Updates – 20 June 2023

Income Requirement for the Subclass 191 visa

The Permanent Residence (Skilled Regional) visa in the Regional Provisional stream is the pathway to permanent residence for eligible holders of:

There is no minimum income requirement for the Permanent Residence (Skilled Regional) visa (subclass 191).

Primary applicants must provide notices of assessment issued by the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) for three income years out of the five years of their eligible visa. Primary applicants who have already lodged should ensure their application provides these three notices.

Skilled Independent visa category

The 2023-24 permanent Migration Program has allocated 30,375 places for Skilled Independent visas. This is comparable to the 2022-23 program allocation of 32,100 places.

The smaller planning level for this category in 2023-24 reflects the closure of the New Zealand stream of the subclass 189 (Skilled – Independent) visa from 1 July 2023. This is due to a new direct pathway to citizenship for Special Category Visa holders who meet citizenship eligibility requirements.

General Skilled Migration for 2023-2024

The Australian Government recently announced the permanent migration planning level for 2023-2024 would be set at 190,000 places.

The Government has designed the Program to address persistent and emerging skills shortages and to attract people with specialist skillsets that are difficult to find or develop in Australia.

The 2023-24 permanent Migration Program has the following composition:

  • Skill stream (137,100 places, approximately 72% of the program) – This stream has been designed to​ improve the productive capacity of the economy and fill skill shortages in the labour market, including those in regional Australia.
  • Family stream (52,500 places, approximately 28% of the program) – this stream is predominantly made up of Partner visas, enabling Australians to reunite with family members from overseas and provide them with pathways to citizenship. Of this stream:
    • 40,500 Partner visas are estimated for 2023-24 for planning purposes, noting this category is demand driven and not subject to a ceiling.
    • 3,000 Child visas are estimated for 2023-24 for planning purposes, noting this category is demand driven and not subject to a ceiling.
  • Special Eligibility stream (400 places) – this stream covers visas for those in special circumstances, including permanent residents returning to Australia after a period overseas.

Skilled occupation list

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The combined list of eligible skilled occupations summarises the occupations Australia needs to fill skill shortages – See the skilled occupation list

Skilled Migration Criteria

Applicants for skilled migration need to meet strict threshold criteria. Note that these must be met at time of invitation – hence it is important to only lodge an Expression of Interest once all criteria have been met.

These criteria include:

Age

You must be aged between 18 and 44 at the time of invitation.

English Language Ability

Most applicants will need to undertake an English language test. Native English speakers have the option of not taking the test, but must do so to obtain points for English.

Skills Assessment

All applicants need to undergo skills assessment in an occupation on the approved list for your application type. Criteria for skills assessment vary by occupation and there are a large number of skills assessing authorities. In most cases, the skills assessment will be based on the applicant’s qualifications and work experience, though in some cases English language ability and registration in Australia is required.

Points Test

Applicants must meet the pass mark in the general skilled migration points test to be eligible.

SkillSelect

All applicants need to go through the SkillSelect system prior to lodging their visa application – this involves first making an Expression of Interest (EOI) and receiving an invitation from the Department of Immigration to apply.

Below you can read about some of the opportunities available.

 What is state sponsorship?

Most skilled migrants who come to Australia are nominated and sponsored by employers and apply for one of several work visa programs. The state and territory governments can also nominate skilled workers for visas under the State Nominated Migration Program, and they are increasingly relaxing their criteria to make it easier for people to apply.

Workers sponsored by state authorities don’t have to be tied to a particular employer but they do have to be aged under 45 years old. There are no guarantees of a job in the state, so they would need to secure a role on their own.

Successful applicants are given a permanent visa allowing them to live in the country indefinitely in the case of the Skilled Nominated subclass 190 visa, or provided with a pathway to become a permanent resident after working in regional areas as part of the Skilled Work Regional (Provisional) (subclass 491) visa.

What skills do you need?

Nearly all states have relaxed their occupation lists and other criteria to attract greater applicants, although governments continue to prioritise specific occupations and industries.

What are the criteria for state-nominated visas?

Under the Migration Program settings, nomination allocations are available to States and Territories in the following visa categories:

  • Skilled – Nominated (subclass 190)
  • Skilled Work Regional (Provisional) (subclass 491)

States and Territories each assess eligible applicants against criteria unique to their jurisdiction.

Further information on State and Territory nomination requirements can be found at: