Q1: Can you return to China for extended periods while holding the 491? Is it mandatory to reside in a regional area for three years to convert to the 191?

When converting from Subclass 489 to Subclass 887, migration law requires at least two years of residence in a regional area. However, there is no equivalent statutory provision for the 491-to-191 conversion.As a result, the 491-to-191 conversion does not actually require three years of regional residence.In legal terms, applicants are only required to comply with the 491 visa conditions (condition 8579 and others),under which condition 8579 requires 491 holders to reside in a regional area whilst in Australia. This means there is no restriction on residing overseas — but when in Australia during the 491 visa period, holders must not take up long-term residence, work or daily life in a major city (Sydney, Melbourne or Brisbane),although short-term visits for holidays or weekends are, of course, perfectly fine.

Furthermore,when converting to PR, you are not required to make up for any time spent overseas, regardless of how long those absences were.In other words, as long as you have held the Subclass 491 for at least three years from the date of grant, this requirement is satisfied.

Q2: Does the three-year $53,900 annual income requirement start from the date of visa grant or from the beginning of a financial year?

Migration law requires that the taxable income shown on the Notice of Assessment for three “relevant income years” reaches the specified threshold (currently $53,900). According to the migration legislation,a “relevant income year” is in fact a financial year during which the applicant held a regional provisional visa (that is, a Subclass 491 or 494),that had already endedbefore the 191 application was lodged — meaning that a financial year in which the applicant held the 491/494 for only part of the year can still count.

Suppose Xiao Ming’sSubclass 491 visa was granted on 1 April 2021. If Xiao Ming lodges a PR application on 1 April 2024,then:

the financial years 1 July 2020 – 30 June 2021, 1 July 2021 – 30 June 2022, and 1 July 2022 – 30 June 2023 would constitute the relevant income years. The taxable income for each of those three financial years simply needs to reach $53,900.

Note that, although Xiao Ming’s 491 was only granted on 1 April 2021,because he held the 491 from 1 April 2021 to 30 June 2021, the financial year in which that period of 491 holding fallsalso qualifies as a relevant income year.

However, take note:the financial year 1 July 2023 – 30 June 2024, because it had not yet ended at the time of lodgement (1 April 2024),therefore does not qualify as a relevant income year.

Q3: Can you live in a regional area while working remotely for an employer based in a major city?

Many people wonder: can I obtain an ABN but take on work from companies in Sydney, Melbourne or Brisbane? Or, can I live in a regional area while owning a business, investments, or rental properties in Sydney, Melbourne or Brisbane — receiving dividends or rental income each year?

Our strong advice is not to take that risk — no one has actually tested this approach, and the Subclass 491 has stricter regional residence, work and lifestyle conditions than the 489, with the ultimate aim of keeping holders genuinely settled and contributing in regional areas.

Q4: My 491 is sponsored by Region A — can I move to a different regional area after the visa is granted?

The visa conditions themselves do not restrict holders to living, working and studying in the specific regional area that sponsored them. However, please be aware that when applying for state nomination,many states require a commitment to the nominating state, and some have already started requiring a legal declaration in order to retain visa holders in the region.

Q5: Is it true that 491 holders may be required to attend a specified location or participate in an interview by phone or online?

We have not heard of any interviews being conducted at this stage,however, at the start of this financial year a number of 491 holders received emails from the Department of Home Affairs requesting their residential and work addresses, along with supporting evidence. This relates to the 491’scondition 8580(the interview provision iscondition 8581), which requires 491 visa holders to provide their current residential address, employer address and work address within 28 days. If the holder is studying, the address of the educational institution must also be provided. Failure to update this information within 28 days of receiving the email constitutes a breach of condition 8580 and may result in cancellation of the Subclass 491 visa.

Also related to updating information iscondition 8578, which requires that after a 491 holder changes their address, phone number, email address, passport details, employer address or work address,they must proactivelynotify the Department of Home Affairs within 14 days.Failure to proactively update this information also constitutes a breach of visa conditions.

For guidance on how to update or provide / the relevant information, and the potential consequences of failing to do so, please refer to:Failure by 491 holders to update information may lead to visa cancellation or refusal of the PR conversion application.

Q6: Can Subclass 489 holders also live in areas outside Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane?

This question is linked to the 491 —for Subclass 489 holders grantedbefore 16 November 2019, it is not permitted to move to areas that only became regional after 16 November 2019, such as Newcastle, Wollongong and the Gold Coast.

Q7: Can you leave the regional area during the two-year residency requirement? Does the residence have to be continuous?

Short absences are permitted —short-term departures from the long-term place of residence for travel, family visits or business are all considered reasonable. The Procedural Advice Manual (PAM) does not specify a defined timeframe for what constitutes a short absence; the reasonableness of the circumstances will be considered.The two-year regional residence requirement during the 489 period can be accumulated — it does not need to be continuous; a cumulative total of two years is sufficient.

Q8: Can working as an Uber driver or taxi driver, a food delivery or courier worker, or running a small business satisfy the one-year full-time work requirement for the Subclass 489?

The Department of Home Affairs accepts that such work can be recognised as contractor or self-employed work,however, because the documentation for this type of work is not as standardised and straightforward as salary records,it is recommended that you provide evidence of turnover and work-related costs as part of the Subclass 887 application,such as ATO Tax Notifications, fuel and vehicle costs, bank statements, and profit/loss statements, to help demonstrate that you worked at least 35 hours per week — that is, to satisfy the full-time work requirement.

Q9: Can working from home on an ABN in a self-employed capacity satisfy the one-year full-time work requirement for the Subclass 489?

Self-employment is very common for IT, design and accounting roles, and remote work has become even more widespread since the pandemic,Self-employment is acceptable, but — as with the situation above — more supporting documentation is required. Do not assume that simply registering a company, paying yourself the minimum legal wage for a year, and submitting basic documents will be sufficient.The most challenging aspect remainshow to demonstrate that self-employed home-based work genuinely reached 35 hours per week.

It is therefore advisable to collect supporting materials well in advance, such as correspondence with clients (emails or messages), invoices issued to clients, a work log, and every bank transaction attributable to self-employment — corroborating from multiple angles.

As an additional reminder,the 35-hour weekly requirement can be met through a single full-time position, or by combining two part-time or casual roles to reach 35 or more hours per week.

Q10: If there were no secondary applicants when the 489 was granted, can family members be added before converting to the 887 to obtain PR together? Alternatively, if someone was a secondary applicant on the 489, can they become the primary applicant when converting to the 887?

Both Subclass 489 and 491 allow family members to be added subsequently, provided the spousal relationship meets the Department’s requirements, and sufficient relationship evidence can be provided. Processing times are currently very slow, so adequate processing time should be allowed(please contact us if you need assistance). Secondary applicants on a 489/491 who meet the PR conversion requirements may all convert to become the primary applicant.

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