Visa Types

To live and work in Australia you will require an appropriate visa. This may be a visa sponsored by an Australian employer, or may be a visa you apply for independently. The visa may be either temporary or permanent, and different restrictions and conditions will apply.

For details of all working visa options, please see below.

The skilled independent visa pathway is for those who have the skills and qualifications necessary to fill Australian skills shortages. Applicants are required to have an occupation on a list published by the Department of Home Affairs, and to accumulate sufficient points for skills, experience, age and English language proficiency in order to meet the eligibility threshold.

Applicants are required to obtain a positive skills assessment in their chosen occupation provided by an appropriate independent assessing body.  This is the cornerstone to success in all skilled independent and State sponsored visas, and Visa Matters is able to assist with this essential first stage in the journey to permanent residency.

Following completion of the skills assessments, applicants lodge an Expression of Interest in this visa, and may in due course receive an invitation to apply for the 189 visa based on the number of points they are able to claim.

This visa is similar to that above but requires applicants to be sponsored by a State or Territory government body. The advantage of securing sponsorship is that it provides applicants with additional points to help them attain the necessary total to be eligible for this visa.  Each State or Territory selects its own list of eligible occupations from the main Skilled Occupation List based on identified shortages within the State.  The States also apply their own specific criteria with regard to length of experience required, English standard and length of time already spent living and working in the State.  Applicants are required to commit to remaining in the sponsoring State for at least two years following visa grant.

The Subclass 190 is a permanent visa and therefore an attractive option for many eligible applicants.  It is therefore very competitive and a high points score is usually required.

The Subclass 491 is a temporary State sponsored visa granted for a period of 5 years.  When the visa holder has spent at least 3 years living and working in the nominating State they can transition to permanent residency.  As this is a slower pathway to PR the threshold for required points is lower than the 190 thus extending the possibility of an independent skilled migration option to a greater number of applicants.

This pathway permits employers to sponsor overseas skilled workers to be employed in Australia on a temporary visa for a period of up to four years. The employer will need to be approved as a Standard Business Sponsor, following which they can nominate positions for different occupations on the approved Skilled Occupation list.

Applicants are required to demonstrate that they have sufficient skills and experience for the nominated position by providing evidence of qualifications and previous relevant employment, and are also required to meet prescribed English ability level.

This visa is a permanent visa available to applicants sponsored by an Australian employer. There are two streams to this visa, the first is a direct entry stream in which the applicant’s skills and experience are assessed against the nominated occupation by an independent skills assessing body, and the second is a transition to permanent residence for those who have completed two years employment for their sponsoring employer on a temporary 482 visa.

This is for overseas citizens who are engaged to be married to an Australian citizen or permanent residents. The applicant and sponsor need to provide evidence of their intention to marry in Australia and the visa will be granted for a period of 18 months, during which time the wedding must take place. Following themarriage, the spouse can be sponsored for a Partner visa as below.

Partner visas can be applied for either in Australia or offshore. If the application is lodged in Australia the applicant will be granted a Bridging visa allowing them to live and work in Australia during the processing period.

The partner visa program is a two stage visa.  Usually, the first stage  visa either subclass 820 or 309 is granted for a temporary period of two years, following which a permanent visa  subclass 801 or 100 will be granted provided the relationship is still ongoing.  If a relationship meets the legislative definition of “long term” it may be possible to proceed directly to grant of the permanent visa without the need to wait for two years.

A partner visa can be applied for on the grounds of either marriage or a de facto relationship.

The parent visa program is a very popular option, and the number of visas granted in this program each year are capped.   This inevitably increases the processing times, and all permanent parent visas currently have extensive processing times ranging from around 10 years to 30+ years.

The Subclass 143 is a contributory parent visa.  It is an offshore visa, which means that the applicants do not have an automatic pathway to remain in Australia during the processing period, so would need to consider other options.  An initial application charge is paid at time of application, and in due course when the visa is ready to grant  a second charge is applied.  This is a significant cost, currently in excess of $40,000 per applicant.  Applicants can apply at any age.

The Subclass 864 is a contributory Aged parent visa.  It operates in a similar way to the 143 visa above but has the advantage of being an onshore visa, hence applicants for this visa are granted a bridging visa which allows them to live and work in Australia whilst waiting for their visa.  Applicants are required to be at pensionable age or above.

The Subclass 804 is a non-contributory aged parent visa.  This only has the initial visa application charge, the second and higher charge is not applied.  Hence this visa extends the option of a parent visa more widely.  As for the 864 visa applicants can apply onshore when they reach pensionable age and can remain in Australia during the processing period. Currently these visas are taking over 30 years to finalise.

For all the above visas applicants must meet the balance of family test (at least 50% of their total number of children must be Australian citizens or permanent residents) and must have a child willing to sponsor them for the visa.

Australia is a very popular tourist destination with visitors from all over the world, and has a range of visitor visas to suit the needs of those wishing to come for tourism purposes, to visit friends and relatives or to attend a short term business meeting. The criteria and requirements will depend upon country of citizenship and desired length of stay.

Australia is a recognised provider of high quality education at all levels, and is a popular destination for international students.

A range of student visas exists to cover education from primary school through to post graduate studies, and the criteria for these vary depending on the applicant’s country of citizenship and level of proposed study. Please contact us to discuss your specific requirements.

Australia currently has over 70 different visas available to overseas applicants, and the types of visa and the legislative requirements are constantly evolving and changing. This website provides an overview of the most popular visa options, but if none of these suit your situation do not despair.

Please contact us for an individual assessment of your options to suit your needs.