Immigration Minister David Coleman announced on Monday 14 October 2019 that more than 6350 regional visas were granted in the first quarter of the program year 2019-2020 and it seems the government’s push for skilled workers to move to regional Australia is taking effect.

This figure is a 124 per cent jump compared to the same period last year and more than the total number of regional visa grants for the year 2017-2018.

With the impending introduction of the Subclass 494 Skilled Employer Sponsored Regional (Provisional) Visa which replaces the subclass 187 Regional Sponsored Migration Scheme (Permanent) Visa on 16 November 2019 and the subclass 491 Skilled Work Regional (Provisional) Visa which replaces the current subclass 489 Skilled Regional (Provisional) visa, making PR only possible after living and working in regional areas for at least 3 years, It is clear that many skilled migrants will be attracted to regional areas.

We will be providing further updates to the new visas closer to their commence dates and encourage anyone looking to lodge a subclass 187 RSMS visa to contact us NOW if they wish to apply via this pathway before it closes on 16 November 2019.