional area, receives priority processing, and has access to a list of around 500 eligible occupations.

Both provisional visas will be valid for 5 years, with a pathway to the new permanent visa after 3 years of working and living in a regional area of Australia.

Further information will be available of these new visas over the coming months but keep in mind this can change if a new Government is elected in May 2019.

Contact us at info@australiamigrate.com or call +61 2 94116000 for detailed information.