A complete guide to Subclass 491 Visa Australia – By (Sidra Shahab)

Eligibility Requirement No 1:

You must be “nominated or sponsored”.

The word “nominated or nomination” relates to Australian state or territory and “sponsored or sponsor” is related to relatives.

The first requirement by the Australian Department of Home affairs is that to be eligible for 491 Visa; you should be either:

• nominated by the respective state or territory agency;

      OR

• be sponsored by the eligible relative.

Nomination:

Each designated regional area would fall under one of the state or territory agency. Look for your desired designated regional area where you want to apply for 491 visa and then look for the state and territory that is responsible for processing nomination for your desired designated regional area.

Sponsorship by Relative:

Sponsored by the eligible relative is another option for 491 Visa. Details about 491 visa that relies on eligible relative sponsorship is discussed in the following sections.

We will discuss more about the “nomination” or “sponsorship” for 491 visas later in this blog, but just note at this stage that you have to mention this in your visa 491 application whether you are nominated by the “state or territory” or sponsored by the “eligible relative”.

For the nomination process, you need to submit an expression of interest (EOI) first, to get an estimate of your points to score. If you score enough points, your nominated State or Territory might pick and “nominate” you as they can see your EOI applications on their systems.

You might need to apply for the nomination to the respective State/Territory after submitting EOI. Once the nomination is approved, you automatically receive an invitation to apply for the visa.

However, you do not need to apply for (EOI) if you want to apply 491 visa based on “eligible relative”. The Department might invite you to apply for 491 visa based on eligible relative in an invitation round if you are eligible.

Eligibility Requirement No 2:

Either, be nominated by an Australian state or territory agency.

As discussed above, to get the nomination, you need to fulfil the requirements of Department of Home Affairs as well as the specific requirements of the respective State or Territory where you want to apply for your 491 Visa.

There are different States and Territories which are willing to nominate you for this visa if you fulfil their requirements and specific criteria; apart from the additional requirements of Department of Home Affairs.

Specific requirements of each State/Territory and the general requirements of Department of home affairs are discussed below in this article. You can also contact the state or territory agency directly to find out more about their nomination process and what they want from you. Moreover, your occupation must be in the respective state/territory occupation list.

Different States/Territories of Australia are: Click each State/Territory to know its specific criteria

• New South Wales
• Victoria
• Tasmania
• Queensland
• South Australia
• Western Australia
• Northern Territory
• Australian Capital Territory

OR

Nothing to Display. This means either the option above or the one below. 

Sponsored by Eligible Relative:   

If any of your or your partner’s eligible relative lives in the designated regional area and willing to sponsor you, you can indicate this in your expression of interest (EOI). Your sponsor must be:

• 18 years old or older
• Usually resident in a designated regional area of Australia.
• be an Australian citizen, an Australian permanent resident, or an eligible New Zealand citizen
• be your or your partner’s eligible relative.

Department will approve the sponsorship before granting the visa.

An eligible relative can be:

• a parent
• a child or step-child
• a brother, sister, adoptive brother, adoptive sister, step-brother or step-sister
• an aunt, uncle, adoptive aunt, adoptive uncle, step-aunt or step-uncle
• a nephew, niece, adoptive nephew, adoptive niece, step-nephew or step-niece
• a grandparent, or
• a first cousin.

-nephew or step-niece

• a grandparent, or
• a first cousin

Eligibility Requirement No 4

Age requirement “Be this age”

To be invited in invitation round, your age must be under 45 for the visa. The good news is that you can still apply for the visa if you turn 45 after the Department invites you to apply. It is important to note here that you will not be invited after you turned 45 apart from the fact that your (EOI) is still in the skill-select system.

Eligibility Requirement No 5:

Have a suitable skills assessment

At the time of the invitation, one must have a suitable skill assessment for your application to be valid, you must declare that you have a suitable skill assessment at the time of invitation.

You should apply a copy of the skill assessment when you apply for this visa subclass. It must have been acquired in the three (3) years before the date of invitation to apply.

Some skill assessments are valid for two years so you must be mindful that your skill assessment is valid when you lodge your expression of interest and your SC 491.

Eligibility Requirement No 6

Be able to score minimum of 65 points or more.

The subclass 491 is a points-tested visa, but the GOOD NEWS is that if you select this visa subclass, you will be given 15 extra points on your point test.

When you submit an EOI in Skill Select, indicative point score based on below factors may be considered:

• Your claims of your age.
• Overseas/Australia work experience.
• Partner’s skills & qualification.
• Choice of visa subclass.
• Accredited language.
• Professional year and
• English test.

To be able to be invited, you must achieve 65 points at the minimum, but please be mindful that the 65 points do not guarantee an invitation. We recommend applicants to try to gain as many points as possible to compete with other applicants in the pool.

When you lodge your application, you must provide evidence supporting your claims. For example, provide your valid passport to prove your age, a valid scorecard of your English test to verify your claimed points for English.

You can calculate your point score on the Department of home affairs website:

Points Test Calculator

Eligibility Requirement No 7

Have the required level of English language.

Having a level of Competent English is mandatory at the time of invitation. For more details on the English tests, check our blog on English requirements for an Australian visa.

If there is any other family member above the age of 18 is applying for the Subclass 491 with you, he/she must have functional English at the time of the decision of the visa. Otherwise, you have to pay the second instalment of the visa application. 

Eligibility Requirement No 8:

Meet Health Requirement

You and any family members who apply for the visa with you must meet the Australian immigration department’s health requirements.

Non-migrating family members could also be requested to undergo and meet the health examination 

Eligibility Requirement No 9

Meet the character requirement.

The principal applicant and any other secondary applicant (family members) who is above the age of 16 years and over must meet the character requirement.

These requirements are met by providing the police clearance certificate from each country in which you or your family member has lived collectively for 12 months in the last ten (10) years after turning 16.

Please note that the non-migrating family member must also fulfil the character requirements.

Eligibility Requirement No 10

Be invited to apply.

SC 491 can only be applied if the applicant gets an invitation to apply for the visa through Skill Select.

Submit an expression of interest (EOI) in Skill Select and nominate your desired State/Territory or mention a sponsoring eligible relative, if any.