QLD Skilled Regional Provisional Visa 491

Updated on 17 August 2022 

This is a 5-year points-tested visa which leads to permanent residency and requires nominated skilled workers to be employed and live in regional Queensland.

Applicable Regions

Eligibility criteria

To be eligible for Queensland nomination, you must meet both the Australian Department of Home Affairs (DHA)  criteria and Skilled Migration Queensland (SMQ) criteria for your chosen visa category.

BSMQ  - Working in Regional Queensland 

• have a points test result of 65 or higher,
• have an occupation on Home Affairs’ relevant list of eligible skilled occupations
• have Proficient English or higher (except for Trades occupations, which require Competent English).
• Ensure that you can provide evidence that you have been living in regional Queensland and undertaking full-time post-qualification employment (minimum of 35 hours per week) over the past 3 months in your nominated occupation immediately prior to submitting your EOI.
• this must be ongoing employment in a regional area.
• Businesses must have an office in Queensland. A virtual office will not be accepted

Occupation grouping	Occupations	Quota
Finance	Accountant (General), Finance Manager, Management Accountant	50 each 150 total
Engineers	Civil Engineer, Mechanical Engineer, Electrical Engineer, Engineering Technologist	50 each 200 total
ICT	Software Engineer, Developer Programmer, ICT Business Analyst, Software & Application Programmers NEC	50 each 200 total
Quantity Surveyor	Quantity Surveyor	30 each/total
Nurses	Aged Care, Critical Care & Emergency, NEC nurses	50 each 150 total
Trades	Motor Mechanic, Cook	30 each 60 total

Caveats

Accountants
Preference will be given to applicants employed in an accounting firm
Must be a CPA or are studying towards become a CPA.
Internal and External Auditors must have a job as an Auditor (not an Accountant).

Cooks and Chefs
No takeaway or fast-food businesses.

Invitations will go to the highest points per occupation and this is likely to vary for each occupation. Other requirements may be considered where there are a large number of EOIs for a particular occupation on the same points – eg. regional location, years of work experience. EOIs will remain in the queue based on the points when they were originally lodged.

State nomination application fees:

BSMQ will only begin assessment of your application for Queensland state nomination after you have completed the below steps:

1. Submit an Expression of Interest (EOI) or registration
2. Await invitation from BSMQ to apply for state nomination
3. Upload documents
4. Make payment.

 

Visa type	Application fee (if paid from overseas)	+ 10% GST** (if paid from within Australia)
Skilled Nomination (Permanent) visa (Subclass 190)	A$200	A$20
Skilled Regional (Provisional) visa (Subclass 491)	A$200	A$20
Skilled Regional (Provisional) visa (Subclass 491) – Small Business Owners Pathway	N/A	A$440 (total cost as only available onshore)
Business Innovation and Investment (Provisional) visa – Business Innovation stream (Subclass 188)	A$500	A$50

Please note:

* Fees will not be refunded under any circumstance. This includes changes to your personal circumstances or if you change your mind and do not apply for an Australian visa or if your application for a visa is not approved by the Australian Government.

** GST is an additional charge added to applications lodged in Australia only.

Apply for the nomination:

Guidelines:

FAQ

Contact Details:

Business and Skilled Migration Queensland (BSMQ)

Postal Address:
PO Box 15168
Brisbane City East QLD 4002

Street Address:
Level 8
111 George Street
Brisbane
C/- Decipha
2 Duncan Street
West End

Phone: [phone]

Office Hours

9AM – 4PM AEST (GMT +10)