The Skilled Employer Sponsored Regional (494) visa: pathway to PR

What the 494 actually asks of you

This is an employer-driven visa, so most of the eligibility sits on proving the match between you, the job and the region is real.

• A nomination from an approved sponsor. Your employer must be lawfully operating in Australia and either already an approved standard business sponsor or have at least lodged an application to become one.
• An occupation on the relevant list. The Employer Sponsored stream draws on around 650 eligible occupations, a noticeably wider list than the metro equivalents get.
• At least three years' relevant work experience in the nominated occupation, on a full-time basis and at the right skill level. It generally needs to sit within the last five years, doesn't have to be continuous, and casual work isn't counted.
• A positive skills assessment from the relevant assessing authority, unless you're exempt (for example, you already provided one to get a 457 or 482 in the same occupation). A skills assessment done for a Temporary Graduate (485) visa doesn't count here.
• Competent English, plus health and character requirements and the usual Australian Values Statement.
• Under 45 at the time you apply, with exemptions for certain academics, medical practitioners with two years' regional experience on a 457 or 482, government or university scientists and researchers, some 444/461 holders, and 457/482 holders who've earned at least the Fair Work High Income Threshold for two of the last three years.

Two streams, and a family option

Most applicants go through the Employer Sponsored stream: a regional business with a genuine, identified labour shortage nominates you for a role it can't fill locally. The Labour Agreement stream is narrower, for workers nominated under a labour agreement the employer has already negotiated directly with the government, and it can carry its own terms on things like age and salary. Family members of a 494 holder who aren't included in the original application can apply separately as a subsequent entrant, on the same regional conditions.

Five years, one job, one region

The 494 is a five-year visa, and the conditions attached to it are specific rather than general good behaviour. You must start work within 90 days of the visa being granted, or of arriving in Australia if you were offshore at grant. You can only work for your nominating sponsor, or an associated entity of theirs, and only in a designated regional area, everywhere except Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. Working outside the nominated occupation, changing employer without a new nomination, or working from a metro address are all conditions the Department checks, and breaching them puts the visa itself at risk.

The three-year leash before other visas

One detail catches people out: until you've held the 494 for three years, you're not able to be granted a subclass 820 partner visa, or any of the 132, 186, 188, 189, 190, 191 or 858 visas, even if you'd otherwise qualify for one of them on its own terms. The regional commitment is meant to run its course before you pivot to a different pathway.

The pathway to permanent residence: subclass 191

The 191, in its Regional Provisional stream, is the PR outcome the 494 is built to lead to, and it also accepts the 491 as an eligible visa. To qualify you need to have held an eligible visa for at least three years, and to have complied with its conditions the whole time you held it.

The income side of this is where a lot of outdated advice still circulates. There is no minimum income requirement for the 191; the Department has confirmed there's no legislative instrument setting one. What you do need is notices of assessment issued by the ATO for three income years out of the five years of your eligible visa, so a full paper trail of tax returns still matters even without a dollar figure attached to it. Health, character, the values statement and any debt to the Australian Government owed by you or your family round out the rest.

What it costs

Charge	Amount (from 1 Jul 2026)	Who pays
494 visa application charge, main applicant	$6,140	Usually the worker
494 visa charge, dependant 18+	$3,070	Usually the worker
494 visa charge, dependant under 18	$1,535	Usually the worker
SAF levy, nomination (turnover under $10M)	$3,000 one-off	Employer, by law
SAF levy, nomination (turnover $10M+)	$5,000 one-off	Employer, by law
191 visa application charge, main applicant	$630	Usually the worker

The SAF levy structure is worth noticing if you've read about the 482: that visa charges the levy per year of the visa sought, but the 494's Employer Sponsored and Labour Agreement nominations pay a flat one-off amount instead. It's reduced on a sliding scale if the nominee already holds a 494 and is moving to a new sponsor with time left on the visa. Either way, the levy and nomination costs sit with the employer by law and can't be passed on to the worker.

General information only, current at 18 July 2026. Not immigration assistance or advice for your circumstances. Visacorp Pty Ltd — MARN 0317382 · 1799004.