Since the Subclass 491 and Subclass 191 visas were introduced in 2019, around three years and more have now passed, From 1 January 2020 to 28 February 2023, the total number of Subclass 491 grants reached 39,657 — in other words, there are already nearly 40,000 Subclass 491 holders. So by this June, the figure has surely passed 40,000!

The number of Subclass 491 holders will certainly keep growing. For the 22–23 financial year, lodgement numbers for the Subclass 491 averaged high across the first 8 months, peaking at nearly 4,000 in a single month.

So from January 2020 to the end of February 2023, the cumulative number of Subclass 491 lodgements has already reached 71,575. What is more, from November 2022 onwards, eligible applicants began lodging applications to transition to the Subclass 191 PR visa。

when the Subclass 491 can transition to the Subclass 191,

and the residence and income requirements that must be met to transition to the Subclass 191,

have become questions of key concern

In this article, I will walk you through the residence and income conditions a Subclass 491 holder must satisfy to transition smoothly to the Subclass 191 visa.

I will, in the next article, introduce Perth, Western Australia and why it is the best city for Subclass 491 holders to settle in!

The Question of Where to Live

As for the requirements to transition to the Subclass 191, there is no complete legislation in place so far.

According to PAM, it only states that, when transitioning to the Subclass 191 visa, an applicant must satisfy the relevant conditions of the Subclass 491 visa (as shown in the figure below), among which the one relating to location is condition 8579

The specific requirements of condition 8579 are shown in the figure below:

In other words, a holder of the Subclass 491 visa, during the holding period, simply needs to move to live, work and reside outside Australia’s three major cities (the Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane metropolitan areas). In theory, moving between different regional areas of Australia does not, for the time being, appear to breach condition 8579 in a way that would affect the transition to the Subclass 191.

In addition, based on the Australian Prime Minister’s answers in a one-on-one interview with Today Australia on 23 March 2019, there is further support from another angle that Subclass 491 holders may change their work and place of living within Australia’s regional areas.

Image source: https://www.sydneytoday.com/content-101912564697017

***From 28 October 2019, Perth also officially returned to the category of regional areas.

Subsequently, the Gold Coast was added as well. From mid-March 2022, some outer areas of Brisbane (a 20–30 minute drive from the city centre) were also newly included as regional areas.

Therefore, Subclass 491 holders may consider moving to Perth or other areas to work and live during the period they hold the visa.The next article will focus on how Perth, among a field of contenders, can become the most suitable city for Subclass 491 holders to settle in!

The Mystery of the Income Requirement

Mystery one: a taxable income that meets or exceeds a particular income threshold for at least three years — which three years does this refer to?

According to the migration law requirements below (as shown in the figure below), a Subclass 491 applicant’s notice of assessment shown on the “taxable income” must reach the prescribed amount, and there must be three “relevant income years” that reach this prescribed amount.

What are Relevant Income Years?

According to the original text of the migration law, a relevant income year includes the portion of time the Subclass 191 visa is held before it is granted (a financial year counts even if the visa is held for only part of it).To make this easier to understand, let me first introduce a concept: the Australian financial year runs from 1 July each year to 30 June the following year. I will then give a somewhat extreme example to help you understand what holding a visa for part of the time means.

Suppose Mr B’s Subclass 491 visa is granted on 15 June 2023, and his taxable income for the 22–23 financial year (01.07.2022–30.06.2023) is $53,900 — then the 22–23 financial year qualifies as a relevant income year.

How do you distinguish between a Notice of Assessment and Taxable Income?

Notice of Assessment (NOA ) ： is the statement issued by the ATO after an applicant lodges their income tax return.

The figure below is a sample Notice of Assessment for the 2017-18 financial year.

Taxable Income:The specific amount is shown on the NOA and represents the credit for tax already paid for the income year.

Which kinds of income can be included in Taxable Income?

Ordinary salary and wage income certainly counts.If one full-time job is not enough, wage income from other part-time work can be included too. It can also be other additional income. Put simply, all of an applicant’s taxable income can be combined to meet this amount.

Common ways to combine income:

o rent income earned from buying and renting out property

o business income earned through self-employment (ABN), such as running a small business

o income earned from a part-time gig (such as driving for Uber)

Mystery two: is the minimum annual income requirement $53,900 or $70,000?

will, from 1 July, raise the Temporary Skilled Migration Income Threshold (TSMIT) from $53,900 to $70,000 — the first such change since 2013.

The target group for this change by the Australian Government is employer-sponsored applicants, but will it also affect the Subclass 491 to Subclass 191 transition?There is no confirmed news on this yet.

Where the $53,900 Figure for the Subclass 491 Comes From

Everyone has long assumed that transitioning to the Subclass 191 requires meeting $53,900, because the Department previously mentioned in a Newsletter announcing the Subclass 491-to-191 visa that the holding requirement for transitioning from the Subclass 491 to the Subclass 191 would also follow the TSMIT requirement, which at the time was $53,900.

But as mentioned above, there is still no relevant legislation for the Subclass 191.So at the legislative level, there is no provision stating that the income threshold for the Subclass 491-to-191 transition is $53,900.

In reality, Subclass 191 grants also appear to be stuck on the legislation. Although from November 2022 to February 2023 there were already 129 Subclass 191 (Regional Provisional Visa) lodgements, no grants have been seen so far.

Our analysis is that, even if it does rise to $70,000, there will most likely be a cut-off time, and financial years that have already been granted or have already passed would continue to use $53,900.Otherwise, take those 129 Subclass 191 applications already lodged — if the applicants do not meet the new $70,000 requirement, would they have to withdraw and start over to meet it? And if they fail to meet it across all 3 years, would they have to redo the 3 years? That would leave them without enough time on the Subclass 491 visa. Clearly that would be unreasonable.

Hopefully, the government will legislate and provide clarity as soon as possible.

That is all for today’s introduction to the Subclass 491-to-191 transition. If you would like to apply for the Subclass 491, or have other questions about transitioning to the Subclass 191, feel free to get in touch with me to find out more.。Next article: Let us look at why Subclass 491 holders should consider Perth, Western Australia as a place to settle.

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