494 Visa Explained: Regional Sponsorship, Costs, and the Path to PR

The subclass 494 is Australia's employer-sponsored regional visa — a five-year visa with a pathway to permanent residence via the subclass 191. This covers who counts as regional, the costs, and how it compares to the subclass 482. Figures as at September 2026.

Read the full guide, with official sources →

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Chapters

  1. 0:00 Perth counts as
  2. 0:15 494: a five-year
  3. 0:26 Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane
  4. 0:40 Age limit: under 45
  5. 0:52 SAF levy: paid by
  6. 1:08 The CSOL: 458
  7. 1:20 Government fee: $6,140,
  8. 1:30 494 vs 482:
  9. 1:44 191 pathway: no
  10. 1:55 Lose your job?
  11. 2:09 Three stages, one
  12. 2:22 Where to read more

Transcript

Think Perth doesn't count as regional for a sponsored visa? It does. Only Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane are excluded from Australia's employer-sponsored regional visa.

The subclass 494 is a five-year visa for skilled workers sponsored by a regional employer. After it, you can apply for the subclass 191 permanent residence visa.

Designated regional areas cover most of Australia. The excluded zones are Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. Perth, Adelaide, Darwin, Hobart and Canberra all count as regional.

For the worker: under 45 years old at nomination, a positive skills assessment, and Competent English. For the employer: an approved regional sponsor, and Labour Market Testing.

Employers pay the Skilling Australians Fund levy: $1,200 a year for a small business, $1,800 for a larger one. Over a five-year visa, that's $6,000 to $9,000 — and it can't be passed to the worker.

Your occupation must be on the Core Skills Occupation List, the CSOL — 458 occupations as at August 2026, from engineers to chefs to registered nurses.

Beyond the $6,140 visa application charge, budget for a skills assessment, an English test, health checks, and police clearances.

How does it compare to the 482? The 494 needs a regional employer and three years of experience. The 482 can be with any Australian employer, with just one year.

After three years on the 494, working in a regional area, you can apply for the subclass 191 permanent residence visa. There's no minimum income requirement.

If your sponsoring employer closes or lets you go, condition 8608 gives you up to 180 consecutive days to find a new regional sponsor, capped at 365 days in total, or you'll need to depart Australia.

Sponsorship, nomination, and the visa application — three separate stages, and most 494 cases go wrong in one of them. Getting matched with the right agent is where this gets easier.

The full guide, with the official sources, is on migratio.com.au. The link is in the description. And if you'd like to talk it through, you can compare registered migration agents there, and see their fees before you book anything.

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