Skilled Regional Sponsored Visa

The skilled regional sponsored Visa is very similar to the skilled sponsored Visa in that it provides a way for persons to enter Australia and work for an extended period. Where it differs is that successful applicants:-

a. Are granted a four-year provisional Visa only providing you with temporary rather than permanent residency though this Visa is a pathway to permanent residency.

b. The sponsorship requirements are slightly different requiring either an eligible relative who is living in a designated regional area of Australia or from a State or Territory government. The applicant will be required to reside for two years and be employed for at least a year in a specific regional area of Australia.

The purpose of this Visa is to encourage migrants to settle and work in regional areas of Australia that are suffering from skill shortages and where there are many unfilled positions. After this period successful skilled workers continue staying on in the regional areas after developing ties and social networks to the area. However applicants may relocate to urban areas if they wish.

Eligibility and availability for the skilled regional sponsored Visa

The skilled regional sponsored Visa may be applied for from both within and outside of Australia, applicants will be under 50 years have a sponsor of the prescribed type and score at 65 points in the points test. Points are awarded for the following attributes:

• · Age
• · Ability to speak and understand English
• · Relevant offshore and Australian work experience
• · State government or family sponsorship
• · Completion of any Australian courses of study
• · Current qualifications
• · Other languages known
• · Skills held by the applicant spouse
• · Completion of a professional year in the skill held by the applicant
• · Has met regional study pre-requisites (two year period)

For the applicants skills to be considered the qualifications held in must be recognized as meeting the Australian standard for the requisite occupation these skills would allow them to perform. Not all qualifications from all countries are recognized as meeting the Australian standard so investigation as to whether extra training is required in order to qualify for this Visa should be considered.

Sponsorship by A Relative
Where the applicant is being sponsored by relatives and relatives must live in a regional area in Australia and be either:-

· An Australian citizen or

· An Australian permanent resident or

· An eligible New Zealand citizen

Where Nominated by a State or Territory Government
Nomination by a State or Territory government require the applicant to satisfy specific criteria as set out by that State or Territory government. The applicant will be required either to have an occupation which appears on the skills shortage list for that State or Territory or be otherwise able to demonstrate specific skills that would be beneficial to an area in need of those skills.

This is a regional area Visa and the successful applicant will be required to reside and work in an area defined as a regional area for the purposes of this Visa. Please note, this does not mean the applicant will be required necessarily to live in a remote area, only that they may not reside is in any of the prescribed urban centres in the State of New South Wales Queensland and Victoria, they will however be allowed to live in the capital is of the Northern Territory, South Australia Tasmania and Western Australia are those states all have large capital cities. See below for the definition of regional areas within Australia for the purposes of this Visa

· New South Wales - everywhere except Sydney, Newcastle, the Central Coast and Wollongong;

· Northern Territory - everywhere;

• Queensland - everywhere except the greater Brisbane area and the Gold Coast;
• South Australia - everywhere;
• Tasmania - everywhere;
• Victoria - everywhere except the Melbourne metropolitan area; and
• Western Australia - everywhere.

Please note though there are some skills that are in high demand because of skills shortages in both the capital cities and the remote areas of these regional areas, there are some skills for which there is only a skills shortage in more remote areas and to successfully be granted this particular Visa you may be required to live in a more remote area depending on your particular skills.

• Western Australia - everywhere.

See also the similar Visa Skilled Sponsored Visa