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The Subclass 494 replaced the Regional Sponsored Migration Scheme (Subclass 187) in November 2019. Full program details are published on the Department of Home Affairs Subclass 494 the logic behind it hasn't changed since: regional Australia has skill gaps local hiring can't fill, so approved employers in designated regional areas sponsor overseas workers directly, and those workers get a real shot at permanent residency, not just a longer stay.
Once granted, it lets you live in a designated regional area for up to five years, work for the sponsoring employer there, study while you're in Australia, bring eligible family members with you, travel in and out while the visa's valid, and apply for the Subclass 191 once you've cleared the legislative requirements.
Against the metro employer-sponsored options, the 494 has a few things going for it. Five years rather than shorter validity periods. A direct line to PR. Full work rights for family members who come with you. Medicare access where reciprocal arrangements apply. Eventual citizenship eligibility once PR lands. And because regional skill shortages don't mirror Sydney's or Melbourne's, some occupations that don't qualify under metro programs are open here.
You'll need an employer in a designated regional area willing to nominate you, an occupation on the applicable skilled list, and the qualifications, licences, and experience the role calls for. On top of that: usually three years of relevant full-time work experience, English, health and character requirements met, and being under 45 unless a specific exemption applies. None of that guarantees a grant on its own. The nomination and the visa application are each assessed independently against the Department's requirements, and a weak spot in either one can take the whole thing down.
Employer Sponsored Stream is what most applicants use - nominated by an employer in a designated regional area, assessed against the standard occupation, experience, English, age, and nomination criteria. Labour Agreement Stream applies where the employer holds a formal Labour Agreement with the Australian Government. There can be concessions on age, English, salary, or experience, but only where that specific agreement spells them out - it isn't a blanket exemption. Subsequent Entrant Stream covers family members of an existing 494 holder who want to join later instead of applying together, subject to the usual identity, health, and character checks.
Your nominated occupation has to sit on the applicable skilled list, and here's the part people underestimate: your day-to-day duties need to genuinely match the ANZSCO description. Having the right job title on paper doesn't help if what you actually do at work is something else. Most occupations also need a positive skills assessment from the relevant authority, still valid at lodgement, with a small number of legislative exemptions. Work experience is usually three years, full-time, in the nominated occupation or something closely related - and the Department looks past the title here too, checking whether the experience was genuinely skilled rather than nominally so.
On page, you need to be under 45 when you apply, with exemptions limited to specific circumstances including some Labour Agreement arrangements. English sits at the Competent level for most applicants - commonly IELTS 6.0 across each component, or an equivalent PTE Academic, TOEFL iBT, OET, or Cambridge C1 Advanced score - though Labour Agreement applicants sometimes face different rules depending on what their agreement says.
The employer side carries just as much weight. For a nomination to hold up, the business has to be a lawfully operating, actively trading company in Australia; be an approved Standard Business Sponsor or hold a valid Labour Agreement; nominate a genuine, full-time position in a designated regional area that's available for at least five years; show a real need for the role; pay terms no worse than an equivalent Australian worker would get; stay compliant with workplace laws and sponsorship obligations; and get Regional Certifying Body advice before the nomination goes ahead. If the employer's side falls short anywhere in that list, the nomination can be refused even when the applicant personally clears every requirement.
Regional Certifying Body (RCB) advice is one of the features that separates this visa from metro sponsorship. The RCB looks at whether the position is genuine, needed in the regional labour market, appropriately paid, and justified as an overseas hire. The Department isn't bound by the RCB's view, but getting that advice is mandatory for most Employer Sponsored stream nominations. Labour Market Testing (LMT) is required before lodging a 494 nomination in most cases, unless an exemption applies under legislation or a trade obligation - unlike the Subclass 186, where the rules run differently. Employers need to show they genuinely tried recruiting an Australian or permanent resident before looking overseas.
The nominated position has to clear both the Temporary Skilled Migration Income Threshold (TSMIT) and the Annual Market Salary Rate (AMSR), whichever is higher. Superannuation, bonuses, and non-guaranteed benefits don't count toward either figure.
TSMIT moves on its own indexation schedule rather than automatically each year, so this table is the one part of the page worth checking against the Department of Home Affairs before every nomination. Nothing else here changes on that kind of clock. Skilling Australians Fund (SAF) levy is paid by the employer before nomination approval, and it can't legally be clawed back from the employee:
The employer gets Standard Business Sponsor approval if they don't already hold it, unless exempt.
Lodged with occupation and salary details, LMT evidence, RCB advice, and supporting business documentation.
Passport, employment references, qualifications, skills assessment where required, English results, police clearances, health exams, and any registration or licensing documents.
Through ImmiAccount, often submitted alongside the nomination rather than after it clears.
Both applications get reviewed, and the Department may come back for more information before deciding either way.
Processing times shift with how complete the application is, the occupation involved, nomination quality, health and character checks, current demand, and the Department's own priorities at the time. Check the Department of Home Affairs' current global processing times rather than planning around a number that was accurate six months ago. On cost, the applicant usually covers the visa application charge, skills assessment, English test, medicals, police clearances, and translations. The employer covers the nomination fee, sponsorship fee where required, and the SAF levy. Eligible secondary applicants attract additional government charges on top. For the full breakdown of typical professional fees alongside these, see our guide:
The 494 leads into the Permanent Residence (Skilled Regional) Visa, Subclass 191. Broadly, that means holding an eligible regional provisional visa including the 494, meeting the minimum residence period under current legislation, staying compliant with visa conditions the whole way through, supplying ATO Notices of Assessment - including amended ones where relevant - for the required income years, and continuing to meet health and character requirements.
One thing worth flagging up front: there's no legislated minimum income threshold for the 191 anymore. That requirement was scrapped in 2023. Instead of proving you earned above a set figure, you hand over the ATO Notices of Assessment for the relevant years and let the record speak for itself.
The position isn't genuine. LMT requirements weren't met. Salary falls short of the TSMIT or AMSR. The nominated occupation doesn't match what the person actually does. Work experience is thin or badly documented. A skills assessment is missing or invalid. Health or character issues surface. Or the evidence itself is inconsistent, inaccurate, or incomplete. None of these come down to one bad document - it's usually the accumulation, on either the employer's side or the applicant's, that tips an application into refusal.
The 494 involves more moving parts than most employer-sponsored visas. Standard Business Sponsorship, Regional Certifying Body advice, the nomination, and the visa application all have to line up in the right order, and a wrong ANZSCO code or a missed RCB step can stall or derail the whole thing. Our MARA-registered migration agent handles end-to-end support for regional employers and skilled workers across both the Employer Sponsored and Labour Agreement streams, based in Perth and working with clients across regional Australia and beyond.
That covers a free initial consultation on occupation eligibility and regional pathway options, guidance on which Regional Certifying Body applies and what it wants to see, ANZSCO alignment and position description review before anything's lodged, full SBS, nomination, and visa preparation, skills assessment coordination, English test guidance, and Subclass 191 planning from day one of the 494 - including tracking income and ATO records along the way.