Skilled workers living in Queensland

Features

Skilled Nominated (Permanent) visa (subclass 190) – This visa is available for skilled workers who wish to live and work in Queensland permanently.

Skilled Work Regional (Provisional) visa (subclass 491) – This visa allows nominated skilled workers to live and work in regional Queensland for 5 years and is a pathway to permanent residency.

You may undertake employment through:

• work for one or more employers,
• work at two part-time jobs, or
• work in your own business as an owner operator.

Applicable regions

You must live and work within one of the following post codes to be eligible for the 491 Regional visa:

4019–4022, 4025, 4037, 4074, 4076–4078, 4124–4125, 4133, 4183–4184, 4207–4275, 4280–4287, 4300–4301, 4303–4498, 4500–4512, 4514–4519, 4521, 4550–4575, 4580–4895.

Note: If you are a current holder of a Skilled Work Regional (Provisional) visa (subclass 491) or have applied for a Skilled Work Regional (Provisional) visa (subclass 491), you will not be eligible for nomination for the Skilled Nominated (Permanent) visa (subclass 190). This restriction also applies to the Skilled Regional (Provisional) visa (subclass 489).

Note: The above postcodes are applicable to those who have been nominated and applied for their 491 visa from 5 March 2022. Further details can be found in LIN 22/022.

If you were nominated or applied for the 491 visa prior to 5 March 2022, the applicable Queensland postcodes can be found in LIN 20/292.

If you were granted a 491 visa prior to 19 November 2019, the Gold Coast is not an eligible region.

To find other visa options that suit your circumstances, use the Department of Home Affairs Visa Finder.

Eligibility criteria

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

Home Affairs criteria requires you to:

• have a points-test result of 65 or higher, inclusive of state nomination points;
• have a positive skills assessment in your nominated occupation;
• be under 45 years of age;
• meet the minimum English language requirement of competent, unless a higher level is required by your assessing authority;
• and submit additional documents, if invited to lodge an application for a 190 or 491 visa.

Migration Queensland criteria requires you to:

• have a points-test result of 80 or higher for the 190 (except for Trades occupations*, which require 75 or higher), and 65 or higher for the 491
• have an occupation on Home Affairs’ relevant list of eligible skilled occupations (LIN 19/051)
• have Proficient English or higher (except for Trades occupations*, which require Competent English).
• if you are lodging an Expression of Interest for a 190 visa: Ensure that you can provide evidence that you have been living in Queensland and undertaking full-time post-qualification employment (minimum of 35 hours per week) over the past 6 months in your nominated occupation immediately prior to submitting your EOI.
• if you are lodging an Expression of Interest for a 491 visa: 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.
• provide evidence of ongoing employment with a Queensland employer that is registered in Queensland for a further 12 months (minimum of 35 hours per week). For a 491 visa, this must be ongoing employment in a regional area.
• commit to living and working in Queensland for 2 years for a 190 visa and 3 years for the 491 from visa grant.

Please note: Businesses must have an office in Queensland. A virtual office will not be accepted (except for Trades occupations**, which require 75 or higher).

*A trade occupation is defined as an ANZSCO occupation grouping beginning with 3

Caveats for Selected Occupations

• Accountants (General)
  • Only applicants employed in an accounting firm will receive an invitation
  • must be a CPA, CA or IPA, or are studying towards becoming a CPA, CA or IPA.
• Internal and External Auditors
  • must have a job as an Auditor (not an Accountant).
• Cooks and Chefs
  • No takeaway or fast-food businesses.

Migration Queensland has been inviting ‘decision ready applications’ who have registered through our recent ‘consideration for priority processing’ campaigns. A new registration campaign will open from Monday 3 April - Monday 10 April 2023, and you or your migration agent will be able to register your existing Skillselect EOI and details through our website. 

Please note, only those that meet Queensland’s minimum criteria will be considered for invitation. Applicants who are invited must have their documents ready and uploaded within 7 days of being invited, and no extensions will be granted. Your patience is appreciated throughout this busy processing period, and processing times are currently at 4 – 6 weeks from the date of your invitation. 

Labour hire employment

If you are employed through a labour hire company, make sure that they are registered in Queensland. All labour hire providers operating in Queensland must be licensed under the Labour Hire Licencing Act 2017, including those based interstate or overseas who supply workers in Queensland.

You will be required to provide evidence that your labour hire company complies with these registration requirements. Your Statement of service must be written by the company you have been placed within.

Application process

Step 1

Review your eligibility criteria, visa conditions, and document checklist on the Department of Home Affairs website and the Migration Queensland website. Ensure that you meet both the Home Affairs Immigration Eligibility Criteria and Migration Queensland criteria and that you have all your documentation – including proof of registration, if required for your occupation – ready before you apply.

Step 2

For Queensland state nomination, submit an Expression of Interest (EOI) with SkillSelect. Ensure that all information, such as work experience, is included in your EOI. Preference will be given to applicants who select “Queensland” as their nominating state.

Step 3

Migration Queensland assesses all EOIs that meet the above Home Affairs Immigration Eligibility Criteria and Migration Queensland criteria. If you are successful, you will receive an email invitation to lodge an application and be requested to provide the documents required.

Note: You must upload these documents digitally through the Document Portal link in your invitation email. Migration Queensland no longer accepts documents sent by email or post. You can only upload one document per file. If you have multiple documents, merge, and save them as one file.

Step 4

When you have received your invitation from Migration Queensland:

1. upload the required documents, and
2. pay the non-refundable application fee to finalise your application. Do not pay the fee until you have been invited to apply and all your documents have been uploaded.

Migration Queensland will then review your application and request any further information.

Note: You will be given 14 days to finalise your application from the date of invitation. Applications not finalised within the time frame will be closed and you will need to submit a new EOI if you wish to seek Queensland nomination again.

Step 5

Once Migration Queensland has received and approved your completed application, you will receive an invitation from the Department of Home Affairs to lodge your visa application. You will be given 60 days to lodge your application with them.

Note: If you have made a mistake on your submitted EOI after receiving a nomination, or if you miss the visa lodgement date, you will have to wait 6 months before applying again. This includes the reason of incorrectly calculating points (both for agents and applicants).

Migration Queensland documentation

If you are currently working in Queensland, you may apply for either subclass 190 or subclass 491 Regional nomination.

Please ensure that you:

• familiarise yourself with the application process,
• meet both the Home Affairs criteria and Migration Queensland criteria for your chosen visa, and
• have the following documentation prepared prior to lodging an EOI.

If you meet Queensland state nomination requirements, you may be invited by Migration Queensland to lodge further documentation.

Please do not tell us when you have lodged your documents or paid the processing fee.

If you do not meet requirements you will not receive an invitation and will need to speak with an Australian Registered Migration Agent or immigration lawyer about other possible visa pathways.