The 491 runs five years, and the 191 converts you to permanent residency after three of them. Subclass 491 and subclass 494 both count as an eligible visa. There is no minimum income requirement, only notices of assessment for three income years out of five. The 191 applies no points test, no skills assessment, no nomination and no sponsorship. Regional means everywhere outside Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide, Canberra and Hobart included. The permanent visa starts at AUD 630, and it lifts the regional restriction completely.

Australian Regional Visa to Permanent Residency: The Pathway

How The 491 Leads To Permanent Residency

What is the 491 visa?

The Skilled Work Regional (Provisional) visa, subclass 491, lets a skilled worker stay in Australia for five years and live, work and study in a designated regional area.

A state or territory government agency nominates you, or an eligible relative living in a designated area sponsors you.
Your occupation sits on a relevant skilled occupation list and you hold a suitable skills assessment for it.
You are invited to apply, and you satisfy the points test.
The charge starts at AUD 6,140 for the main applicant.

How many points does going regional add?

The regional route carries points that the city routes withhold.

Nomination by a state or territory government agency is worth 15 points, and sponsorship by an eligible family member is worth the same 15 points.
A degree, diploma or trade qualification earned while living and studying in an eligible area of regional Australia adds 5 points.
Points are counted at the time of invitation, so every claim in your expression of interest needs evidence behind it.

When can I apply for the 191?

You apply for the Permanent Residence (Skilled Regional) visa, subclass 191, once you have held an eligible visa for at least three years.

The provisional visa runs for five years, so the three years leaves room either side.
Permanent residence therefore arrives after three years in the regions, rather than at the end of the five.
You must still hold the eligible visa on the day you apply.

Which visas count as an eligible visa?

Two provisional visas open the 191.

Subclass 491, the Skilled Work Regional (Provisional) visa.
Subclass 494, the Skilled Employer Sponsored Regional (Provisional) visa.
Time held across those visas counts towards the three years.

What income do I need for the 191?

There is no minimum income requirement. This is the point most guides still get wrong, and it matters: the test is that you lodged and were assessed, rather than that you earned a set figure.

You provide notices of assessment issued by the Australian Taxation Office for three income years out of the five years of your eligible visa.
The three income years do not have to run consecutively, and they do not have to be the first three.
Money owed to the ATO by you or by a family member holds the application up until it is repaid or an approved payment plan is in place.

Is there a points test or skills assessment for the 191?

The permanent stage asks for none of the things the provisional stage asked for.

The points test applies at the 491 stage only.
No further skills assessment is required.
No employer sponsorship and no state nomination are required at this stage.
What remains is the eligible visa, the notices of assessment, compliance with your visa conditions, health, character, the Australian values statement, any debt to the Australian Government repaid, and a clean record of no prior visa cancellations or refusals.

Which areas count as regional?

Most of Australia counts. The definition covers everywhere outside the metropolitan areas of Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, split into two categories.

Category 2, Cities and Major Regional Centres: Perth, Adelaide, the Gold Coast, the Sunshine Coast, Canberra, Newcastle and Lake Macquarie, Wollongong and the Illawarra, Geelong and Hobart.
Category 3, Regional Centres and Other Regional Areas: every other regional centre and regional area, Darwin and Cairns among them.
Both categories carry the regional incentives, so a family can settle in a capital city and still be on the regional pathway.

What condition applies while I hold the 491?

Live, work and study in a designated regional area, and stay there.

Compliance is assessed across the whole period you hold the visa, rather than sampled at one point.
Time spent living or working outside a designated area puts the 191 at risk.
Keeping evidence of your address, your employment and your tax position as you go makes the permanent application straightforward.

Can my family convert to permanent residency too?

Members of your family unit come across with you.

Include them when you lodge, or add them after lodging and before a decision is made.
Family members generally require no eligible visa of their own.
A family member does need one where they have stopped meeting the definition of member of the family unit, for example a child who has turned 23 since the eligible visa was granted.
A child born in Australia after the eligible visa was granted is covered.
Everyone included meets the health and character requirements, and family members staying behind may need to as well.

What does the 191 cost?

The permanent visa is one of the cheapest Australia grants.

From AUD 630 for the main applicant, against AUD 6,140 for the provisional visa that precedes it.
Concessions apply in limited circumstances.
Applications are prioritised under a ministerial direction, so the permanent stage moves faster than the provisional one.

What can I do once the 191 is granted?

The regional restriction lifts entirely.

Stay in Australia permanently, and work and study anywhere in the country, Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane included.
Enrol in Medicare, the public health care scheme.
Sponsor eligible relatives for permanent residence.
Attend free English language classes through the Adult Migrant English Program where eligible.
Travel to and from Australia while the travel facility remains valid.
Apply for Australian citizenship once you meet the residence requirement.

In short

The 491 runs five years, and the 191 converts you to permanent residency after three of them.
Subclass 491 and subclass 494 both count as an eligible visa.
There is no minimum income requirement, only notices of assessment for three income years out of five.
The 191 applies no points test, no skills assessment, no nomination and no sponsorship.
Regional means everywhere outside Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide, Canberra and Hobart included.
The permanent visa starts at AUD 630, and it lifts the regional restriction completely.

Did You Know?

Comparing life in Australia to the United Kingdom.

A Shorter Road To Permanent Status

Three years on the subclass 491 reaches permanent residency, where the British Skilled Worker route asks for five. The heritage counts come from UNESCO, the air quality from the World Health Organization, and the park counts from the agency responsible on each side.

Measure	Australia	United Kingdom
Years of residence before you can apply to settle	3	5
Charge to apply, per person	From AUD 630	£3,226
Test to sit at the permanent stage	None	Life in the UK test, ages 18 to 64

Sources: Department of Home Affairs; GOV.UK Australian source

What Citizenship Costs The Family

Australian citizenship carries a fraction of the British charge, and children travel free on a parent’s application. The heritage counts come from UNESCO, the air quality from the World Health Organization, and the park counts from the agency responsible on each side.

Measure	Australia	United Kingdom
Charge for one adult applicant	AUD 595	£1,839, being £1,709 to apply plus a £130 ceremony fee
Charge for each child under sixteen applying with a parent	Nil	£1,000 for each child
Total for two adults and two children	AUD 1,190	£5,678

Sources: Department of Home Affairs Form 1298i; GOV.UK British source

The Natural World On Your Doorstep

Regional Australia holds more natural World Heritage, cleaner air and far more protected parkland than the whole United Kingdom. The heritage counts come from UNESCO, the air quality from the World Health Organization, and the park counts from the agency responsible on each side.

Measure	Australia	United Kingdom
Natural and mixed World Heritage sites	16	6
Fine particle air pollution, annual average	6.2 µg/m³	8.0 µg/m³
National parks and reserves, New South Wales alone against the whole United Kingdom	More than 890	15

Sources: UNESCO; World Health Organization; NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service. Source