190 visas state sponsorship
The 190 visa is the premier visa an Australia state government has to offer a skilled worker. It requires a person to live and work freely within the sponsoring state for 2-years.
After that time a person is free to live anywhere in Australia. This is an excellent visa for people who want to boost their points to provide the best possible chance of success as a skilled migrant.
Each state has a limited number of 190 visas allocated each year by the federal government. Each case is dealt with on its own unique, individual merits, how your case is present to the state government remains paramount to your success.
The Skilled Migration Programme
Australia has set at a maximum of 130,000 visas, with over two-thirds of the programme allocated to skilled visas.
In recent years Australia is moving away from granting Permanent Residency on arrival and now require many migrants to live and work in low growth areas and away from the major town and cities.
To encourage this change in policy, they make it extremely difficult to secure PR visas and provide additional support to applicants willing to live in rural locations.
Skilled Migration Points Test
To be amended from November 2019 and include additional points for:
- Specialist Educational Qualifications.
- Applicants with an eligible skilled spouse/partner.
- Single applicants.
- Applicants with a spouse/partner who is an Australia citizen or eligible NZ citizen.
- Applicants with a spouse/partner who has competent English.
- Applicants nominated by a state/territory government or eligible family member.
New Skilled Visas:
Two new skilled regional (provisional) visas are to be introduced in November 2019:
- Skilled Work Regional Visa for applicants nominated by a state or territory or sponsored by an eligible family member to live and work in regional Australia and will have over 500 eligible occupations included.
- Skilled Employer-Sponsored Visa for applicants sponsored by an employer to work in regional Australia and will have almost 700 eligible occupations included.
Holders of these new skilled regional visas will need to live and work in regional Australia and visas will be granted for up to five years.
- A new permanent Residence Visa (Skilled Regional) will be available in November 2022 to holders of the new regional (provisional) visas mentioned above.
State Governments are negotiating an increase in the number of nominations they can make in this program year starting on 1st July and it is likely that these provisional visas will be given priority processing.
Several states are investing heavily for the future, including Victoria which has announced A$107 billion worth of projects commencing or underway in 2019-20. These huge projects will require migrants from a range of industries to meet the increased demand for skilled and experienced trade workers and professionals.
To discover more about how to apply for a skilled visa visit our 189 visa page as the qualifying criteria remain the same for all skilled migrant visas.
