Only on the employer sponsored routes. Most families arrive without one.

• Subclass 189, 190 and 491 are points tested and need no job offer at all.
• Subclass 482, 494 and 186 are built around an Australian employer who nominates the role.
• Partner, parent and investor routes take no account of employment in Australia.
• An occupation still matters on the skilled routes, because it must sit on a relevant skilled occupation list and pass a skills assessment.

Age governs the points tested routes and leaves the others open.

• Points stop at 45. The bands run 25 points from eighteen to twenty four, 30 points from twenty five to thirty two, 25 points from thirty three to thirty nine, and 15 points from forty to forty four.
• Subclass 186 permanent employer sponsorship applies its own age limit, with exemptions for certain occupations and for applicants already working in Australia.
• Partner visas carry no age limit.
• Parent visas carry no age limit, and one route is reserved for applicants who have reached pension age.
• The National Innovation visa carries no age limit.

Passing forty five closes the points tested door and leaves several others open. That is the moment to take advice rather than assume the answer.

Not to meet the requirement. Possibly to win the points.

• A valid passport issued by the United Kingdom proves Competent English on its own, and the same applies to Canada, Ireland, New Zealand and the United States.
• Competent English scores zero points.
• Proficient English adds 10 points and Superior English adds 20, and both require a test result. A passport does not reach either level.
• So a British applicant who is short of the threshold often sits a test purely to lift the score.

The threshold is 65 points, and it applies to subclass 189, 190 and 491 only.

• Points come from age, English, skilled employment, qualifications, Australian study, a partner’s skills, a credentialled community language, state nomination and family sponsorship.
• Reaching 65 makes you eligible to be invited. It does not guarantee an invitation, and in competitive occupations the effective score runs well above the threshold.
• State nomination is worth 5 points on subclass 190, and nomination or eligible family sponsorship is worth 15 points on subclass 491.
• Employer sponsored, partner, parent and investor routes apply no points test at all.

Australia closed its cash for residency programmes, so the investor question is no longer a number.

• The National Innovation visa requires a strong business case and an internationally recognised record of outstanding achievement.
• It asks for a nominator with a national reputation in your field: an Australian citizen, permanent resident, eligible New Zealand citizen or an Australian organisation.
• You may be nominated by a state or the federal government.
• The visa application charge starts at AUD 6,235 for the main applicant.

Yes, once you are settled, and the choice is between paying more or waiting longer.

• A contributory parent visa is the faster route. The subclass 143 permanent visa carries a charge from AUD 49,900 for the main applicant.
• The non contributory parent visas cost far less and sit in a queue measured in decades rather than years.
• A temporary sponsored parent visa lets a parent spend extended periods with you without joining the permanent queue.
• Every route needs an eligible child settled in Australia as a citizen, permanent resident or eligible New Zealand citizen, and the family balance test applies.

The route decides, and the gap between routes is very wide.

• Employer-sponsored routes move fastest because the nomination and the visa can run together.
• Points-tested routes turn on the invitation. A strong score can be invited quickly, and a borderline score can wait indefinitely.
• Partner visas run in two stages, temporary then permanent, over several years.
• Contributory parent visas run for years, and the non-contributory queue runs far longer.
• The department publishes current processing positions by subclass, and we check yours against them rather than quoting an average.

Every permanent route applies the same core requirements to every applicant.

• A health examination, which family members who are not travelling may also have to complete.
• Police certificates from every country you have lived in, for applicants aged sixteen and over.
• An Australian values statement.
• Any debt to the Australian Government repaid, or a payment plan approved.
• A clean record of visa cancellations and refusals.

A health condition or a historic conviction rarely ends a case on its own. It does need to be declared properly and addressed with submissions.

The grant sets a clock running, and the conditions attached to it matter.

• Permanent visas allow you to live, work and study anywhere in Australia, enrol in Medicare and sponsor eligible relatives.
• Every visa carries a first entry date. Missing it puts the grant at risk.
• The travel facility on a permanent visa runs for a fixed period, after which a resident return visa is needed to re enter.
• Provisional visas carry conditions, most often about where you live and work, and complying with them is what unlocks the permanent stage.
• Citizenship follows once the residence requirement is met.