Family Sponsored 491 visa

The relative sponsored regional visa (Subclass 491) is a provisional visa which allow the applicant to live, work and study in a designated regional area of Australia for 5 years.  To be eligible for the relative sponsored stream, at minimum the applicant must meet the following:

• 65 points
• Be under 45 years old
• Nominate an occupation on the skilled occupation list (The occupation must be on the medium-term list)*
• Have a suitable skills assessment for the nominated occupation
• Have at least competent English
• Eligible relative living in a designated regional area
• Satisfy health and character requirements

Eligible Relative

To be eligible, the sponsor must be:

• 18 years old or older
• usually resident in a designated 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

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

*State Nomination – Family Sponsored Stream

In some states, the applicant can apply for state nomination under the family stream. For example in Tasmania, the applicant may be eligible for state sponsorship if the applicant has immediate family member who meets all the following criteria:

• has been an Australian Permanent Resident or an Australian Citizen for a minimum of 12 months prior to the lodgement of your application
• is currently residing in Tasmania and has been for a minimum of 12 months
• is a parent, brother, sister, child, aunt, uncle, or grandparent
• agrees to support and assist you in the process of gaining employment in Tasmania upon your arrival in Tasmania
• Relationships by marriage such as sister or brother in law, are not acceptable.

In this case, the occupation does not need to be on the medium-term occupation list. 

Application Process

To apply for the Subclass 491 Visa, the applicant has to submit an expression of interest (EOI) on SkillSelect. If the applicant is successful, he or she will receive an invitation to apply for the visa.

Permanent Residency

If you have lived, worked and studied in designated regional area Australia for at least 3 years and have a taxable income at specific income threshold for at least three years you may be eligible to permanent residency under the Subclass 191 visa.