Permanent Residence (Skilled Regional) visa (permanent).

Stream eligibility is determined by your circumstances, not your preference.

The Regional Provisional stream is open only to applicants who hold a subclass 491 or 494 visa and have held it for at least 3 years.

The Hong Kong stream is open only to Hong Kong or British National (Overseas) passport holders who hold a subclass 457, 482, or 485 visa. To qualify, they have to have held that visa for 3 years, and have to have been usually resident in a designated regional area? for 3 continuous years.

Some applicants may technically qualify under both (for example, an HK passport holder who has held a 491 for 3 years). In that case, the cheaper Regional Provisional stream is the typical choice.

No. IMMI?'s eligibility page for the Regional Provisional stream states directly: 'There is no minimum income requirement.'

The 'income requirement' that exists on the 191 is a documentation requirement. Applicants have to provide ATO Notices of Assessment for 3 income years out of the 5-year period of the eligible visa.

The amount of income shown on those Notices of Assessment is not subject to a floor.

Yes. For both streams, you can be in or outside Australia at the time of application and when IMMI? decides the application. The only restriction is that you can't be in immigration clearance.

Most Regional Provisional stream applicants will be inside Australia, because the eligibility test requires compliance with the 491 or 494 conditions (which include regional residence). But the application itself can be lodged from anywhere.

The eligible visa depends on the stream.

For the Regional Provisional stream, the eligible visa is a subclass 491 (Skilled Work Regional) or a subclass 494 (Skilled Employer Sponsored Regional).

For the Hong Kong stream, the eligible visa is a subclass 457 (Temporary Work, Skilled), a subclass 482 (Temporary Skill Shortage / Skills in Demand), or a subclass 485 (Temporary Graduate) granted on the basis of meeting the primary criteria.

In the Hong Kong stream, the eligible visa has to have been held continuously for at least 3 years on a single grant.

Family members already in Australia on the same eligible visa can typically be included in the 191 application.

Generally, family members included in the 191 application do not need to hold an eligible visa themselves.

All accompanying family members have to meet the health and character requirements. Family members not coming with you to Australia may also be required to meet these requirements.

Family members can be added after the application is lodged but before a decision is made. They cannot be added after a decision is made.

Newborn children of the applicant have to be reported to IMMI? before the application is lodged.

Processing follows the order set by Ministerial Direction No. 105 for skilled visa applications.

As of the 2026-05-10 IMMI? page snapshot, IMMI? was processing 191 applications lodged from August 2025. But processing position changes over time, and depends on application completeness, the result of health and character checks, and migration program place availability.

IMMI?'s visa processing time guide tool publishes current indicative processing times.

No. Once the 191 is granted, the holder has unrestricted permanent residence. They can live, work, and study anywhere in Australia.

The regional-residence condition of the 491 or 494 applies only while those provisional visas are in effect.

The 191 is a standard permanent visa with full work and study rights, Medicare access, the ability to sponsor eligible relatives, and a 5-year travel facility.

No. The 3-year mark is the earliest you become eligible for the 191. There's no requirement to apply at exactly that point.

The 491 itself remains valid for the full 5 years from grant.

Many 491 holders apply for the 191 later in the 5-year window, particularly if they want additional ATO Notices of Assessment in hand or want to consolidate evidence of compliance with conditions.

The 491's regional-residence condition continues to apply during any delay between the 3-year mark and the 191 application.

Yes. From 1 July 2026, eligible citizens of Pacific Island countries and Timor-Leste pay a reduced 191 application charge. Eligibility is based on the primary applicant's passport, and the lower cost carries across to family members included in the same application.

The qualifying passports are from Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Tonga, Vanuatu, Solomon Islands, Kiribati, Nauru, Palau, Tuvalu, Timor-Leste, the Marshall Islands, and the Federated States of Micronesia.

There's no separate concession to apply for. IMMI? charges the lower amount in ImmiAccount? when you lodge, based on the passport you apply with. The exact reduced figure shows in IMMI?'s Visa Pricing Estimator.