With the two new regional visas coming into effect this week there will be many Aussie migrants hoping that the new Visas open the door for those looking to secure permanent residence and eventually, Australian citizenship.
The Special Broadcasting Service (SBS), a hybrid-funded Australian public broadcasting network, posted an interesting article covering the Pros and Cons of the new regional visas.
We’ve summarised some of the content below however you can also review the full article here.
Australian Regional Visas – Pro’s and Cons
As of Saturday, qualified migrants who commit to living and working in a regional area will have access to two new provisional visas, the Australian government announced.
The list includes hundreds of occupations. Now, real estate agents, journalists, accountants, paramedics, filmmakers, historians, among others, will be able to apply for this visa.
Those who obtain regional visas will be able to apply for permanent residency if they prove they have lived in a regional area for at least three years.
The Two Australian Regional Visas
- The Skilled Employer-Sponsored Regional (Provisional), which is aimed at migrants who are sponsored by an employer from a regional area of Australia.
- Skilled Work Regional (Provisional), which targets people who are nominated by a state or territory government, or sponsored by an eligible family member to live and work in a regional area of Australia.
The Pros For The Australian Regional Visa
The government has simplified the definition of regional Australia. The entirety of Australia, except for Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, has been re-classed as regional for migratory purposes.
This means qualified migrants can settle in satellite cities, such as Wollongong, Newcastle or Geelong, near Sydney or Melbourne.
Another option is the Gold Coast, an hour’s drive from Brisbane or the whole of the city of Perth in Western Australia.
Australian Regional Visa – The Cons
One of the difficulties that migrants may face on these new visas relates to their income.
Even if they have spent the prescribed three years in a regional area, when applying for a permanent visa, there is a minimum salary requirement of A$53,900 a year to qualify for permanent residence.
There has been discussion and some push back from the Australian Migration institute citing that this limit should be lowered (or removed altogether). At the time of typing, however (November 2019) this limit remains, unfortunately.
Is the Australian Regional Visa an option for you?
Are you excited by the prospects presented by these new Regional Visas or do you think it’s just more of the same?
Would you move to regional Australia if it increased the chance of you getting Australian PR?
Let us know in our comments below.
Hi, my name is Lidia. My fiance is a truck driver and 27yrs old. I’m 29 and on mat leave currently but work as admin assistant.
What are our chances in your point of view?
Hi Lidia, your Fiance may be able to qualify but it might depend on the type of trucks he has experience driving. For Admin type roles, you will struggle unfortunately as these type of roles are currently not considered in demand.
My name is kevin im a project manager , im 40 my wife is 34 and is an early child educator. Do we qualify for this?
Hi Kevin, project manager is quite a broad term by Australian migration standards, I see IT project manager is on the STSOL.
https://gettingdownunder.com/stsol/
If you have a background in IT project management then you may qualify for a number of Visas options however it really depends on what you are looking for and where you might want to live.
All the best
Mark
Thank u for the feedback. im a ICT project manager and interested in locating in Perth , Goldcoast or Newcastle. We really dont mind. Anywhere is fine
Hi Kevin, I recommend you register for job alerts here https://gettingdownunder.com/job-alerts-now-available/ using the term project manager as your criteria, this way we can issue you an email should an appropriate job opportunity become available.
All the best
Mark
Thanks about your current information
Bon Jour Mark. its me Daulat Khan from Pakistan. i am an experienced individual having MBA in 2005. these days i m working as Assistant Admin and 40 years old. could i get a chance to apply in the scheme.
Hi, I would suggest not however please try a search for your occupation on the following page to identify visa types that might work for you. https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/visas/working-in-australia/skill-occupation-list I did a search on the term “admin’ and there are only a handful of occupations matching this criterion, unfortunately.
Hi Mark, I am a very experienced software engineer with age 51. I would like to know if this scheme is applicable for me.
Hello Ming, unfortunately, the age limit is set at 45 years so this will not be applicable to you I’m afraid.
I would do anything to go Anything anywhere