Complete Guide to 494 Visa Benefits, Pathway & Conditions

494 is the kind of visa which will allow you to stay and work in Australia as a provisional resident and also allows you to travel in or out of Australia as many times as you want for 5 years. As this is a provisional visa, it doesn’t grant a permanent residency immediately. But if anyone wants to apply for a permanent residency in Australia then he can do it after 3 years from the acceptance of the visa granted.

Australian government enabled this new 494 visa so that skilled employees can visit Australia and study or work in their desired regional area in Australia. It’s hard to get a permanent visa right away, so it also works as a pathway for people to get permanent residency. Thus, different Australian businesses can also fill in the places of labor shortage by sponsoring the skilled workers from different countries.

Pathways to get the 494 visa

Getting a 494 visa can be an easy process if you follow the pathway properly and have all the required qualities. To reach those criteria you must follow the application process as well.

Basic eligible requirements

Before getting the 494 visa, you must obtain the required features which are compulsory to get a 494 visa. These requirements show that you are qualified enough to apply for that visa. To be able to apply for the visa, you have to be less than 45 years old, the company which will sponsor you should be a legal business and offers you a sponsorship for at least 5 years, 3 years of past experience in the required field, skill assessment results (If you have performed any), maintaining the English standard etc. After you make sure that you have all these required features then you can move on to the next procedures.

Sponsor company to nominate the visa applicant

The company which will nominate to sponsor you must be a legal business and located in the region of Australia. They can offer you a sponsorship for 5 years or more but later if you switch jobs, you must find the new sponsor company within 90 days.

Application process of 494 visa

This part requires two steps:

1. Nomination from sponsor company After fulfilling the basic requirements, the sponsor company has to apply for the valid nomination by submitting a nomination application legally so that you can apply for the 494 visa. Through the nomination application process, the sponsor company will get a transaction reference number.

If it’s for a labor stream visa then the sponsor company must be a part of the labor agreement before submitting the nomination application. 

2. Applying for the visa Once the nomination application by the sponsor company gets approved, you can apply for the 494 visa. While applying for it you must include all the necessary documents as well as the transaction reference number which you will get from the sponsor company.

If you take any partner or dependent with you then you have to include their required documents too.

Costing of 494 visa

Generally, the fees of 494 visa for the main applicant is AUD 4115 and if the applicant brings a dependent then the cost for dependent is AUD 2025 (18 years and over) and AUD 1010 (under 18) for each.

The processing time of the 494 visa is not specific as it is done on a case-by-case basis. So, it varies from person to people.

Conditions for 494 visa

There are some conditions while applying for 494 visa which are given below:

• You have to be disciplined and harmless towards the Australian community which includes all the people of the community
• While living in the Australian region, maintain your health insurance
• You have to stay in your employment regional area
• Continue your work in the designated company where you were nominated

These conditions should be fulfilled in order to get the 494 visa to live in the regional area of Australia.

Benefits of 494 visa

The 494 visa was introduced by the Australian Government recently because of its advantages for the people around the world.

1. Cost effective: 494 visa is less costly than the other pathway where you have to pay fees for 2 stages which are Subclass 482 to Subclass 186.
2. PR Australia: After staying for 3 years on a 494 visa, if anyone wants then he can apply for the permanent residence in the region of Australia without any further nomination.
3. Beneficial for regional employers: The company in Australia gets a chance to sponsor skilled employees through a 494 visa which helps them to fulfil the shortage of experienced workers inside the region at less cost. Employers can also select temporary workers who come to stay and work in Australia.
4. Large area issued for 494 visa: Around 9000 places are issued each year for the 494 visa which is very good news.
5. Broad job opportunity: The occupation opportunities in the applied field are broad for the skilled workers. They can also switch jobs during their stay but they have to find the new sponsor company within 90 days.

We can see 494 visas are beneficial for both the employer and the worker as it’s less costly and more effective than the other pathways to Australia.