Onshore migrants living anywhere in Melbourne can now apply for the Skilled Work Regional visa that allows skilled migrants to live and work in regional Victoria.
According to the new eligibility criteria declared open on Tuesday, anyone living anywhere in Victoria can apply for Subclass 491.
Decoding the expanded criteria, Melbourne-based migration agent Jujhar Bajwa said this means the previously ineligible metropolitan Melbourne residents can also apply for this pathway. But there’s a caveat.
“Onshore applicants living outside regional Victoria who wish to apply for 491 in Victoria will eventually have to relocate to live and work in the designated regional area,” he explained.
Calling it a “major development,” Mr Bajwa said he believes the new criteria is part of the state’s consolidated effort to fill the remaining places allocated to them for the ongoing program year, which will end on 30 June 2023.
“There is a likely chance that the state has a lot of places remaining in their current quota of allocations, and they are trying to pick up the pace of nominations to enable the Department of Home Affairs to process visa grants before the end of June 2023," he said.
States well behind their allocated quotas for skilled visa nomination programs
SBS Punjabi had earlier reported that states and territories are well behind their allocated quotas for skilled visa nomination programs for 2022-2023, more than halfway through the program year.
Only 1,508 intending migrants received nominations from the Victoria government from 1 July 2022 to 28 February 2023 for the Skilled Work Regional visa (subclass 491), way behind their pro rata of 3,400 places.
Abul Rizvi, the former deputy secretary of the Department of Immigration, said the jurisdictions would have to stomp on the accelerator to deliver the remaining spots.
“Most jurisdictions are running well behind pro-rata against their record allocations for 2022-23. Therefore, they will need a massive boost in visa grants in the remaining months till June 2023 to deliver the 2022-23 migration program,” he told SBS Punjabi.
Fast-track nomination for select occupations
Meanwhile, skilled visa applicants with an eligible health, teaching or social service occupation can also apply for fast-track nomination, provided they meet the minimum visa requirements.
This means all registration of interests (ROIs) with fast-track nomination occupations will be selected to apply for visa nomination within two weeks of submission.
“Providing the nomination application meets all minimum visa requirements, Victorian visa nomination will then be approved within five business days,” the official website states.
Click here for a full list of eligible occupations for fast-track nomination.
Applicants without a fast-track nomination occupation will continue to be selected and nominated through the existing standard process.
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