Last night the Department of Home Affairs suddenly updated its website, confirming：Subclass 491 to Subclass 191 has no income requirement — it only requires Notices of Assessment (NOA) for three financial years

。So the earlier worries about $53900 or $70000 are no longer needed.

So the current rules for Subclass 491 to Subclass 191 are

– Hold a Subclass 491 visa for at least three years

– Provide NOAs for three relevant income years

– Comply with the Subclass 491 visa conditions while onshore[Settle in a regional area; work or study (if any) in a regional area; notify the Department of Home Affairs within 14 days of any change to your address / work address / contact details, and so on]

The relevant income year requirement:For example, if Xiao Ming was granted his visa on 28 June 2022, then his first relevant income year is the 21-22 financial year (1 July 2021 to 30 June 2022).

Now let us answer some of your questions

Q1. Has this been legislated? Is what the website says accurate?

The previous income-level requirement for Subclass 491 to Subclass 191 is shown in the image below, “equal to the amount specified in an instrument “,our current understanding is that this instrument no longer exists, meaning the amount is no longer separately specified.

Q2. If only three NOAs are required, can I not work?

A Notice of Assessment (NOA) can be simply understood as the confirmation an Australian taxpayer receives after lodging their tax return with the Australian Taxation Office each financial year. Subclass 491 to Subclass 191 has no work requirement, and Australian income can come from many sources — rental and other income can also be used for tax purposes, and it does not necessarily have to be wages.

However, a reminder here:if income appears on the NOA — for example, wage income — you will still need to provide the relevant supporting documents, such as payslips and reference letters, and these documents must still show that the primary applicant is working in a regional area.

Q3. While holding a Subclass 491 visa, can I work remotely for an employer in a major city?

This is also a point of debate at the moment. One of the requirements for moving to Subclass 191 is complying with the Subclass 491 visa conditions,and condition 8579 of Subclass 491 requires you to live, study and work (if any) in a regional area. The PAM principle regarding non-regional employers is thatit is acceptable as long as the visa holder physically works in a regional area on a regular basis。It simply gives an example: for instance, the employer is overseas or in a major city but has a local office in a regional area.

Whether this example represents every situation, and whether it rules out the possibility of remote work, is open to interpretation. But Subclass 191 has not yet started being granted and there are no cases for now, so caution is advised.

If what you are asking is about a person who lives in a regional area butcommutes to a major city to work every day or on a fixed weekly basis, then the answer is definitely no.

Holding a Subclass 491 visa, living in a regional area and studying a major-city university course remotely is permitted,this point is clear.

Q4. Can I stay overseas the whole time and simply lodge a tax return each year for three financial years?

This is an even bigger point of debate.

For example, merely having savings and interest income in Australia is one thing, and whether you can lodge a tax return on that is another (please contact an accountant for specifics).But this essentially goes completely against the original intent of Subclass 491. At its core, the Australian government’s bottom line is still that the visa holder contributes to Australia. After all, it is a three-year period, there are no cases yet, so we advise everyone to stay on the proper path as much as possible.

Q5. Which regional areas can a Subclass 491 visa holder stay in?

We often say that everywhere outside the 3 major cities is a regional area,but in fact this has been updated to outside the “2.5 major cities”, because in early 2022 the outer areas of Brisbane were also included within the regional-area scope,as shownin the image below, within a 30-minute drive of the city centre.The familiarPerth，Gold Coast, Newcastle and Wollongong, among others, are all regional areas,and the scope of regional areas keeps expanding — whether you can settle in a newly added regional area depends on your visa grant date.

Q6. While holding a Subclass 491 visa, can I return to my home country as normal? Can I travel to major cities?

Of course you can — in principle there is no time limit on returning to your home country.

While onshore in Australia,travelling, visiting family, business trips and training in non-regional areas are all permitted.As for the length of time,if the total time spent outside a regional area each year exceeds 90 days, or exceeds 60 consecutive days,the case officer may take a serious look.

Q7. Have the salary requirements for Subclass 494 changed?

Besides Subclass 491 holders, Subclass 494 holders also apply for Subclass 191 when moving to permanent residency.But because Subclass 494 is an employer-sponsored visa, the employer salary during the Subclass 494 period should still remain unchanged.

Q8. Are Subclass 191 visas being granted now?

Subclass 191 applications have been able to be lodged since late November 2022, and several hundred applications have now built up. But because the income requirement was previously undecided, none had been granted.We hope to see grants soon. In addition, Subclass 191 grants do not count towards the annual PR quota for each financial year,so in principle the Department of Home Affairs can grant as many as it wishes at any time — see the earlier wave of Subclass 887 grants for reference.

If you would like to keep up with the latest Subclass 491 news in real time, add the QR code below with the note: 491, to apply to join the[NewStars 491 Special Group], where all kinds of Subclass 491 news will be updated!

This afternoon at 3pm AEST,Kirk will also host a special live webinar!One webinar to answer all your questions! Refer to the banner image at the top to follow along!

Subclass 491 policy for the 22-23 financial year, plus an outlook for the new financial year

This financial year the total Subclass 491 state-nomination quota is 24837. Because the points threshold was low, it mainly scooped up many offshore applicants. The Subclass 491 grant quota for the 23-24 financial year is broadly consistent with the 22-23 financial year, so the new financial year’s total Subclass 491 state-nomination quota will not be too bad either, and it can be expected to remain one of the mainstream pathways for points-based skilled migration. With the minimum income requirement gone, it is even more attractive.

NSW Subclass 491 policy

– English at four 6s

– EOI reaches 65 points

– Occupation on the list with a skills assessment

and you can lodge. Moreover, the invitation scores this financial year were very low — for popular occupations such as ICT and engineering, even reaching 50-60 points on your own gives a chance of an invitation

Canberra offshore Subclass 491 requirements

– English at four 6s

– EOI reaches 65 points

– One year of work experience in the nominated occupation

– Occupation on the list with a skills assessment

Canberra uses a matrix scoring system, and the scores for offshore Subclass 491 are very low — even 50-65 points can secure an invitation

WA Subclass 491 requirements

– English at four 6s

– EOI reaches 65 points

– No job offer required

– Occupation on the list with a skills assessment

WA’s invitation EOI scores are also very low — for most occupations this financial year, 65-80 points was sufficient most of the time. However, for those who did not study locally, WA favours applicants who have already moved into the state

Tasmania Subclass 491 and South Australia Subclass 491 have also scooped up quite a few people,Tasmania Subclass 491 is mainly reserved for in-state applicants, while South Australia Subclass 491 is a major source of invitations for offshore applicants.

Each state has different requirements, but all feature low scores and few requirements

Get in touch to learn more!

All in all, Subclass 491 has finally turned the corner, and the good news is at last here for everyone! But this does not mean you can be complacent — lower and more relaxed requirements do not mean no requirements; it simply makes the proper path easier to walk.

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