Last updated: 30 March 2026

Subclass 494 Visa: Employer Sponsored Regional — PR Through Regional Work

The subclass 494 visa is a provisional employer-sponsored visa that connects skilled workers with regional Australian employers and opens a structured pathway to permanent residency in Australia. Unlike the 189 and 190 visas, it does not require a points test or an expression of interest. If you have an employer in a designated regional area who is willing to nominate you, and your occupation qualifies, the 494 gives you five years to live and work regionally — and then transition to permanent residence through the subclass 191. No invitation round. No competitive points threshold to clear.

What Is the Subclass 494 Visa?

The Skilled Employer Sponsored Regional (Provisional) visa (subclass 494) is a temporary visa designed specifically to support skilled labour needs in regional Australia. It is part of Australia’s broader regional migration strategy, which aims to direct skilled workers away from major metropolitan areas into communities and industries where employers struggle to find qualified local candidates.

The 494 operates in two streams:

• Employer in a designated regional area stream — for workers sponsored by a business that operates in a designated regional area
• Labour agreement stream — for workers sponsored under a regional labour agreement between an employer and the Australian government

The vast majority of 494 applications go through the regional employer stream. The labour agreement stream covers specific industry arrangements and has additional eligibility criteria tied to the terms of the relevant agreement.

As a provisional visa, the 494 is valid for five years from the date of grant. Holders must live and work exclusively in designated regional areas for the duration of the visa. After three years of regional living and meeting an annual income threshold, holders become eligible to apply for the subclass 191 — a permanent visa that removes regional restrictions and grants full Australian permanent residency.

The 494 does not require a competitive points score, which makes it accessible to skilled workers who have a genuine job offer in a regional area but may not accumulate enough points to secure an invitation through the general skilled migration pathway.

What Are the 494 Visa Requirements?

To be eligible for the 494, you must satisfy requirements across several categories. Meeting each one is necessary — a gap in any area is grounds for refusal.

Age You must be under 45 years of age at the time you lodge your visa application. There are no general age exemptions for the 494, unlike the 186 TRT stream which has limited carve-outs for long-serving applicants. If you are approaching the age limit, timing your application carefully matters.

Skills Assessment You must hold a positive skills assessment from the relevant assessing authority for your nominated occupation. The assessing authority is determined by your occupation — for example, Engineers Australia assesses engineering roles, VETASSESS covers a wide range of trade and professional occupations, and ANMAC handles nursing. Your assessment must be for the same occupation that your employer is nominating you for.

English Proficiency You must demonstrate vocational English as a minimum. Vocational English is generally defined as an IELTS overall score of at least 5.0 (with no band below 5.0), or equivalent scores in PTE Academic, TOEFL iBT, OET, or Cambridge C1 Advanced. Passport holders from the UK, USA, Canada, New Zealand, or the Republic of Ireland are exempt from the English test requirement.

Employer Nomination You must be nominated by an approved business sponsor in a designated regional area. The nomination must cover a position in your nominated occupation, at a salary that meets or exceeds the Temporary Skilled Migration Income Threshold (TSMIT), and at market rates for the role and location.

Health and Character You and any family members included in your application must meet Australian health and character requirements. This means completing an Overseas Medical Examination and providing police clearances from every country you have lived in for 12 months or more in the past 10 years.

Regional Area Requirement The position you are nominated for must be located in a designated regional area of Australia. Most of regional Australia qualifies — with the key exclusions being Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, the Gold Coast, Perth, and the ACT. Specific postcodes are defined by the Department of Home Affairs, and it is worth confirming your employer’s location against the current list before applying.

What Does Your Employer Need to Do?

The 494 is a two-part process. Your employer’s nomination must be lodged and must satisfy the Department of Home Affairs before — or concurrently with — your visa application. Here is what your employer is responsible for:

1. Become an approved standard business sponsor. Your employer must hold current approval as a standard business sponsor or apply for sponsorship as part of the nomination process. To be approved, the business must be lawfully operating in Australia and demonstrate that it operates in a designated regional area. Sponsorship approval can take several weeks if the employer does not already hold it.

2. Lodge a valid nomination for your position. The employer nominates a specific position in your nominated occupation. The nomination must confirm that the role is genuine, ongoing, full-time, and located in a regional area. The employer must demonstrate that the role cannot be filled by a suitably qualified Australian worker — this labour market testing requirement applies to most nominations.

3. Offer market salary conditions. The salary offered must meet or exceed the TSMIT and be consistent with what an Australian worker in the same role and location would be paid. The employer must provide evidence of the market salary rate for the position.

4. Meet ongoing sponsor obligations. Once you are on a 494 visa, your employer takes on ongoing obligations: maintaining your employment in the nominated occupation, paying your agreed salary, notifying the Department of changes, and not engaging in conduct that discriminates against Australian workers. These obligations remain in place for the duration of your employment under the visa.

Employers who have already sponsored workers on a subclass 482 TSS visa will be familiar with the sponsorship process. The 494 follows a similar framework, with the additional requirement that the employer must be operating in a regional area.

How Does the 494 Lead to PR Through the 191?

The pathway from the 494 to permanent residency is one of its defining features — and it is worth understanding clearly before you commit to the visa, because there are specific conditions you must maintain throughout your time on the 494.

The subclass 191 (Permanent Residence — Skilled Regional) is the PR visa designed specifically for holders of the 494 (and the 491). To be eligible, you must meet three conditions after being granted the 494:

Condition 1: Hold the 494 for at least 3 years. You must have held the 494 visa for a minimum of three years before you can apply for the 191. The three-year clock starts from the date your 494 is granted — not from when you arrive in Australia. The 494 is valid for five years, so you have a two-year window to lodge your 191 application after becoming eligible.

Condition 2: Meet the income threshold for 3 years. You must have earned at least the minimum taxable income threshold in each of the three years before you apply for the 191. As of the 2025–26 income year, this threshold is $53,900 per year. This figure is tied to the TSMIT and may be updated each financial year. Income earned outside of Australia or outside of regional employment does not count toward this requirement.

Condition 3: Comply with your regional living requirements. You must have lived and worked in a designated regional area throughout your time on the 494. The Department may request evidence of your regional living arrangements, including rental agreements, utility bills, employment records, and tax assessments. Periods spent outside the regional area — particularly in metropolitan cities — can affect your eligibility.

Once you meet all three conditions, you can lodge a 191 visa application. The 191 is a permanent visa with no further work or location restrictions. It grants full permanent residency in Australia from the date of decision, including unrestricted work rights, access to Medicare, and eligibility for Australian citizenship after meeting the standard four-year residency requirement.

The 191 application requires evidence that you have met the income and regional conditions. Keeping accurate records of your income and regional living throughout your time on the 494 makes the transition to PR significantly more straightforward.

How Do You Apply Step by Step?

The 494 application follows a three-stage sequence involving your employer, the Department, and you. Each stage must be completed in the correct order for the application to proceed.

Stage 1: Employer Sponsorship Approval If your employer is not already an approved standard business sponsor, they must apply for sponsorship first. This is a separate application that the employer lodges through ImmiAccount. Processing typically takes several weeks. Employers who already hold approved sponsorship for the 482 visa may not need to reapply for sponsorship.

Stage 2: Employer Nomination Once sponsorship is in place, your employer lodges a nomination for your specific position. The nomination confirms the occupation, salary, work location (which must be in a regional area), and that labour market testing has been conducted. Nomination processing times vary, but typically take several weeks to months depending on application volumes.

Stage 3: Your Visa Application After the nomination is lodged — or concurrently, if your employer chooses concurrent lodgement — you lodge your 494 visa application through ImmiAccount. Your application includes:

• Personal and identity documents
• Skills assessment from the relevant authority
• English language test results (or evidence of exemption)
• Evidence of your nominated occupation’s qualifications and experience
• Health examination results (requested by the Department after lodgement)
• Police clearances from all relevant countries
• Evidence of the employment offer and salary terms

After lodgement, the Department assesses both the nomination and the visa application. If approved, your 494 visa is granted with a five-year validity period and conditions tied to regional living and working.

You can include your partner and dependent children in your application. Each additional applicant is subject to health and character requirements, and additional visa application charges apply.

How Long Does Processing Take?

Processing times for the 494 vary depending on application volumes, completeness of your documents, and whether the Department requests additional information. The following figures are indicative benchmarks — always check the Department of Home Affairs website for current published times before planning your lodgement.

The most common cause of delays is incomplete applications at lodgement. Missing documents, expired skills assessments, outstanding health examinations, or unclear employment evidence all extend processing times. Preparing your full document set before lodging — rather than uploading documents incrementally after lodgement — keeps your application moving.

Several other factors can affect processing time:

• Whether your occupation or employer is subject to additional compliance checks
• Whether the Department requests further information (a formal request extends the processing clock)
• Whether your health examinations are finalised promptly after lodgement
• The overall volume of 494 applications being processed at the time you lodge

One practical note: while your application is being assessed, your existing visa and any associated bridging visa conditions determine your lawful status in Australia. If you are already in Australia on another visa, make sure you understand how your bridging visa arrangements interact with the 494 processing timeline.

How Much Does the 494 Cost?

The 494 involves costs on both the employer side (nomination) and the applicant side (visa application charge). The table below outlines the main components.

The base visa application charge of $4,640 applies to the primary applicant. If you are including a partner and children in your application, costs increase for each additional applicant. Skills assessment fees vary significantly by assessing authority — VETASSESS, Engineers Australia, ACS, ANMAC, TRA, and other bodies each have their own fee schedules and processing timelines.

There is no refund of the visa application charge if the application is refused, regardless of the reason for refusal. This makes confirming your eligibility before lodgement an important step, not an optional one.

Some employers cover part or all of the visa application charge as part of a relocation or retention package. Whether this applies to your situation depends on your employment agreement with the sponsoring employer.

In addition to the primary visa costs, factor in ongoing expenses related to regional living, which is a condition of the visa and a prerequisite for the 191 PR pathway.

What Documents Do You Need?

A well-prepared application at lodgement is the most reliable way to avoid delays. The document checklist for a 494 application covers four main areas.

Identity and Status Documents

• Valid passport (all pages), plus any expired passports held in the last 10 years
• Current Australian visa grant notice (if you are already in Australia)
• Birth certificate
• Marriage certificate or evidence of de facto relationship (if including a partner)
• Birth certificates for dependent children included in the application

Skills and Qualifications

• Positive skills assessment letter from the relevant assessing authority
• Academic transcripts and degree or trade certificates
• Professional registrations, licences, or memberships relevant to the occupation
• Evidence of at least one year of full-time (or equivalent) work experience in the nominated occupation within the past five years (required for most occupations)

Employment and Nomination Evidence

• Signed employment contract or formal offer from the nominating employer
• Evidence of the nominated occupation’s location in a regional area (employer’s business address, business registration)
• Payslips, tax records, or reference letters from previous employers confirming relevant work experience

English Proficiency

• IELTS, PTE Academic, TOEFL iBT, OET, or Cambridge C1 Advanced test results demonstrating at least vocational English
• Or passport evidence for countries exempt from the English test requirement (UK, USA, Canada, New Zealand, Republic of Ireland)

Health and Character

• Overseas Medical Examination results — the Department typically sends a health referral after lodgement, and you complete the examination at a panel physician
• Police clearances from every country you have lived in for 12 months or more in the past 10 years
• Character declarations for all applicants aged 16 and over

Gathering documents before lodging — particularly skills assessments, which can take months to process — shortens your overall timeline considerably.

How Does the 494 Compare to the 186 and 482?

If you are weighing employer-sponsored visa options, the differences between the 494, 186, and 482 come down to three main factors: whether your employer is in a regional area, whether you want temporary or permanent status, and which PR pathway is available to you.

The 186 is the employer-sponsored visa that grants permanent residency in Australia directly from the date of decision — there is no temporary phase. If your employer is not located in a regional area and they are prepared to nominate you for a permanent position, the subclass 186 employer nomination visa may be the more direct route.

The subclass 482 TSS visa is available to employers anywhere in Australia and has no age limit, but it leads to PR through the 186 TRT stream rather than directly. Employers in regional areas can sponsor workers on a 482, but if they want to support a direct regional PR pathway, the 494 is structured specifically for that purpose.

The 494’s advantage is its focus: it creates a clear, structured pathway to PR for workers in regional areas where the labour market gap is real and the employer commitment is genuine. The trade-off is the regional living requirement — a condition that remains in place for the entire five-year visa period and must be maintained to access the 191.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is the 494 visa a permanent visa?

No. The 494 is a provisional visa valid for five years. It does not grant permanent residency at the time of issue. It provides a pathway to permanent residency through the subclass 191 visa, which can be applied for after three years of regional living and working, provided you have also met the minimum annual income requirement in each of those three years. Until the 191 is granted, you hold temporary status in Australia and are bound by the regional living and working conditions of the 494.

Does the 494 require a points test?

No. The 494 does not require a points test and is not part of the SkillSelect expression of interest system. Eligibility is determined by employer sponsorship in a regional area, a positive skills assessment for your nominated occupation, meeting English proficiency requirements, and being under 45 at the time of application. There is no minimum points score, no competitive ranking against other applicants, and no invitation round to wait for.

What is the difference between the 494 and 482?

The 494 is specifically for employers and workers in designated regional areas, and provides a direct pathway to PR through the subclass 191 after three years. The 482 is available to employers nationwide with no regional restriction, and leads to PR through the 186 TRT stream after two years of employment with the nominating employer. Both require employer sponsorship, a skills assessment, and English proficiency. The 482 has no age limit, while the 494 requires applicants to be under 45. If your employer is in a regional area and wants to support your path to PR, the 494 is designed precisely for that scenario.

Can you change employers on a 494 visa?

You can change to another approved sponsor while on a 494 visa, but the regional requirement remains in place. Your new employer must be located in a designated regional area and must be an approved standard business sponsor. Your new employer will need to lodge a fresh nomination for your position. Changing employers without a valid new nomination in place means you are no longer working in accordance with your visa conditions, which can affect your immigration status and your eligibility for the 191 pathway. Any change in employment should be managed carefully and, ideally, with professional advice.

What Should You Do Next?

Before you or your employer lodges anything, confirming that the 494 is the right visa for your situation saves time and reduces the risk of preventable refusals. Work through these key questions:

• Is your employer located in a designated regional area of Australia?
• Does your occupation appear on the relevant occupation list?
• Are you under 45 years of age?
• Do you hold a positive skills assessment for your nominated occupation — or have you started the process?
• Do you meet the vocational English requirement (or qualify for an exemption)?
• Is your employer prepared to become an approved standard business sponsor and meet their ongoing obligations?
• Are you prepared to live and work in a regional area for the full duration of the visa — including the three years required for 191 eligibility?

If you can confirm each of these points, you and your employer are positioned to move forward. If there are gaps — an assessment not yet underway, an occupation not on the list, a question about your employer’s regional status — identifying them now lets you address them methodically rather than discovering them at lodgement.

We recommend working with a registered migration agent for any 494 application. The nomination and visa components each have precise requirements, and errors in either part can delay or affect the outcome. An agent can also help you understand how the 494 fits within your broader migration timeline, particularly in relation to the 191 PR pathway.

If you are still comparing employer-sponsored options — including whether the 494, the subclass 186 employer nomination visa, or the subclass 482 TSS visa is the right fit for your situation — the employer-sponsored visa overview gives you a fuller view of how the different pathways relate to each other and which one aligns with your employment circumstances.