Skilled migrants who commit to living and working in a regional area will have access to two new skilled provisional visas.
The visas will allow regional businesses to fill vacant jobs faster and provide additional incentives for skilled migrants and their families to settle and remain in regional areas.
The two new skilled regional provisional visas are:
- Skilled Employer Sponsored Regional (Provisional) visa – for people sponsored by an employer in regional Australia.
- Skilled Work Regional (Provisional) visa – for people who are nominated by a State or Territory government or sponsored by an eligible family member to live and work in regional Australia.
The introduction of these new visas is accompanied by a new definition of regional Australia, which covers all of Australia except Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, to ensure regional Australia remains an attractive destination for skilled migrants and international students.
Once holders of the new visas have lived, worked or studied in regional Australia for at least 3 years, and have met income requirements, they will be able to apply for a Permanent Residence (Skilled Regional) visa commencing in November 2022.
To ensure the Government continues to support regional Australia, the Government has allocated 25,000 regional places in the 2019/20 Migration Program, and has deployed Regional Outreach Officers to the regions to promote skilled migration initiatives and provide dedicated support to regional employers.
Article taken from https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/ (source)