Homepage News PR Pathways in Australia 191 Visa Australia 2026: 491 and 494 to Regional PR Pathway, Requirements and Cost
Nov 12, 2026
PR Pathways in Australia

191 Visa Australia 2026: 491 and 494 to Regional PR Pathway, Requirements and Cost

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The subclass 191 visa (Permanent Residence (Skilled Regional) visa) is the permanent residence step for people already living in regional Australia on a provisional visa. If you are on the 491 to 191 or 494 to 191 pathway, you apply under the Regional Provisional stream. The Department of Home Affairs lists three core requirements: you have held a 491 or 494 visa for at least 3 years, you have complied with its conditions, and you can provide Australian Taxation Office (ATO) notices of assessment for 3 income years. The Department's page also states that there is no minimum income requirement.

The visa application charge for the Regional Provisional stream is AUD630 for the main applicant, AUD315 for each family member aged 18 or over and AUD160 for each child under 18. On 13 November 2026 the Department's processing times guide showed 50% of recently decided applications finalised within 7 months and 90% within 11 months. There is no points test, no occupation list and no new nomination at the 191 stage, but meeting the criteria is not the same as a grant: health, character and other checks still apply, and the decision rests with the Department.

This guide is based on the Home Affairs pages for subclasses 191, 491 and 494, the Department's visa conditions tool and the Migration Regulations 1994. It covers the two streams, eligibility, condition 8579 and related conditions, what counts as a designated regional area, costs, processing times and priorities, what you get once the visa is granted, and common questions. Information is current as at 13 November 2026.

Table of contents

1. The 191 visa at a glance

The Skilled Work Regional (Provisional) visa (subclass 491) and the Skilled Employer Sponsored Regional (Provisional) visa (subclass 494) are both 5-year visas. Each Home Affairs page says holders may apply for permanent residence through subclass 191 after holding the visa for 3 years, if eligible. Under Schedule 1 of the Migration Regulations, Regional Provisional stream applications have been accepted since 16 November 2022.

Item Detail
Visa type Permanent visa; stay in Australia indefinitely
Who it is for (Regional Provisional stream) People who hold a 491 or 494 visa when they apply and have held it for at least 3 years
Income ATO notices of assessment for 3 income years; Home Affairs states there is no minimum income requirement
Residence and work Compliance with visa conditions, including condition 8579 (live, work and study only in a designated regional area)
Where to apply In or outside Australia, online through ImmiAccount
Main applicant charge AUD630
Processing time (official guide, checked 13 November 2026) 50% within 7 months; 90% within 11 months

The requirements are the same for every nationality. Many readers reach the 491 through state or territory nomination after studying in Australia or working on a Temporary Graduate (subclass 485) visa. For current allocations and state programs, see our 2026–27 state nomination overview.

2. Two streams: Regional Provisional and Hong Kong

Compare Regional Provisional stream Hong Kong stream
Passport Any nationality Hong Kong or British National (Overseas) passport
Visa you must hold 491 or 494, held for at least 3 years 457, 482 or 485 granted as a primary applicant, held for at least 3 years
Main applicant charge AUD630 AUD6,135

Source: Australian Government Department of Home Affairs (CC BY 3.0 AU), accessed 13 November 2026

Hong Kong stream applicants must also have been usually resident in a designated regional area for a continuous period of at least 3 years immediately before applying, and any work or study in that period must have been in a designated regional area. A second instalment of AUD4,885 applies to applicants aged 18 or over who do not have functional English. The rest of this article deals with the Regional Provisional stream.

3. Regional Provisional stream requirements

Requirement What Home Affairs says
Eligible visa You hold a 491 or 494 visa when you apply and have held it for at least 3 years before applying
Income No minimum income requirement; provide ATO notices of assessment for 3 income years out of the 5 years of your eligible visa
Visa conditions You complied with the conditions of your eligible visa while in Australia, for the whole period you held it
Health and character Apply to you and to family members who apply with you; family members not coming to Australia may also be assessed
Australian values Applicants aged 16 or over sign the Australian Values Statement
Debts to the Government Repaid, or an arrangement to repay is in place
Immigration history A previous visa cancellation or refusal may affect eligibility

Source: Australian Government Department of Home Affairs (CC BY 3.0 AU), accessed 13 November 2026

What "no minimum income requirement" means

Clause 191.222 of Schedule 2 to the Migration Regulations requires copies of notices of assessment for 3 "relevant income years", and says taxable income for each year must at least equal an amount the Minister specifies in a legislative instrument. In other words, the law keeps a mechanism for setting an amount, and the Department's current public guidance is that no minimum applies. If that changes, the Home Affairs page is the place to check.

Two practical points follow. A notice of assessment only exists if you lodge a tax return, so lodging on time each year matters. And the Department asks applicants who owe money to the ATO to show the debt is paid or covered by an approved payment plan, to prevent processing delays.

4. Conditions on your 491 or 494 visa (8579 and others)

The 191 application looks back at how you lived on your provisional visa, so the conditions in your grant letter matter from day one. The Department's visa conditions tool lists the following:

Condition Summary Applies to
8579 While in Australia, live, study and work only in a designated regional area 491, 494
8578 Tell the Department within 14 days if your home address, email, phone, passport details, employer's address or work address changes 491, 494
8580 If asked in a letter, provide evidence of your home, employer, workplace and school addresses within 28 days 491, 494
8581 Attend an interview if asked in a letter (in person, by phone or online) 491, 494
8515 Do not marry or enter a de facto relationship before entering Australia (under the Regulations, may be imposed on family members granted the visa offshore) 491, 494
8608 Work only in the nominated occupation and, in general, only for your sponsor; start work within the 90-day period 494 primary holder

Source: Australian Government Department of Home Affairs (CC BY 3.0 AU), accessed 13 November 2026

Condition 8579 is tied to a point in time. For a 491 holder, the area must have been on the designated regional area list on the date the visa was granted. For a primary 494 holder, it is the list as it stood when the employer lodged the most recently approved nomination; family members follow the primary holder's nomination. Your own conditions are shown in your grant letter and in VEVO.

The 191 criteria treat 8579 separately. Clause 191.221 asks for substantial compliance with other conditions, but compliance with 8579 itself, unless the applicant falls within a class of persons specified by the Minister in a legislative instrument.

5. What is a designated regional area?

"Regional" is much broader than it sounds. Home Affairs explains that most locations outside the major cities of Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane are designated regional areas for migration purposes, in two categories:

Category Coverage
Category 2: Cities and Major Regional Centres Perth, Adelaide, the Gold Coast, the Sunshine Coast, Canberra, Newcastle/Lake Macquarie, Wollongong/Illawarra, Geelong and Hobart
Category 3: Regional Centres and Other Regional Areas Other listed postcodes, including all postcodes in Western Australia, South Australia and Tasmania that are not in Category 2, and all of the Northern Territory

Source: Australian Government Department of Home Affairs (CC BY 3.0 AU), accessed 13 November 2026

The test is the postcode. Home Affairs publishes a state-by-state list of designated regional area postcodes, and the list can change: some Queensland postcodes marked with an asterisk do not apply to visas granted before 5 March 2022. Checking the postcode before signing a lease, changing jobs or enrolling children in school is the simplest safeguard. For state-specific nomination rules, see our guides to Victoria, Queensland and South Australia.

6. How much the 191 visa costs

Applicant Regional Provisional stream Hong Kong stream
Main applicant AUD630 AUD6,135
Each family member aged 18 or over AUD315 AUD3,065
Each child under 18 AUD160 AUD1,535

Source: Australian Government Department of Home Affairs visa pricing table (CC BY 3.0 AU), accessed 13 November 2026

These are the amounts shown in the Department's pricing table on 13 November 2026, and they match item 1139 of Schedule 1 to the Migration Regulations (compilation dated 1 November 2026). For comparison, the 491 visa costs AUD6,140 for the main applicant. Since 1 July 2026 a lower charge applies to holders of passports from specified Pacific Island countries and Timor-Leste. Health examinations, police certificates and translations are extra.

7. Processing times and processing priorities

Processing times. On 13 November 2026 the Department's visa processing times guide showed, for 191 Regional Provisional applications decided recently: 25% and 50% within 7 months, 75% within 8 months and 90% within 11 months. The Department describes this as an indication only. Completeness of the application, how quickly you answer requests, health and character checks, and the number of places in the migration program all affect individual cases.

Priorities. Subclass 191 is covered by Ministerial Direction 122, in effect since 19 September 2026. A notice on the 191 page (updated 3 November 2026) gives the current position:

Application group Lodged in or before
Primary applicant in Australia at lodgement March 2026
Primary applicant outside Australia, application never combined with another person's March 2026
All other offshore applications January 2026

Source: Australian Government Department of Home Affairs (CC BY 3.0 AU), accessed 13 November 2026

The Direction changes the order of processing, not eligibility. Our article on skilled visa processing priorities explains each tier.

8. Application steps and documents

  1. Check your timing. You must still hold the 491 or 494 when you apply and have held it for at least 3 years. Both visas run for 5 years and cannot be extended.
  2. Collect your notices of assessment. Download 3 income years from ATO online services through myGov.
  3. Gather proof of living, working and studying in a designated area. Home Affairs gives examples such as leases, utility bills, payslips, reference letters and school reports.
  4. Identity and character documents. Passport pages, a complete disclosure National Police Certificate from the Australian Federal Police, and a police certificate from every country where you spent 12 months or more in total in the last 10 years since turning 16.
  5. Translations. Documents not in English (for example Spanish or Portuguese civil records) need an English translation; translators in Australia must be NAATI accredited.
  6. Apply and pay in ImmiAccount. If you apply in Australia you may be granted a bridging visa; stay lawful while the application is processed.

9. After the grant: PR rights and citizenship

According to Home Affairs, a 191 visa lets you stay in Australia permanently, work and study anywhere in Australia (condition 8579 no longer applies), enrol in Medicare, sponsor eligible relatives, and travel to and from Australia for 5 years from the grant date. After that, re-entering as a permanent resident requires a Resident Return visa (subclass 155 or 157). Newly arrived residents may face a waiting period for some government payments.

For citizenship by conferral, the general residence requirement published by Home Affairs is 4 years living in Australia on a valid visa immediately before applying, including the last 12 months as a permanent resident, with no more than 12 months of absence in total over the 4 years and no more than 90 days in the final 12 months. For Regional Provisional stream applicants in Australia at grant, permanent residence counts from the day the 191 is granted. On the wording of that requirement, time spent in Australia on a 491 or 494 is time on a valid visa but not time as a permanent resident. Character and citizenship test requirements also apply.

10. Who can help with your application?

You can apply for the 191 visa yourself in ImmiAccount. If you want someone else to give you immigration assistance (assessing your eligibility, preparing or lodging an application, or dealing with the Department on your behalf), the Migration Act allows only a registered migration agent (with a MARN) or an Australian legal practitioner to provide it. You can search the register on the OMARA website, mara.gov.au.

Level Up Studies can help with course planning and school applications. This article is general information only and is not migration advice.

Frequently asked questions

Q1: Is there a minimum salary for the 491 to 191 pathway?

Home Affairs states there is no minimum income requirement for the Regional Provisional stream. You must still provide ATO notices of assessment for 3 income years while holding your 491 or 494 visa. The Migration Regulations keep a mechanism for the Minister to specify an amount by legislative instrument, so check the Home Affairs page for any change. Any ATO debt should be paid or covered by an approved payment plan.

Q2: What if I move to Sydney, Melbourne or Brisbane while holding a 491 visa?

That puts the 191 pathway at risk. Condition 8579 requires you to live, work and study only in a designated regional area while in Australia, and the 191 criteria require compliance with 8579 unless you fall within a class specified by the Minister in a legislative instrument. The Department can also ask for evidence of your addresses under condition 8580. Moving between designated regional areas is consistent with the wording of 8579, but check your nominating state or territory's website for its own expectations.

Q3: Can I change employers on a 491 or 494 visa?

On a 491 visa you can work in any occupation and for any employer, in line with your conditions, as long as the work is in a designated regional area. A 494 visa carries condition 8608: you work only in the nominated occupation and generally only for your sponsor, and a new employer must have a nomination approved before you start. If employment with your sponsor ends, you may stop working or work outside those limits for up to 180 days in a single period and up to 365 days in total across the visa period.

Q4: Can my partner and children be included in a 191 application?

Yes. Members of the family unit can be included when you lodge or added before a decision. Generally they do not need to hold a 491 or 494 visa themselves, but a family member who no longer meets the definition (for example a child who has turned 23 since the provisional visa was granted) must hold an eligible visa granted as a member of your family unit. The charge is AUD315 for each family member aged 18 or over and AUD160 for each child under 18, and health and character requirements apply.

Q5: Which tax years count towards the 3 notices of assessment?

The Home Affairs 191 page asks for ATO notices of assessment for 3 income years out of the 5 years of your eligible visa. The ATO explains that a tax return covers the income year from 1 July to 30 June. Clause 191.111 of the Migration Regulations adds that a relevant income year is one that ended before the date of application and during all or part of which you held a 491 or 494 visa. The Home Affairs 191 page does not give a worked example of which years count, and the Department makes the assessment in each case.

Q6: Can I apply for the 191 visa from outside Australia?

Home Affairs says you can be in or outside Australia when you apply and when the application is decided, but you must still hold your 491 or 494 visa when you apply. Under the current processing priorities, offshore applications combined with family members sit in a later tier.

Planning to study in Australia? Level Up Studies offers free study and course counselling:

  • Melbourne Head Office: +61 3 8590 3229 | contactus@levelupstudies.com | 1/105 Queen Street, Melbourne VIC 3000
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Sources

Disclaimer: 1. This article is general information only and is not migration or legal advice. 2. We have a qualified education agent counsellor (QEAC #2822) who can help with study planning, but visa decisions rest with the Australian Government. 3. Figures and rules reflect official pages accessed on 13 November 2026. 4. Course details, fees, start dates, and migration policies are subject to change. Please check the latest announcements from the school and the Australian Department of Home Affairs.
For personalised study or migration planning, please contact our professional advisory team.
Registered Migration Agent MARA: 2519162
Qualified Education Agent Counsellor QEAC: 2822

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